tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297579022024-03-14T10:48:14.072+01:00The absolute travellerIntended to upset the readersWildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-38481751009326022892011-10-03T19:05:00.000+02:002011-10-03T19:20:02.594+02:00<b>Trip to Edinburgh </b><br />
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So many things have happened, as I said earlier. I am going through a very tumultuous and intense period of my life. I am making a new way in life, I am trying out new things, new people even, new ideas. I am learning and developing and hoping to improve from all points of view. It's hard but also refreshing.<br />
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The road is peppered by ups and downs, moments of dreadful sadness and introspection but also moments of laughter and hope and serenity.<br />
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Right now I'm looking forward to my first proper holiday in two years. I have decided to go to Edinburgh, of all places, with a friend from back home. The stay will be short and, I hope, refreshing and invigorating. There is another friend that I'll meet there, someone who lives locally without actually being a Scot. He's English and am very curious about him, in no romantic way but just as a person. It'll be good to be able to put a face to a person who has been 'there' for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on (well, metaphorically speaking). And he's very keen on meeting me but I'll have to make sure there is no misunderstanding as to the nature of our relationship, from the very beginning. I don't want any more broken hearts around me.<br />
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Looking for trips to places around Edinburgh and things to do while we are there. There are endless possibilities, of course, and I actually enjoy the fact that I have been to Edinburgh a couple of times already, I'm no stranger to the city and know my way about the place. It's very reassuring. I find myself so very excited about this little trip - which only goes to show how very little we need to be pleased or even happy in life. It's just like it was when I was little and, as my parents were not rich, I didn't have a lot of toys but I was absolutely happy to play with a branch or a shrub, pretending it was one of the characters of my imagination.<br />
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So, anyway, I intend to write often from now on - about the journey to Edinburgh and, generally, about the journey to discovering the new me.<br />
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<br />Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-1923608472632062372011-10-02T21:13:00.003+02:002011-10-02T21:13:45.475+02:00Blogging again<br />
<br />I've happened upon my old blog and I think I'm again in the mood to write. So many things have happened, so much to write about, I don't even know where to begin.<br />
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I'm also pondering on whether to close this blog down and start another one, with limited and controlled access. It seems like a good idea, I'll think about it.<br />
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So many changes in the blogging world, I'm pleased to see ...Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-60660516408490591212008-08-28T16:16:00.003+02:002008-08-28T16:41:23.862+02:00On death and mourning minds ...I almost find it hard to believe that my last entry on this blog is dated October 2007! Almost one year older and perhaps none the wiser!<br /><br />Many things have happened in this interval, many questions were asked, many remained unanswered and, in the midst of everything, life just went on, undisturbed.<br /><br />Without intending to give a detailed account of all the happenings in this period, I will just say that I have been obsessed with death lately.<br /><br />It has been a sad period – two young women died – I lost a friend and someone whose disappearance saddened me terribly even though we had never been particularly close. The friend that died – I will name her M – had suffered for some time from breast cancer. She had a 6 year old daughter and was a single mother. Her whole life was a chain of misfortunes and her parents outlived her. Her daughter has been left in the care of the grandparents but these are hardly fit, in my opinion, to look after and provide for such a young child. The generation gap is too large, in this case, and it might turn out to have negative consequences for the child.<br /><br />The other person that died, I will call her F, had two children – an 8 year old daughter and a 1 year old son and she died instantaneously in a car accident. Her car was hit by a truck and she just didn’t make it to the hospital or even to the moment when the ambulance showed up. Her children were left with their father.<br /><br />Both deaths produced a very strong impression on me. I still have all M’s emails, from the time of her illness, emails in which she was describing her suffering, her hopes, her disappointments. Right up until the end, I think she strongly believed she would defeat the illness and escape death. And we, as her friends, fervently wanted to believe that too. But, deep down inside, everybody knew the truth.<br /><br />My first and most overwhelming feeling I had, when I heard the awful news, was a strong disbelief. I simply could not bring myself to believe that they are no more. Even now, when I want to send a group email to my friends or to forward a joke, M’s email address pops up in the address field and I realise, over and over again, that I cannot contact her anymore. It is one of the strangest feelings I have ever had. It’s like they are no longer with us, they are in another world, maybe still here, invisible creatures looking at us.<br /><br />Strange is that my 17 year old cat died sometime in April (or was it May? god, I can't even remember!). Coincidence, a really dark year. I loved this cat so much, even though she did not live with me for the last few years – I had to move her to my parents’ due to circumstances that prevented me from having her, as well as due to the amount of travel I am bound to undertake for my job. She was a family member and was loved by everybody. I dream about her quite often and wake up with a yearning to pet her silky hair, feel the wetness and coolness of her little muzzle, hear her ‘talk’ to me, see her follow me around in the house.<br /><br />And then my thoughts drift away and I start thinking about my own death and wonder whether I am afraid of it or not, whether I am prepared for it or not. If I were to die tomorrow, would I be reconciled with the idea? Some may be of the opinion that nobody is prepared for that – ever. Maybe, maybe not. I think that one gradually learns to live with and accept the idea – especially as one grows older. Some old people even long to die – I have often heard my grandfather wondering when he will be re-united with my grandmother who died several years ago.<br /><br />Yes, it definitely has been, as you see, a bleak period. Maybe it’s right and normal to ask all these questions. Or maybe I am just slowly going crazy. Maybe I will never know.Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-35609979907940049552007-10-14T14:30:00.000+02:002007-10-14T15:07:08.624+02:00The Cat is back!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxISeJZYyKI/AAAAAAAAAIY/Mgq6ZO7RgRc/s1600-h/Picture+092.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121176035401451682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxISeJZYyKI/AAAAAAAAAIY/Mgq6ZO7RgRc/s320/Picture+092.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIR25ZYyJI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/tIRcOr28XoY/s1600-h/Picture+091.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121175361091586194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIR25ZYyJI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/tIRcOr28XoY/s320/Picture+091.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIRiJZYyII/AAAAAAAAAII/aP9gT4604KY/s1600-h/Picture+077.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121175004609300610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIRiJZYyII/AAAAAAAAAII/aP9gT4604KY/s320/Picture+077.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIREZZYyHI/AAAAAAAAAIA/OKL-UYfzgzo/s1600-h/Picture+017.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121174493508192370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIREZZYyHI/AAAAAAAAAIA/OKL-UYfzgzo/s320/Picture+017.jpg" border="0" /></a> Yes, The Cat is back and has lots of interesting little stories for you. With a slightly changed writing style (probably more cynicism and added bitterness but hopefully wittier), she hopes to be able to copiously entertain the (very) few poor mortals who still visit this page ...<br /><br /><div><div>Lots of things have happened since my last post and I now realise that I even missed my blog's 1 year anniversary ... Phew! Well, I don't really care actually because I am a total non-conformist and don't give two straws about such things ... Speaking of which, I was absolutely astounded to notice that some people actually write for the sake of it ... Yes, they have absolutely nothing to say but they do keep on writing just like that, just to be able to say ' yes, I have a blog, I' m a blogger'! Arghhh .... and, especially, YAWN!!! I am done checking other blogs ... For now. </div><br /><div>So what have I been doing? Well, on the work side of things, I made some interesting trips to India and Romania and, for holidays, we made a wonderful tour of Ireland (including Northern Ireland). Excellent! I have already posted lots of pictures on my flickr site but will continue to do so in the near future. Ireland is literally exquisite, such a beautiful place! I loved it! </div><br /><div>Today I am off to Maastricht for a three day training course and am actually writing this post in a hurry. I have lots of things to tell you but I don't really think that I have the time now, unfortunately :-( On the bright side of things, though, I feel so inspired and have such an itch to write that I know I will be here soon .... </div><br /><div>Now I really have to go ... It's good to be back ... Hey, have you noticed that it's autumn again? </div></div></div></div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-69255621603095117922007-10-14T14:16:00.000+02:002007-10-14T14:29:08.701+02:00Another fair on my street ...<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIKrZZYyFI/AAAAAAAAAHw/wAiWRysJ1Yk/s1600-h/Picture+569.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121167466941696082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIKrZZYyFI/AAAAAAAAAHw/wAiWRysJ1Yk/s320/Picture+569.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIKZZZYyEI/AAAAAAAAAHo/Gv3SSa_LucE/s1600-h/Picture+571.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121167157704050754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIKZZZYyEI/AAAAAAAAAHo/Gv3SSa_LucE/s320/Picture+571.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIJ4ZZYyDI/AAAAAAAAAHg/KRmtBvjErpA/s1600-h/Picture+579.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121166590768367666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIJ4ZZYyDI/AAAAAAAAAHg/KRmtBvjErpA/s320/Picture+579.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Yesterday I woke up to an incredible buzz and the sound of strange African music coming from outside ... I was soon to discover that another fair was being held right below my windows ... </div><br /><div>So there they were, various people selling absolutely everything - from old dolls and toys to second hand books, DVDs, clothes, old shoes ... well, I don't actually think there was much they weren't selling .... Here are some pictures ... </div><div></div><div>I am not a big fan of these things because I have never been interested to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">posses</span> second hand anything but I do understand the curiosity some people have to see what other people may be selling ... And, yes, you may be in for some big surprises!! </div></div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-26133477723922578942007-10-14T14:08:00.000+02:002007-10-14T15:09:12.411+02:00Currrently reading ....<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIIUJZYyCI/AAAAAAAAAHY/DH6PvGgxMJU/s1600-h/Picture+581.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121164868486481954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RxIIUJZYyCI/AAAAAAAAAHY/DH6PvGgxMJU/s320/Picture+581.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>My present read is a wonderful, entertaining book 'Hitler and Churchill -Secrets of Leadership' by Andrew Roberts.<br /><br />I am having an excellent time with it and I find out lots of things I hadn't known about the two leaders and their respective leadership styles ... I recommend it wholeheartedly!</div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-86388458385428652752007-06-03T23:53:00.000+02:002007-06-04T00:03:59.185+02:00Maggie<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RmM6aqkb4BI/AAAAAAAAAHM/NrhGlR1ClwQ/s1600-h/IMG_7335.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5071961835127431186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RmM6aqkb4BI/AAAAAAAAAHM/NrhGlR1ClwQ/s320/IMG_7335.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RmM5_Kkb4AI/AAAAAAAAAHE/wmuuNEp4LRc/s1600-h/IMG_7363.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5071961362681028610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RmM5_Kkb4AI/AAAAAAAAAHE/wmuuNEp4LRc/s320/IMG_7363.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RmM5wKkb3_I/AAAAAAAAAG8/q4HcttLyCvo/s1600-h/IMG_7362.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5071961104982990834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RmM5wKkb3_I/AAAAAAAAAG8/q4HcttLyCvo/s320/IMG_7362.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Something wonderful happened this week-end - I got Maggie for almost two days! She is an Australian terrier and I got to 'babysit' her. </div><br /><div>Her owners were supposed to go to France on a romantic week-end - this has not happened, but I still got her because they (rightly) thought that I would have been terribly disappointed if I had not got her as promised. </div><br /><div>She is cute and smart and loving and sweet and and and ... This week-end has just reminded me how much I miss having a pet. Or more! </div><div></div><div>And I felt a lot less lonely.</div></div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-23256923390076163192007-05-28T23:03:00.000+02:002007-05-28T23:05:20.989+02:00All in life is about choice<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RltD4brtJfI/AAAAAAAAAGs/si2wz0R89h4/s1600-h/IMG_7242.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5069720442318431730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RltD4brtJfI/AAAAAAAAAGs/si2wz0R89h4/s320/IMG_7242.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-55117817271456513172007-04-30T18:13:00.000+02:002007-04-30T18:18:31.591+02:00SpringIt’s springtime again and all my anxieties seem to have come back to life to haunt and torment me. I have not been able to sleep well for the last couple of weeks. Have recently begun to sleep curled into a ball again – I fall asleep in this position and wake up in the same, foetus position in the morning. Strangely enough, I have discovered myself almost relieved if I can keep a little light on, in an adjacent room during the night, as if I was afraid of something. I have never really been afraid of dark – was quite a good little girl after the age of two.<br /><br />I feel strange, ill at ease. I wonder if it’s just spring. Can I blame it on the spring? When I try to closer analyse it, I realise that I can’t really put my finger on it. It’s melancholy, apprehension, yearning, guilt. I have been a bad wife, daughter, friend for quite a while now – it’s a miracle people still contact me. Have been concentrating on work, travelling like crazy and trying not to delve too deep into serious thoughts.<br /><br />As part of my efforts to refrain from cutting myself off completely from the rest of the world during my free time, I met M on Saturday and we went together to see a movie – “Perfect Stranger” with Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. A psychological thriller, quite entertaining actually. We parted with the promise to repeat the outing soon.<br /><br />Yesterday I spent more or less the entire day reading – whiling away the long Sunday hours ensconced in my bedroom, with my book, a couple of my favourite cornets a la crème to keep me company. And, of course, lots of Turkish coffee.<br /><br />It seems to have been a great weekend, at a first glance. But appearances can’t fool me any longer - it’s time for the big questions. Hard, difficult questions – where will I be next year, what do I really want to do with my life, where do I want to live? Why can’t I start writing my book yet? Why can’t I just dismiss these thoughts? I could be happy, even if only for a day. Tempting.<br /><br />This sort of questions were hanging about in my mind last night, almost making me believe it was going to be yet another sleepless night, searching for answers and decipher them one by one. Luckily enough, or not, I was in the Land of Nod before finding answers to them all.Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-86065129584410637962007-04-28T22:11:00.000+02:002007-04-28T22:19:56.604+02:00My fantastic trip to Oman<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RjOr2hwN9RI/AAAAAAAAAGk/9iMdpr9O1xQ/s1600-h/IMG_6985.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058575759729095954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RjOr2hwN9RI/AAAAAAAAAGk/9iMdpr9O1xQ/s320/IMG_6985.JPG" border="0" /></a> For more pictures visit my flickr site<br /><div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-81613594662270206132007-04-26T00:08:00.000+02:002007-04-26T00:29:32.282+02:00Oman<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_UYhwN9QI/AAAAAAAAAGc/oBTIwG9i5wA/s1600-h/Muscat1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_UYhwN9QI/AAAAAAAAAGc/oBTIwG9i5wA/s320/Muscat1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057494424402916610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_UMhwN9PI/AAAAAAAAAGU/dEeGe6H7zyA/s1600-h/Hotel1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_UMhwN9PI/AAAAAAAAAGU/dEeGe6H7zyA/s320/Hotel1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057494218244486386" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_T_xwN9OI/AAAAAAAAAGM/csJS2inVdXg/s1600-h/Hotel3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_T_xwN9OI/AAAAAAAAAGM/csJS2inVdXg/s320/Hotel3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057493999201154274" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TxhwN9NI/AAAAAAAAAGE/oF66gL8_yhc/s1600-h/Hotel2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TxhwN9NI/AAAAAAAAAGE/oF66gL8_yhc/s320/Hotel2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057493754388018386" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TkRwN9MI/AAAAAAAAAF8/0-lKIJVND60/s1600-h/Oasis4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TkRwN9MI/AAAAAAAAAF8/0-lKIJVND60/s320/Oasis4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057493526754751682" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TWBwN9LI/AAAAAAAAAF0/QqYJb0kJctk/s1600-h/Oasis3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TWBwN9LI/AAAAAAAAAF0/QqYJb0kJctk/s320/Oasis3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057493281941615794" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TNBwN9KI/AAAAAAAAAFs/zpGK8xg1YHg/s1600-h/Oasis2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TNBwN9KI/AAAAAAAAAFs/zpGK8xg1YHg/s320/Oasis2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057493127322793122" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TERwN9JI/AAAAAAAAAFk/eHIVIcH3ybA/s1600-h/Oasis1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_TERwN9JI/AAAAAAAAAFk/eHIVIcH3ybA/s320/Oasis1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057492976998937746" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_S6RwN9II/AAAAAAAAAFc/Z_89NQd3LAs/s1600-h/Souk1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_S6RwN9II/AAAAAAAAAFc/Z_89NQd3LAs/s320/Souk1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057492805200245890" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SrhwN9HI/AAAAAAAAAFU/Db98dYw_oDA/s1600-h/Desert+trip3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SrhwN9HI/AAAAAAAAAFU/Db98dYw_oDA/s320/Desert+trip3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057492551797175410" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SjxwN9GI/AAAAAAAAAFM/f2v3m_sQWO8/s1600-h/Desert+trip2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SjxwN9GI/AAAAAAAAAFM/f2v3m_sQWO8/s320/Desert+trip2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057492418653189218" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SaxwN9FI/AAAAAAAAAFE/LopQI3cGR0g/s1600-h/Desert+trip1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SaxwN9FI/AAAAAAAAAFE/LopQI3cGR0g/s320/Desert+trip1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057492264034366546" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SNRwN9EI/AAAAAAAAAE8/-PnDfmTWfkY/s1600-h/Beach1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Ri_SNRwN9EI/AAAAAAAAAE8/-PnDfmTWfkY/s320/Beach1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057492032106132546" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I have been in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Muscat</st1:place></st1:city> for almost ten days now. Despite the oppressive temperatures I really love it! The country is beautiful, civilised, clean, almost everybody speaks English, people are nice and friendly. The city is mountainous (actually the whole country seems to be like that) and the contrast ocean – mountains is quite breathtaking. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>The hotel is absolutely fantastic, we have been very spoilt here – and yes, I do see the ocean from my room’s window! </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>On a different, sad note, it has been a difficult period, in which my morale was not that great (maybe too much back to back travel?). Consequently, I have maxed out my credit card buying more clothes and several pairs of shoes </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Wingdings;"><span style="">:-(</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"> right before leaving <st1:city st="on">Brussels</st1:city> for <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Muscat</st1:place></st1:city> and have had difficulties to get decent sleep. But the situation has improved quite a lot lately.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>The work has also been good. Our team here is made up mostly of Indians and even the Finance Manager is Indian. He is a nice guy and I have learnt lots of interesting things about <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> during my stay here. He has been trying to convince me to go and visit <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region> – we don’t really need too much convincing as <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> is among the places we do intend to travel to in the near future. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>The weekend here is Thursday and Friday, Saturday and Sunday are working days. Some Muslim countries have already shifted the weekend to Friday and Saturday, to align themselves to the rest of the world. It’s not the case here which makes the business communication with the rest of the world quite tedious. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>On the weekend, we went to the city centre and visited one of the souks (I just bought a silver bracelet which I am already tired of) and we made a desert trip. Actually, we drove approximately 500 km, on a trip outside <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Muscat</st1:place></st1:city> last Friday. This contained a desert adventure (with a Nissan Patrol – good, lasting car!), coffee with a Bedouin family in the desert and a visit to some oasis. Everything was enjoyed and considered a great experience. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>Tomorrow night I fly back to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Brussels</st1:place></st1:city>. Even though <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Oman</st1:place></st1:country-region> is fantastic, I am actually glad to be back home in my flat. I can hardly wait! </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>PS I am posting some pictures taken by M. Mine have to wait to be downloaded on the laptop at home. </span></p>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-34273193266234537682007-04-10T00:20:00.000+02:002007-04-10T01:29:35.269+02:00Islamic Cairo in pictures<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrL6IGPxkI/AAAAAAAAAE0/5V53PmHApbQ/s1600-h/IMG_6580.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051574131515967042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrL6IGPxkI/AAAAAAAAAE0/5V53PmHApbQ/s320/IMG_6580.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrJnYGPxjI/AAAAAAAAAEs/cduth7rpBO0/s1600-h/IMG_6583.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051571610370164274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrJnYGPxjI/AAAAAAAAAEs/cduth7rpBO0/s320/IMG_6583.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrJWoGPxiI/AAAAAAAAAEk/HaJtUqLR6Jk/s1600-h/IMG_6576.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051571322607355426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrJWoGPxiI/AAAAAAAAAEk/HaJtUqLR6Jk/s320/IMG_6576.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrIlYGPxhI/AAAAAAAAAEc/qvx61igphmE/s1600-h/IMG_6471.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051570476498798098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrIlYGPxhI/AAAAAAAAAEc/qvx61igphmE/s320/IMG_6471.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrIF4GPxgI/AAAAAAAAAEU/MnWEItE-KdM/s1600-h/IMG_6487.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051569935332918786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrIF4GPxgI/AAAAAAAAAEU/MnWEItE-KdM/s320/IMG_6487.JPG" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051569467181483506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrHqoGPxfI/AAAAAAAAAEM/h-gww6y0v2o/s320/IMG_6512.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrEbIGPxeI/AAAAAAAAAEE/AFLPkxU3BoA/s1600-h/IMG_6517.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051565902358627810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrEbIGPxeI/AAAAAAAAAEE/AFLPkxU3BoA/s320/IMG_6517.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrDNYGPxdI/AAAAAAAAAD8/KxlcdcKqC4U/s1600-h/IMG_6522.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051564566623798738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrDNYGPxdI/AAAAAAAAAD8/KxlcdcKqC4U/s320/IMG_6522.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrCvoGPxcI/AAAAAAAAAD0/kMu7rJB_ch8/s1600-h/IMG_6539.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051564055522690498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrCvoGPxcI/AAAAAAAAAD0/kMu7rJB_ch8/s320/IMG_6539.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrB9YGPxbI/AAAAAAAAADs/8CDxF8vQXQE/s1600-h/IMG_6572.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051563192234263986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrB9YGPxbI/AAAAAAAAADs/8CDxF8vQXQE/s320/IMG_6572.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrA_YGPxZI/AAAAAAAAADc/oeZFQSjA8jA/s1600-h/IMG_6579.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051562127082374546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrA_YGPxZI/AAAAAAAAADc/oeZFQSjA8jA/s320/IMG_6579.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrAKIGPxYI/AAAAAAAAADU/JGdzX3fzQuc/s1600-h/IMG_6613.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051561212254340482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhrAKIGPxYI/AAAAAAAAADU/JGdzX3fzQuc/s320/IMG_6613.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq_pIGPxXI/AAAAAAAAADM/wrMFX70bclE/s1600-h/IMG_6628.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051560645318657394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq_pIGPxXI/AAAAAAAAADM/wrMFX70bclE/s320/IMG_6628.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq-ooGPxWI/AAAAAAAAADE/3n_RLtIhrko/s1600-h/IMG_6644.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051559537217095010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq-ooGPxWI/AAAAAAAAADE/3n_RLtIhrko/s320/IMG_6644.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq9bYGPxVI/AAAAAAAAAC8/SIZsF9TwYOI/s1600-h/IMG_6647.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051558210072200530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq9bYGPxVI/AAAAAAAAAC8/SIZsF9TwYOI/s320/IMG_6647.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq9DYGPxUI/AAAAAAAAAC0/XJ701DjndRo/s1600-h/IMG_6648.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051557797755340098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq9DYGPxUI/AAAAAAAAAC0/XJ701DjndRo/s320/IMG_6648.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-35949570052803744402007-04-08T19:04:00.000+02:002007-04-10T00:19:47.689+02:00Tales From the Land of the Dust (continued)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq704GPxTI/AAAAAAAAACs/3fjkxBMnKn4/s1600-h/IMG_6456.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051556449135609138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq704GPxTI/AAAAAAAAACs/3fjkxBMnKn4/s320/IMG_6456.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq6-IGPxSI/AAAAAAAAACk/WkXP9hb-MCk/s1600-h/IMG_6455.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051555508537771298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq6-IGPxSI/AAAAAAAAACk/WkXP9hb-MCk/s320/IMG_6455.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq6mYGPxRI/AAAAAAAAACc/TEGChYIJnRs/s1600-h/IMG_6452.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051555100515878162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq6mYGPxRI/AAAAAAAAACc/TEGChYIJnRs/s320/IMG_6452.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq6S4GPxQI/AAAAAAAAACU/H1PGPV7WsTI/s1600-h/IMG_6446.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051554765508429058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq6S4GPxQI/AAAAAAAAACU/H1PGPV7WsTI/s320/IMG_6446.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Yesterday we went to see the remains of the ancient city of Memphis and the Step pyramid of Saqqara.<br /><br />The day started bad because we arrived downstairs, in the hotel lobby, a few minutes late and we missed the organised tour that we had meant to join. Consequently, the concierge had to arrange for another guide and car, just for us. Of course, in the end, it all turned out fine, but it was just a bit unpleasant to see the concierge shrug his shoulders and tell us that he was sorry but, as we were 10 minutes late, the guide had already left without even giving us a call.<br /><br />We first stopped at Memphis, the ancient capital of Lower Egypt and of the old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 1300 BC. The ruins of Memphis are approximately 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile.<br /><br />We were not quite impressed with what we saw. Apart from a giant statue of Ramses the 2nd and a few other statues of gods and goddesses there was nothing else to be seen so we were soon back in the car and on our way to Saqqara. The weather was incredibly annoying because there was a very strong wind which basically blew all the sand into our eyes, mouths, noses and pretty much everywhere. We soon had to find out that this was even worse at Saqqara. Moreover, it was very hot.<br /><br />Saqqara was one of the main burial fields of the ancient city of Memphis. It is located some 40 km from Cairo. The most significant monument of the complex is the Step Pyramid of Djoser. The complex covers an area of 6km by 1.5 km.<br /><br />Our visit was spoilt by the very strong wind and the sand which simply made its way everywhere – I had sand in my hair, on my face, on my lips, eventually in my mouth, in my light white shoes, in my clothes. I could hardly wait to get back to the hotel and wash the dust off my body. On the way back to Cairo, our guide tried to tempt us into visiting one of those Carpet Schools which are so popular now with tourists. We resisted heroically as we genuinely are not interested in carpets and we have already seen lots of such places in our travels (Morocco, Turkey, etc.).<br /><br />Today we called our first guide, Mohammed, who speaks excellent English and has a wonderful sense of humour. We arranged for him, a driver and a car to accompany us on a tour of Islamic Cairo and, ultimately, of the famous City of the Dead. He was a bit taken aback when A told him that we wanted to go to the City of the Dead. I discovered that, for some reason or another, the Egyptians either don’t want to admit it or they genuinely don’t know too much about this place. Anyway, Mohammed was even a bit scared of going there and he tried to convince us to give up the thought. In the end, A succeeded in making him agree to take us there and drive us a bit around the area, for us just to have a look.<br /><br />The day was generally pleasant. We visited several mosques, walked a lot in the city and also went to a market. The mosques (most of them very old) were really beautiful. What I totally disliked was the fact that we had to take our shoes off and, at one place, they even requested me to cover both my body and my hair with veils. We bought a pair of socks for me which I wore each time we went inside (as I didn’t want to be bare foot in the mosque). However, I refused to go inside the place where I was supposed to cover myself. I have my own theory about this whole thing so I didn’t want to go against my principles. Mohammed was intrigued and I saw he wanted to discuss but didn’t have the courage to start a debate. I had continuously challenged him on the subject of women and their role in Islam so he knew this was a delicate issue.<br /><br />We also visited an old Islamic house which was decorated and inhabited by a British officer during the time when Egypt was occupied by the Brits. The house had lots of rooms and Mohammed was joking, telling us several times to hurry up because there were ‘further 200 rooms to be seen’ (he was very funny!). At some point, he told A to hide into a secret niche in the house and urged me to look for him. It was very frustrating, I had to search two rooms, I even suspected where the secret door was but I didn’t know how to access the secret mechanism to open it. The guys had a good time and found the little hide and seek game very funny. Mohammed even said that I looked like a little child who lost her mother.<br /><br />The visit to the City of the Dead was short and rather saddening. There was not much to be seen, just a poor area with extremely thin stray dogs and cats wandering around. We found a man who was tipped into letting us have a look inside two courtyards. There was a poor family cooking dinner for the two children and some chickens held into a wooden cage. Somehow we wanted to be out of there. Quickly.<br /><br />The Easter break is now over. It’s time to take our leave. We’ll fly back to Europe tomorrow and a good part of the day will be spent travelling. Maybe this is our last time in the Land of the Dust, who knows! We have already said our farewell ...</div></div></div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-56330228140227981882007-04-06T22:20:00.000+02:002007-04-10T00:07:06.131+02:00Sun, desert and … sun again!<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq4noGPxPI/AAAAAAAAACM/FfBA_RTPbPU/s1600-h/IMG_6444.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051552922967459058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq4noGPxPI/AAAAAAAAACM/FfBA_RTPbPU/s320/IMG_6444.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq4RIGPxOI/AAAAAAAAACE/eKjYyCL-pEs/s1600-h/IMG_6429.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051552536420402402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq4RIGPxOI/AAAAAAAAACE/eKjYyCL-pEs/s320/IMG_6429.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051551948009882834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq3u4GPxNI/AAAAAAAAAB8/W4MC-FMf5co/s320/IMG_6427.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq3QIGPxMI/AAAAAAAAAB0/k_1o9vySLNU/s1600-h/IMG_6418.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051551419728905410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq3QIGPxMI/AAAAAAAAAB0/k_1o9vySLNU/s320/IMG_6418.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051551054656685234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq264GPxLI/AAAAAAAAABs/EwLUmISd2do/s320/IMG_6411.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051549920785319074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq144GPxKI/AAAAAAAAABk/uBWF06yKwzU/s320/IMG_6378.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq1k4GPxJI/AAAAAAAAABc/NgFPULstSuc/s1600-h/IMG_6396.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051549577187935378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq1k4GPxJI/AAAAAAAAABc/NgFPULstSuc/s320/IMG_6396.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq1I4GPxII/AAAAAAAAABU/ssVo9WI0e20/s1600-h/IMG_6376.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051549096151598210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhq1I4GPxII/AAAAAAAAABU/ssVo9WI0e20/s320/IMG_6376.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />I am scribbling this post in the hotel room, in bed, under covers, shivering and munching some Mozarttalers which A brought me from Vienna. No, it is definitely not cold, either in the room or outside. But the skin on my arms and face is sun burnt. Yes, I’m afraid I did it again to a certain extent :-). It was extremely hot today in Egypt, I wore a t-shirt and we had to walk a lot in the sun so … A is making a fuss about it although I specifically asked him not to … It’s far from being as bad as the Malta experience.<br /><br />But what a busy day this has been! We set off quite early (for a day off) – I hardly had time to grab a take away coffee from the coffee shop in our hotel (well, to be really honest, A brought it to me, together with a fresh croissant. Poor chap, he knows very well how grumpy I can get early in the morning, before having my coffee). The guide, Mohammed, was already waiting for us in the lobby at 8.30.<br /><br />Our today objective was El Fayoum, a beautiful area which serves as holiday destination for many Egyptians. It has a big lake, Qaroun, apparently Egypt’s largest salt water lake.<br />The prehistoric people who lived here were, at first, nomadic hunters and gatherers, but later began harvesting plants near the lake. This developed into what is said to be the earliest agricultural area in the world, where fences were erected and guarded warehouses built. It has remained an agriculture center, the peacefulness of which is a relief from the hustle and bustle of Cairo, from which it is a brief trip. Bird life still abounds around Lake Qaroun, bordered by semi-nomadic Bedouin settlements and fishing villages.<br /><br />Fayoum is not a true oasis since it depends on Nile water instead of underground springs or wells. The ancient Bahr Yussef canal runs through the center of the city and irrigates the land. Only two hours from Cairo by road, Fayoum is renowned for its year-round warm climate, numerous water wheels (introduced by the Ptolemies in the 3rd century) and lush agricultural land. Cotton, clover, tomatoes, medicinal plants and fruit are all grown here. The local Souk (market) in Fayoum City sells copperware, spices and gold jewelry and there is a special pottery market once a week.<br /><br />We made the first stop to explore some ruined temples belonging to various ages – ancient Egyptian, Ptolemaic, Roman. We were a bit surprised as tourist police was everywhere, our car was stopped and our guide had to give details about our nationality, what we intended to visit, the hotel we were staying at in Cairo, etc. He was even given a telephone number that he could call in case something was wrong and we needed help. We were escorted by armed policemen during our visit to the temple which felt a bit oppressive and weird, since Egypt is generally a safe country. As it is with all these ruins, there was not that much to be seen, of course and, by that time of the day, it had become extremely hot and the sun was incredibly powerful so our walk was quite tedious.<br /><br />The second stop was to see an interesting pyramid built around 1000 BC. It looked quite strange; we were told that it was built in three layers (lime stone, red granite for the burial chamber and bricks on the outside). The inside was flooded so we could not see much. We were told by the armed policemen that around the pyramid there were several tombs of the workers that built the pyramid. To prove that, we were invited for a short walk around and were shown remains of bones that looked like white sticks and were scattered everywhere in the sand, holes in the ground where the tombs were supposed to be and even two skulls that were supposedly remains of those times. To me, the skulls looked quite new, so I secretly doubted they belonged to the poor workers that toiled to build the pyramid. But, of course, I kept those thoughts to myself.<br /><br />We then stopped in the city of Fayoum to see the famous waterwheels and, especially, to have some cold drinks. When we returned to the car, something interesting happened. A group of local young women that were admiring the waterwheels saw me, surrounded me and were trying to tell me something. Our guide told me that they wanted to take a picture with me. They were so enthusiastic and friendly so I immediately agreed. So they grouped close around me, we almost held hands and one of them took the picture. Other people automatically stopped in the street and took pictures as well, some of them using their phone cameras! A also took a picture so I will be able to post it here as soon as he downloads it. Later, in the car, the guide told us that apparently it’s every Egyptian girl’s dream to be blonde and have green or blue eyes. Apparently this is their ideal beauty. I don’t know if this was Mohammed’s attempt to compliment me. All I know is that I was touched by the girls’ reaction.<br /><br />The last stop was to see the lake itself. We stopped at a 5* hotel built right on the shore. We entered the reception area and went directly to the swimming pool which was located near the lake. There was nothing really special about the lake, apart from the fact that it was big. The water was quite dirty so we were not really impressed and left quite quickly not before visiting the loo which was very civilised there.<br /><br />I had a very interesting conversation with our guide on the way back to Cairo. We talked about many things – couples, sex and marriage in Egyptian society, the role of women, and day to day life in Cairo. I was a bit surprised to hear that the Egyptian society is still so very conservative and many things considered normal in Europe are viewed here as completely outrageous and unacceptable. It is, for example, unacceptable for a girl <strong><em>not </em></strong>to be a virgin when she gets married. If she is not a virgin, the new husband has every right to divorce her immediately and disgrace her by making the fact known to relatives and friends. Furthermore, if the girl is a virgin but is so ‘weak’ as to agree to make love with her future husband <strong><em>before</em></strong> getting married, the guy would commonly think that that particular girl is not, in fact, made for marriage and would have serious second thoughts about marrying her! Apparently, if she was weak with him, she could be weak with somebody else, after the marriage consummates! This sounds so bloody unfair and silly to my ears!!<br /><br />The family circle still plays the most important role in getting the young people together and, ultimately, making them marry. Mohammed’s sister, for example, got married through the mosque that she was regularly attending. At that mosque, there was this old woman whose role was to facilitate young people to get to know each other with the view to get married. And our guide’s sister ended up marrying the old woman’s own son! Mohammed told us that, if he wanted to find a wife for himself (he’s 34), he would typically ask his mother to spot a few suitable girls and introduce them to him. It is also forbidden for young people to date and spend time alone with each other - they always have to meet in the presence of their families.<br /><br />I was also rather shocked when Mohammed asked if I can cook, if my cooking skills are good. I naturally said ‘no’, as they are actually inexistent. He smiled and said that, in Egypt, when a guy is about to marry a girl, he has the right to ask her to cook for him, so he can test her cooking skills. And men here apparently prefer the women to cook everything from scratch and avoid using semi-cooked food that is found in the supermarkets. How very nice indeed! A observed that Egypt seems like a nice place to be. For men. Not for women though. Well, I had no cooking skills (and, sadly, I still lack those – gee, I have to do something about it. I think.). And I also wasn’t a virgin upon getting married. My goodness, there must have been <strong><em>something</em></strong> I was doing right though :-). I wonder what :-). I have just made a mental note to remember to ask A!<br /><br />Later on in the conversation, it was Mohammed’s turn to be astonished when I told him that I’m 32. And I got the same comment about my looking much younger, again early 20's. Hmmm … maybe I should start using some make-up!<br /><br />We are already looking forward to tomorrow. The city is just a few steps away and is alive and waiting for us!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-9450366834128643212007-04-06T00:31:00.000+02:002007-04-06T01:28:35.273+02:00The City That Never SleepsToday our assignment here in Cairo was officially at an end … Yet another job finished. And it has been definitely good, a great experience from many points of view. It was the first time for me to work with M and I liked it. It was the first time for him to work with people in the Brussels team and, somehow, I am under the impression that he had a jolly good time in the process too (well, apart from Cairo itself, which he didn’t quite enjoy, but that, again, is a question of personal preference, of course)… That is really great since we are going to meet again, in one week, on the job in Oman. Oh boy, I definitely look forward to that! We will be staying in Muscat at this hotel <a title="http://muscat.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp" href="http://muscat.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp">http://muscat.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp</a>. It looks like a nice place :-). I look forward to the ocean and the desert, to a bit of daydreaming while admiring the ocean waves from my room’s window… Moreover, the very thorny, worrying visa problem was solved rather nicely and painlessly – I exchanged a couple of emails with our Finance Manager in Muscat and he assured me that European citizens can obtain their visas on the airport, upon arrival. Nevertheless, I am still amazed that The Sultanate of Oman has neither an embassy nor a consulate in Brussels … Strange.<br /><br />I am usually not a big fan of socialising, especially when this is imposed and in big quantities. But here, in Egypt, this has really been quality socialising and I haven’t felt it like a burden at all. I have met very interesting people, funny, witty, kind. Last night it was our turn to invite the management to dinner. The reservation had been made at the Lebanese restaurant in our hotel. The food there is, indeed, delicious and the service impeccable – a true 5* restaurant. We spent the most enjoyable couple of hours, laughed a lot, discussed lots of subjects and explored the cultural differences (good grief, we had a German, a Portuguese, a Romanian, a South African and several Egyptians around that table! No wonder we had lots of things to discuss). One of our Egyptian colleagues told me that I look very young, in my early 20s. As much as I wanted this to be true, I felt compelled to reveal my age, to my interlocutor's utter astonishment.<br /><br />Today, after the closing meeting was finished and M and L were driven to the airport to catch their flights back to Europe, I was invited to lunch by Maha, our HR Manager here in Egypt. She is a great lady, I felt so attracted to her and made friends instantly. She is a former engineer who converted to HR, who believes that, if we really want something in life, we can achieve it, who has brought up her teenage daughter and son on her own as her husband died several years ago. We went to one of the many restaurants on boats and enjoyed a frugal lunch that mainly consisted of spaghetti (I was not hungry at all, I only accepted the invitation because I really like the person). Over lunch I found out interesting things about Egyptian society, way of life, customs and traditions.<br /><br />Then A called to tell me that he landed and he was on his way to the hotel so Maha and I had to cut our lunch rather short. In the evening, a short nap, a long business long distance phone call and a long fax sent to his office by A later, we managed to make it to the restaurant for dinner. More food! :-(<br /><br />It has been rather hot this week in Cairo, especially today, and it will be even hotter in the next few days. Luckily I have brought plenty of summer clothes! So much for my plans to travel light!<br /><br />Easter holiday at last! Tomorrow we’ll go to El Fayoum oasis, a place located some 1.5 hours drive outside Cairo. We have arranged for a car, a driver and a guide to wait for us rather early tomorrow morning. I hope it will all be worth the few hours of sleep we’ll be giving up :-) . Tonight I also settled my hotel bill and I realised that I paid a small fortune for the uninterrupted internet access in the room that I have benefited from during my stay. It might have well been the most expensive hotel internet so far!<br /><br />There are still so many things to be seen, to be explored in Cairo, the city that never sleeps … It literally never sleeps! There are people everywhere on the streets, bad traffic jams and ear bleeding noise around the clock. But it's so alive! So many things to be seen! And I have only scratched the surface!Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-64286151670574701692007-03-30T21:15:00.000+02:002007-04-09T23:45:48.301+02:00On Pyramids, Belly Dancers and Skirts<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhqz64GPxHI/AAAAAAAAABM/tniElN2C0G8/s1600-h/IMG_6361.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051547756121801842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhqz64GPxHI/AAAAAAAAABM/tniElN2C0G8/s320/IMG_6361.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhqzd4GPxGI/AAAAAAAAABE/DaQEhOLUigM/s1600-h/IMG_6359.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051547257905595490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/Rhqzd4GPxGI/AAAAAAAAABE/DaQEhOLUigM/s320/IMG_6359.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhqxJoGPxFI/AAAAAAAAAA8/cqL0i7uSb9A/s1600-h/IMG_6374.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051544710989988946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhqxJoGPxFI/AAAAAAAAAA8/cqL0i7uSb9A/s320/IMG_6374.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Yesterday (Thursday) was a crazy day. Very busy at work and then the local management took us out to have dinner on one of those boats that make cruises on the Nile. So, fancy dinner and short Nile cruise! The food was good, the belly dance was entertaining and everybody was merry so I guess the evening was a success. The rest of the people continued the evening in a bar but I preferred to return to the hotel as I felt tired and wanted some time alone. Also, I do not drink or smoke so sitting in a smoky bar, while other people get more or less tipsy and I only drink espresso is not my idea of a perfect evening.<br /><br />As always, I was fascinated with the belly dance. Every time it has the same effect on me and every time I promise myself that I will take classes and be able to perform it enchantingly. I don’t know what it is – the music, the dancer’s lascivious waist and belly moves fascinate me. It’s a powerful seducing instrument, that’s for sure … So womanlike, so feminine. If I needed to seduce my man, this is what I would try in the bedroom confinement (apart from intelligent conversation, of course). Last night, however, I was very sad to learn that I would need to put on a lot of fat around the waist in order to be able to be a good belly dancer. Which statement I tend to take face value because all belly dancers that I have ever seen were chubby. So there must be some truth in it. I am not sure if I really want to pay this price, though.<br /><br />And while I am still on this subject, I have recently started to wear skirts more often. This was a suggestion from a male friend, which I wanted to try for my amusement. The effect is, indeed, incredible and is two fold. First, I feel differently – at the beginning it felt quite awkward, as I have never been a skirt girl and I feel incredibly comfortable and secure in trousers (office or play – jeans, etc.). Therefore, wearing stockings and skirts most of the time made me feel quite vulnerable, almost helpless. Additionally, I noticed a certain change in the men around me. It seems that they suddenly feel the need to be more considerate and protective. Is this good?<br /><br />This morning, L, M (the other M) and I were supposed to meet up at 9 in the hotel lobby and find our guide to go to the pyramids. M had a plane to catch early afternoon which didn’t actually leave us with too much time on our hands. Just enough for a visit to the pyramids and sphinx, the traditional visit to the papyrus shop and a souvenir shop. Both L and I had done all this before and for us the excitement was somewhat diminished. For M, however, this was his first time in Cairo so he was all eyes. Unfortunately for him, he only had two days here. After the papyrus and souvenir shops, M dropped us off at the hotel on his way to the airport.<br /><br />L and I had coffee and ice-cream in the hotel coffee shop. During the conversation I found out that L separated from his wife. This came as a total shock as I had met his wife and they seemed happy and had not been married long. Life is treacherous, these things happen so often. And it’s sad.<br /><br />My afternoon was spent in the room, mainly sleeping and texting. I was down with a bad migraine which prevented me from accompanying the guys on the visit to the Coptic Church, the souk and the Egyptian restaurant as it had been planned. While I regret having missed those, I really appreciated the time alone and, not least, the nap I took which nearly cured my migraine.<br /><br />It’s dark now. I am feeling better, the splitting headache has somewhat subsided. I am writing this blog post, listening to Natalie Imbruglia and waiting for a message from someone to tell me that he made it home safely, on his bike, in the pouring rain.</div></div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-23264743068846955562007-03-28T23:50:00.000+02:002007-04-09T23:30:50.893+02:00Walk Like an Egyptian<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhqweIGPxEI/AAAAAAAAAA0/IblulCzygc8/s1600-h/IMG_6326.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051543963665679426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RhqweIGPxEI/AAAAAAAAAA0/IblulCzygc8/s320/IMG_6326.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>I have been in Cairo since Sunday and enjoying it. The trip was a bit tiring but not necessarily due to the flights themselves (hell, I had to change planes in Zürich) but because I had to fly very early in the morning and I usually don’t get any sleep on the night before in such cases. On top of everything, the clocks had to be moved forward on that same Sunday. But that’s a whole different story.<br /><br />I don’t think the city has changed too much since 1999 when we came to Egypt as tourists and made a tour of the country (pyramids, Nile Cruise, temples, the Valley of the Kings and all the rest). It is very loud, pulsating with life, polluted and very safe. The traffic is crazy and it never stops. After all, it’s a city of several million people (18 after some sources, 22 after some other) out of which approximately 5 million are forced by poverty to live in cemeteries, in tombs.<br /><br />The weather has been extremely pleasant, the hotel is acceptable (apparently the best in town but there still is a lot to be desired, Egyptian standards) and the people are extremely nice and friendly. The hotel is a real fortress, with police using especially trained dogs to check the incoming cars for ammunition; they also scan all suitcases, backpacks, etc. the way they do it on the airports.<br /><br />I am the only girl in the team, the other 3 members being men and our office here is also staffed mostly by men. So I have been very spoiled and have received a lot of flattering attention during these few days :-) . Too bad that we are supposed to do some work here too, hehe. If men were staring in China, well here they are simply overwhelmed … They look as if they cannot believe their eyes. I understand that a pleasantly shaped, green eyed, natural blonde girl is not that common here but, hey men, get a grip!! This is starting to become embarrassing!<br /><br />M, who is German, has convinced me that I have to practice my rusty German. Having done so to a certain (limited) extent, both of us have discovered that it is not that rusty after all – quite correct grammar and the vocabulary is not poor at all! Well, I think I need to practice more and, with so many German colleagues continuously around, this is feasible. It is actually not the first time I receive praises for my German – too bad that I stubbornly refuse to speak it, fearing of making silly mistakes. And I am also quite lazy which is not of much help.<br /><br />I haven’t had time for play since I arrived in Cairo so I am looking forward to the weekend (which is Friday and Saturday) and to the following weekend which will be a long one (A will join me here for a mini holiday). However, on Saturday I have to interview a local candidate for one of the positions in our team in Brussels so ... work again. But I will also be a tourist – I have brought my camera and I have promised people to take lots of pictures of the smog and, if possible, of pyramids :-). It’s true that some of them just wanted pictures of me so I will try and please both categories …. Oh, and I should not forget my dear friend Richard who, as usual, would like pictures of dirt and street cabinets!!<br /><br />One of the guys, who has never been here before, wants to go and see the pyramids on Friday - perhaps I will join him because I want to see them again. The rest of the guys would like to go to the souk (market) for some bargaining and fun. I can’t bargain but M has offered to do it for me in exchange for a certain tip. What’s the advantage of having him bargain on my behalf if I need to pay him for that :-)<br /><br />In one of my future posts, I will write about the referendum that was held here these days – quite interesting …. But for now, I bid you goodnight and get under the covers ... I promise to write again soon and post lots of pictures ...</div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-88090852325888447102007-03-24T14:13:00.000+01:002007-03-31T02:19:00.802+02:00Puiul de Arici<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RgUkD9dZCTI/AAAAAAAAAAo/kIaZok0O3mo/s1600-h/ez2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045478607994554674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RgUkD9dZCTI/AAAAAAAAAAo/kIaZok0O3mo/s320/ez2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-59356210467871129772007-03-23T20:19:00.000+01:002007-03-23T20:25:04.481+01:00Someone still needs a bit of taming ... Or not.<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RgQpeddZCSI/AAAAAAAAAAg/W6paHDzFUJc/s1600-h/IMG_5985.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045203085842516258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RgQpeddZCSI/AAAAAAAAAAg/W6paHDzFUJc/s320/IMG_5985.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-55755264194843525622007-03-20T22:17:00.000+01:002007-03-21T00:16:33.737+01:00Life ...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RgBQRddZCRI/AAAAAAAAAAY/FWQIcSH2g2U/s1600-h/IMG_6320.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5044119843550857490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/RgBQRddZCRI/AAAAAAAAAAY/FWQIcSH2g2U/s320/IMG_6320.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>... too busy living it to the full, no time to write about it ... Yet. </div>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-5890405715020795552007-02-28T09:51:00.000+01:002007-02-28T10:00:57.846+01:00Back to School<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/ReVEpoPpm3I/AAAAAAAAAAM/cZe9XOacmXQ/s1600-h/IMG_6316.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FiaUb6JNBaQ/ReVEpoPpm3I/AAAAAAAAAAM/cZe9XOacmXQ/s320/IMG_6316.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5036507240252152690" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span lang="EN-GB">I was recently asked by a couple of concerned friends why I am continuously unavailable on line, why I have been a stranger for quite some time now, why I haven’t returned phone calls and haven’t written emails. <span style=""> </span>I would therefore like to apologise for having been silent for so long and I hope that I have not alienated (all) my friends. What have I been doing lately? Well, not much really, apart from travelling like mad around Europe (the <st1:country-region st="on">UK</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region st="on">France</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Romania</st1:place></st1:country-region>, since the beginning of the year). For work. Mais oui, what else. And the travel plan for the rest of the year looks even crazier. Eh, I guess I have to survive. </span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">SO: <span style=""> </span>no, I am not upset, I am not precious or self–sufficient. I have just been busy – I know it is a truism but, unfortunately, it is true. And something else is true too – sometimes I just need some time for myself. Some time when I reduce the conversations with friends, even with family, to a minimum. A time reserved for introspection, staring at the ceiling and hard thinking. I know it’s dangerous, I know I might get lost in the woods but this is something which I really need to do from time to time.<o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In the meantime, I have felt the need to study. My brain has been underused for way too long. I have been toying with the idea of an executive MBA for some time but have decided to postpone that a bit. Just a tiny bit, until I get my CIA degree. The books arrived while I was away but today (my first day back in the office) I took them home </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Wingdings;"><span style="">J</span></span><span lang="EN-GB">. This is a qualification which I don’t exactly need – meaning that I can do my job extremely well without having passed these exams (and I have another, more meaningful / powerful qualification already). But CIA is related to my job and it’s a way to keep occupied. So, it’s back to school for me, I guess. </span></p> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I hope I succeeded to reassure everybody and convince them that I am alive and kicking. Just feel the need to be invisible for a while. Relax, I will resurface soon. But, for now, I say goodbye and retreat to my shell.</span></span>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-1171323193377971862007-02-13T00:32:00.000+01:002007-02-13T00:36:40.140+01:00Every once in a while I get to thinking about relationships …I am lying in bed, in a hotel room in Lyon, thinking about relationships. Why are they such hard work? Why are we not always able to reach a compromise, why do we keep measuring our and our partners’ commitment? Are we afraid of getting bruised? Is love enough to make a relationship work?<br /><br />When we move in together with our partner, are we really prepared to let go of our life as singles? Even when we find what we’ve been looking for, some of us are reluctant to let go of our single selves. Is this necessarily bad? Are we allowed to come into a relationship with single people behaviour? Can we hold on to our old habits without being perceived as either weird or selfish? Or can we continue to keep our space, spend time on our own, ‘do our thing’ AND have a perfectly healthy relationship? At what point do separate interests become separate bedrooms and, ultimately, separate lives?<br /><br />Lately, I have also been thinking about babies … Why are we so different in this respect – some people have made it their number one objective to have them, whereas others simply couldn’t care less. Does the biological clock function differently from one person to another? Both men and women are challenged in this respect even though I guess it’s the women who are more pressurised. Can’t we be happy in pairs? Do we necessarily need babies to round up a relationship and make it complete? On a personal level, I have often wondered if I would really be good at this … How much would that change in my life and would I still be myself.<br /><br />Maybe we should stop searching for a perfect relationship and settle for a satisfactory one and, when we are about to throw in the towel, we should be aware of the fact that no relationship is perfect and that good relationships are hard to find.Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-1168828563450481622007-01-15T02:50:00.000+01:002007-01-15T05:11:16.356+01:00Fes<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/208896/IMG_6235.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/344900/IMG_6235.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/270123/IMG_6236.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/307806/IMG_6236.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/185146/IMG_6237.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/388740/IMG_6237.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/856287/IMG_6238.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/280057/IMG_6238.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/266444/IMG_6240.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/751188/IMG_6240.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/828775/IMG_6242.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/738872/IMG_6242.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/561179/IMG_6244.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/440030/IMG_6244.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/659662/IMG_6250.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/801992/IMG_6250.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/92967/IMG_6251.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/640855/IMG_6251.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/563241/IMG_6252.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/43333/IMG_6252.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/836707/IMG_6255.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/831192/IMG_6255.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/4066/IMG_6270.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/311390/IMG_6270.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/254129/IMG_6276.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/603205/IMG_6276.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/758274/IMG_6285.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/463949/IMG_6285.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/713838/IMG_6278.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/256660/IMG_6278.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/472797/IMG_6284.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/620653/IMG_6284.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/51512/IMG_6292.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/937763/IMG_6292.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/47698/IMG_6299.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/568678/IMG_6299.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/872613/IMG_6306.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/559498/IMG_6306.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/512094/IMG_6171.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/954493/IMG_6171.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/820469/IMG_6173.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/996705/IMG_6173.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/260303/IMG_6174.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/888504/IMG_6174.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p>We arrived in Fes towards the evening, after having visited Meknes. Very impressed with our hotel, a former palace, now a very nice Sofitel. </p><p>We saw places that pretty much resembled what we had seen before in Morocco so I will not go into much detail. It was an uneventful, yet pleasant stay. </p><p>On Sunday morning we were off to the local airport to catch a plane to Paris ... So long Morocco! Do I recommend the destionation, I was asked .... Yes, I do, but make sure you book good hotels otherwise you may be in for a nasty surprise :-) </p><p>Heh ... the holiday is over for a while ... It's back to work for me and back to intense travelling. And that is not that bad ... </p>Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-1168818740700284912007-01-15T00:51:00.000+01:002007-01-15T02:26:30.716+01:00Meknes<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/368314/IMG_6091.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/146092/IMG_6091.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/394834/IMG_6093.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/282630/IMG_6093.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/556943/IMG_6097.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/441501/IMG_6097.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/910998/IMG_6101.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/991962/IMG_6101.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/387631/IMG_6103.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/392813/IMG_6103.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/77219/IMG_6109.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/225559/IMG_6109.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/817780/IMG_6110.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/886627/IMG_6110.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/439199/IMG_6111.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/419542/IMG_6111.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/871537/IMG_6114.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/372560/IMG_6114.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/151500/IMG_6120.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/466297/IMG_6120.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/341000/IMG_6125.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/531200/IMG_6125.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/873325/IMG_6122.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/856618/IMG_6122.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/531237/IMG_6132.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/377749/IMG_6132.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/910680/IMG_6136.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/51204/IMG_6136.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/366393/IMG_6145.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/861762/IMG_6145.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/969016/IMG_6163.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/467504/IMG_6163.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/690608/IMG_6168.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/580135/IMG_6168.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/250849/IMG_6169.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/819110/IMG_6169.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/665478/IMG_6086.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/330681/IMG_6086.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />We visited Meknes en passant, on our way to Fes. Although I quite liked the place, I was negatively impressed by the lack of toilets at the tourist places. Additionally, as we were travelling by car with our entire luggage and we left the car in a parking lot, I had to take the laptop with me while visiting the town since I wasn’t brave enough to leave it in the car. This is how Meknes became the town which was visited with a rather heavy backpack. Not too comfy<br />:-(<br /><br />After having avoided lots of cheeky persistent false guides trying hard to sell their services (one of them told us plainly that ‘he was famous’ – I couldn’t help but laugh in his face), we ended up accepting a more reasonable one and went exploring – first the Medina (of course) and the souks (markets) and, in the afternoon, on our own, the medersa Bou-Inania (religious school) and a museum of Morocco’s traditions.<br /><br />We were told that, in each Muslim medina, there are five important elements which are always present: the mosque, the well, the Koranic school, bakery and public bath.<br /><br />We were tricked into visiting a place where various types of carpets were woven (some of them by women, other by men). Impressive but … no, not really. We were not interested in buying carpets and our guide was, of course, disappointed as no commission was coming his way. Of course we had made clear to him from the very beginning that we didn’t intend to buy anything but … well, he tried.<br /><br />Fes is less than 100 km away so I was very relieved when, sometime in the (late) afternoon, we were back in the car and on our way to Fes, the last town on our list.Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29757902.post-1168791496885774132007-01-14T17:17:00.000+01:002007-01-14T19:30:36.403+01:00Rabat<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/848973/IMG_5684.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/428812/IMG_5684.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/655428/IMG_5703.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/20712/IMG_5703.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/121268/IMG_5715.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/168894/IMG_5715.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/461942/IMG_5717.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/689408/IMG_5717.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/10589/IMG_5722.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/671913/IMG_5722.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/729784/IMG_5730.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/815148/IMG_5730.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/880403/IMG_5760.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/632241/IMG_5760.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/375864/IMG_5762.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/760898/IMG_5762.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/880071/IMG_5764.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/274225/IMG_5764.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/412300/IMG_5765.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/954457/IMG_5765.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/861121/IMG_5781.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/314264/IMG_5781.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/693504/IMG_5778.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/739212/IMG_5778.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/826755/IMG_5779.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/286134/IMG_5779.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/348302/IMG_5787.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/210018/IMG_5787.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/12822/IMG_5790.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/785931/IMG_5790.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/154744/IMG_5796.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/674482/IMG_5796.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/16027/IMG_5797.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/353017/IMG_5797.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/666183/IMG_5798.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/822202/IMG_5798.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/83762/IMG_5799.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/619364/IMG_5799.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/440533/IMG_5805.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/365534/IMG_5805.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/104210/IMG_5808.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/565732/IMG_5808.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/922711/IMG_5824.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/473592/IMG_5824.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/275808/IMG_5847.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/557604/IMG_5847.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/377776/IMG_5851.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/144192/IMG_5851.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/517137/IMG_5994.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/102657/IMG_5994.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/99583/IMG_6031.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/910302/IMG_6031.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/468499/IMG_6041.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/762063/IMG_6041.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/695750/IMG_6049.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/130553/IMG_6049.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/1600/742099/IMG_6059.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/708/3179/320/982361/IMG_6059.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />And no, I'm afraid it’s not Rabbit :-) …. Was the next city that we visited. And probably the city I liked the most. The kingdom’s political and administrative capital, apparently Rabat, as compared to Casablanca, is a bit as Washington as compared to New York.<br /><br />Calmer and wiser, a town in which the modern pleasantly combines with the old. And much, much cleaner than Casablanca, thank god! The town was built in 1150 by the Almohade sultan Abd al-Moumin, situated north of the antique Roman city of Sala Colonia (this site is, however, nowadays occupied by the Chellah necropolis).<br /><br />On the first day we took long walks in the medina which resembles the other ones that we had visited before, and the Kashbah of Qudaia. Lots of false guides were lurking at the gate, as all over Morocco’s tourist places. One of the town’s first Arab constructions, the Kashbah was built in the 12th century on a site that had been occupied since Roman age. We paused to admire the luxurious plants and palm trees in the Jardin Andalou. Here, two cats in heat were living their little love story in public, totally ignoring the human presence all around them. After they closed the garden, we went to Café Maure for a coffee (and a mint tea) and some patisserie. This café was full of both locals (mostly couples that were dating) and some tourists. Very beautiful view of the beach and the ocean. This is where we met Cochi, a cat which fell in love with A the moment she set her eyes on him (Cochi from 'cochilie' which, in Romanian means 'shell' and was inspired by the form of the cat on A's lap). She just approached him while he was seated, occupied his lap and went to sleep carefree, showing total trust in him. She would have never left his lap, had we not been forced to leave the café by the cold. I tried to feed her patisserie, but she was not too impressed. I teased A forever, saying that he should have adopted her as his pet and that we should go back to the café and take her, etc.<br /><br />On the second day we visited the Chellah Necropolis. The place is beautifully green, with lots of stork nests (where you can actually see the birds, in pairs), lots of cats, antique Roman ruins and tombs. The air is totally fresh and unpolluted, a little paradise.<br /><br />The last place that is worth mentioning is Mohammed V’s Mausoleum. Tens of colonnades, beautiful construction, incredible view of the city and the port.<br /><br />Lacking inspiration and other interesting spots, we popped in the archaeology museum but all that really impressed me there were two large, black tomcats. Beautiful specimens, brothers, incredibly huge, like two small panthers. Ah …. Why do I travel all the time! Why can’t I have a pet!Wildcathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06897653630760813395noreply@blogger.com0