He thinks it's a huge laugh to scoop me up when I'm least expecting it. Sunday he picked me and flung me over his shoulder like a rag doll.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Marrakech
You can't really sum up an experience like Marrakech. So let's just look at pictures!
My first day I toured the Ben Youssef Medersa, the Marrakech Museum and the Almohavid Tombs.
The center of the city is the Jemaa Al Fna, an enormous square filled with food stalls and hawkers, along with fortune readers, henna women, snake charmers and Senegalese sufis playing gnouaa music.
Then at night it was turned into a giant outdoor eatery. The second night I dined on grilled aubergines and red peppers with chili sauce and poisson normal, fried fish to the rest of you. I posed for a picture with my chefs. 
The second morning I spent in the southern half of the medina, at the Bahia Palace of the Grand Vizier looking at beautiful painted ceilings
and tiled floors
and at the ruined Badi Palace
I also visited the 17th century Saadian Tombs, for centuries lost from view behind a great mosque and only discovered during WWI by a low flying French pilot.
I also stopped in a small museum with artifacts from the trading routes between Marrakech and Timbouctou. I thought this item was something very Saharan like a water carrying bag, but then I noticed the label saying it was a 'Sac a affaires personnelles pour jeune mariee'. Essentially, a young ladies handbag!
The rest of the day was spent shopping for Christmas presents in the souk, plates and tajines for Mum, hand made lantern for Dad, a djelaba cloak for Stephen and some Fasi bowls for Paddy. And I bought myself a a traditional cooking tajine. I look forward to cooking some Moroccon food when I get back to New York as the local food was too delicious for words. Even with my cooking abilities meager as they are I'll be able to create something wonderful.
My first day I toured the Ben Youssef Medersa, the Marrakech Museum and the Almohavid Tombs.
In the afternoon I explored the souks and got completely lost. Your first trips through the souks can be rather stressful. One of the first things you notice is the smells (some delicious, some revolting). As a woman on my own, I was constantly pestered by shop owners and random men/teens offering their services as a guide. The noise and the chaos keep your head spinning. It's a battle to get through, but exciting at the same time.
The center of the city is the Jemaa Al Fna, an enormous square filled with food stalls and hawkers, along with fortune readers, henna women, snake charmers and Senegalese sufis playing gnouaa music. Then at night it was turned into a giant outdoor eatery. The second night I dined on grilled aubergines and red peppers with chili sauce and poisson normal, fried fish to the rest of you. I posed for a picture with my chefs. The second morning I spent in the southern half of the medina, at the Bahia Palace of the Grand Vizier looking at beautiful painted ceilings and tiled floors and at the ruined Badi PalaceI also visited the 17th century Saadian Tombs, for centuries lost from view behind a great mosque and only discovered during WWI by a low flying French pilot. It's amazing how quiet these courtyards are, cut off from the frantic sounds of the streets and passages just steps away.
I also stopped in a small museum with artifacts from the trading routes between Marrakech and Timbouctou. I thought this item was something very Saharan like a water carrying bag, but then I noticed the label saying it was a 'Sac a affaires personnelles pour jeune mariee'. Essentially, a young ladies handbag!The rest of the day was spent shopping for Christmas presents in the souk, plates and tajines for Mum, hand made lantern for Dad, a djelaba cloak for Stephen and some Fasi bowls for Paddy. And I bought myself a a traditional cooking tajine. I look forward to cooking some Moroccon food when I get back to New York as the local food was too delicious for words. Even with my cooking abilities meager as they are I'll be able to create something wonderful. The complete set of photographs are here. There are lots of pictures of tiles and patterns as one of the reasons I went to Morocco was to look at geometric patterns and designs in Arabian and Islamic decoration. I wasn't disappointed.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Roma
Lucy, Jonathan and I went to Rome for three days. I had planned a trip to Rome before Christmas, but travelling isn't half as fun without Jonathan and Lucy along. Thank goodness they were available as it was absolutely freezing and it would have been miserable without Lucy's company and Jonathan's comic relief.
Mother and child
We toured the inside of the Basilica, sent our Vatican City stamped postcards and saw the Spanish Steps lit up at night before dinner. In the morning, we made the much anticipated trip to the Colosseum. Jonathan had been talking for weeks about visiting the Colosseum, and he was not disappointed. He helped our Italian archeologist tourguide show us round. During the rest of the day, we walked through the Forum, up to the Pantheon and to the Fontana di Trevi. The weather was nearly at zero degrees, but Jonathan was terrific, never complaining even though his fingers were frozen together.
We enjoyed all of these sights, but the highlight of the trip was Jonathan's postcards. He chose his own postcards to send to Uncle Stephen and Grannie and Grandpa. I wrote one or two as well, but once I saw what Jonathan was writing we handed over all the postcard writing duties to Jonathan. They are little gems.
The rest of the pictures are here. We're thinking we might go back... sometime when sun is out and our gelato actually melts rather than cooling down when we take it outside the shop.
Rome has a reputation for pick-pocketing and bag-snatching, so on arrival Lucy and I told Jonathan we needed him to be our bodyguard and keep a look out for anyone looking shifty or making a move on our belongings. We established a code word, "cheeseburger", for him to say when he spotted something out of the ordinary. We'd only got a hundred yards from the hotel when Jonathan whispers to me, "They all look like cheeseburgers!"
Our first outing was to the Vatican. We stopped on the way for our first scoop of gelato. It isn't the ideal treat on a day when the max temperature is four degrees celsius, but we were desperate to try it and it was delicious. I don't much care for the rock solid frozen ice cream we get at home. And the choice of flavours was so much better. I started with hazelnut and the next day had pistacchio flavour that was chock full of ground up pistacchio nuts and Noce Sorrento, walnut flavour. I'm nutty about gelato. (apologies for that) Jonathan was not so keen on eating ice cream on a cold winters day and became frantic every time we passed a gelateria. Of course we pointed every one out to him, so mature of us.
I was ever so excited as we approached St. Peter's. I told Jonathan that we were about to see one of the world's great treasures but he was thoroughly unimpressed, he was still trying to thaw out his tongue. We walked into the square, somewhat spoiled by a temporary performance area for Christmas concerts, a large ugly tree and a pile of miscellaneous junk. Yes, junk. Holy junk, presumably. We took some pictures:
Mother and child
and Auntie Genevieve squinting in the low-lying winter sun
We toured the inside of the Basilica, sent our Vatican City stamped postcards and saw the Spanish Steps lit up at night before dinner. In the morning, we made the much anticipated trip to the Colosseum. Jonathan had been talking for weeks about visiting the Colosseum, and he was not disappointed. He helped our Italian archeologist tourguide show us round. During the rest of the day, we walked through the Forum, up to the Pantheon and to the Fontana di Trevi. The weather was nearly at zero degrees, but Jonathan was terrific, never complaining even though his fingers were frozen together.We enjoyed all of these sights, but the highlight of the trip was Jonathan's postcards. He chose his own postcards to send to Uncle Stephen and Grannie and Grandpa. I wrote one or two as well, but once I saw what Jonathan was writing we handed over all the postcard writing duties to Jonathan. They are little gems.
The rest of the pictures are here. We're thinking we might go back... sometime when sun is out and our gelato actually melts rather than cooling down when we take it outside the shop.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Gorgeous hair
My Michael-designed hair has been drawing complements ever since I touched down in the UK on Monday. Two particularly enthusiastic thumbs up from Jonathan and Eleanor (and I know Mike will appreciate the Eleanor seal of approval!) Views of this fantastic do are available below...do enjoy.
Christmas concert
I went to my nephew Jonathan's school Christmas concert yesterday (I hope to add a picture when I get access to Lucy's camera tomorrow). Despite much talk in recent years of banning references to religion at Christmas time here in the UK (including the banning of the word 'Christmas' itself), the concert included traditional Christmas carols like Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful. The focus of the programme was Christmas in countries around the world, and while much of the dialogue was centered on Father Christmas and gift giving traditions, there was also references to the Christ child and the three kings. It was quite refreshing to see they had not "cleaned up" the presentation and expunged the very center of Christmas. Take away Christ and all you're left with is overcooked turkey and credit card debt, and that's not a Christmas I want any part of. Jonathan had a couple lines in the Christmas in Mexico skit. It was a really good little programme, very enjoyable. Lucy and I sat in the first row of adults, and my little niece Eleanor sat on the floor in front with the other Infant School classes. She kept turning around and waving to us and smiling. Absolutely adorable.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Wisconsin days two through five
I'm at the airport on my way home. My fingers are raw, my toes still thawing and I honestly don't remember when I last washed my hair (I was afraid it would freeze and give me the mother of all headaches, not to mention the flu). I had a good time but am not sorry to be heading home. Here's a quick recap of what I did over the last four days.
I visited the cemetery. It was buried in snow so I took the snow scraper/brush from the car to excavate. I found great-great grandfather Cornelius Bovee whose whereabouts and place/date of death had previously been a mystery
and his wife, great-great grandmother Hannah Pettis Bovee
Friday I went to Jackson County, real Bovee country. I found the Bovee Creek, the north branch of the Trempeleau River. I was amazed that it wasn't completely frozen.
Then I found the land (Township 23 Range 5 Section 28) where the Bovees (Cornelius, Uncles Zebulon and Silas, father Jonas and grandfather Nicholas) held sway. They owned and farmed the entire section.
I drove through Bovee stamping grounds Hixton and Alma Center where I excavated more gravestones.
I then drove south to Jackson County seat Black River Falls to visit the Historical Society and history room at the library. I found a few things at the library and chatted with the volunteer librarian who knew a family member, Elgie Bovee Kutcher, niece of my great grandfather George.
And now you can look through all my pictures from Wisconsin
Wednesday was mostly driving, least said about that the better, and I did a little exploring in Clark County . Thursday was Eau Claire County day. Started in the Village of Fairchild. I think it's a fairly depressed area, because all the buildings were for sale, same thing down in Jackson County as well.
I visited the cemetery. It was buried in snow so I took the snow scraper/brush from the car to excavate. I found great-great grandfather Cornelius Bovee whose whereabouts and place/date of death had previously been a mystery and his wife, great-great grandmother Hannah Pettis BoveeI only found the graves thanks to the huge marker for Truman Bovee which I spotted at the entrance. Without a map of the cemeteries its impossible to find anything. Half the graves are buried in snow and my toes froze before I could find any other family members in Fairchild. I drove through Augusta and then on to Eau Claire to visit the University library, where I found a number of court documents related to the Bovees. I then rushed off and left all the photocopies at the library.
Wednesday and Thursday night I stayed in a lovely hotel, the Oak Park Inn. I was so happy to be there every night.
Friday I went to Jackson County, real Bovee country. I found the Bovee Creek, the north branch of the Trempeleau River. I was amazed that it wasn't completely frozen.
Then I found the land (Township 23 Range 5 Section 28) where the Bovees (Cornelius, Uncles Zebulon and Silas, father Jonas and grandfather Nicholas) held sway. They owned and farmed the entire section.I drove through Bovee stamping grounds Hixton and Alma Center where I excavated more gravestones.I then drove south to Jackson County seat Black River Falls to visit the Historical Society and history room at the library. I found a few things at the library and chatted with the volunteer librarian who knew a family member, Elgie Bovee Kutcher, niece of my great grandfather George.This morning I popped into the Wisconsin Historical Society here in Madison to look up a few things before flying home to New York. Madison is a nice town, but I don't know if I could go to school here... I nearly froze to death this morning just walking from the car to the Society.
And here's one last look at Wisconsin... a Bovee in their natural setting... 
And now you can look through all my pictures from Wisconsin
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Wisconsin day one
Day one in Wisconsin was all about snow. It started snowing at 2pm and it was still snowing when I went to bed. I've never driven in snow but now I know how. 
I only skidded once (it's those wretched trucks!) and even managed to drive in Madison rush hour traffic during the snow storm. I only managed to visit Hancock Cemetery before the snow started, so went back to Madison early and had the whole evening to twiddle my thumbs. I did wander up by the Capitol in the evening.
I only skidded once (it's those wretched trucks!) and even managed to drive in Madison rush hour traffic during the snow storm. I only managed to visit Hancock Cemetery before the snow started, so went back to Madison early and had the whole evening to twiddle my thumbs. I did wander up by the Capitol in the evening.
Monday, December 03, 2007
It's my last day at EMI today. I'm scabbling around to try and get things wrapped up and there's still four piles of papers to go through. The time is flying. Oh, well if I get to it, I get to it... I had lunch at the Shake Shack one last time. Caitlin, Mike, and Martin came along. I'll miss the Shake Shack! Listening to Interpol nice and loud... I'll really miss having my own office.
At the Shake Shack...
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