Still places in Fiji and the snow in NY

Cental Park, beautiful and full of people walking their dogs but so small I thought, when seen from movies it seems like it stretches out a long way, when walking it is quick tp cover the area.

The babbling brook next to my classroom.

We started our class last night and I said to the group how exotic the landscape seemed to me. Most kind of laughed- exotic for them this is normal and a bit to much of normal where is the spring!

all kinds of jokes about the area- 2 seasons in the year- coming into winter and winter...

things that amuse a foreigner- snow on the window, everytime we stopped the car more would fall down off the roof.

29 March 2008.

New York was smaller than I expected, it is only first impressions and it sure is tall, but Central Park didn’t seem that big, I will be back next week so can do lots more leg work, they have so many museums I look froward to.

Now up State and we had a wonderful snow fall yesterday, the scenery is amazing.
And I can see the moon out [it is 4.30am] so this day should have blue sky, the first colour in palette, up until now everything is black and white.

It is strange I am here in the snow and talking to the lady organizing my workshop in Fiji, sorting out the last details.
Fiji is tropical, warm all green and amazing flowers of many bright colours, the waters gently lapping on the beach…..such a contrast!...
just beautiful I do look forward to it just like I am enjoying almost the opposite here.

Still a few places by the way for those seeking a wonderful escape week.

UK, snow and NY

my lovely friends, the bubbly Anne and Steve and the Indian feast we had just cooked

Snow everywhere Easter Sunday- magical when looking at it through the window

freezing when outside- It made my teeth ache when I laughed.

...so of course I could not stop laughing!

27 March 2008

New York!
I just 4 lovely days with friends in the UK
Anne Bruntlett is a lovely, sparkly burst of energy and her husband Steve- a great cook by the way, has a great sense of mischief.
You know by his smile –he has something cheeky to say.

I really enjoy their company and it was so nice to be in a home, hang out, cook meals and… work.
Anne and I are working on the Tour “Indian Textiles Taster”.
It will be fun for anyone- that’s India for you, but we are putting together a bonus CD package to go with it suitable for teachers to enrich there lesson plans and classroom when they get back home.
Great to natter, share ideas, compile things to add in, look at advertising locations, write up more to do lists….

We also had time to brave the weather- a crisp spring or something they said- snow was falling out of the sky! half the time the wind was blowing it along horizontally….so confusing when they say spring, it does not tally with my concept at all.
Up to lovely Belgrave Street in Leicester we trundled for Indian lunch and to smell the Indian grocery store- I was rather homesick for those tastes and smells.
Then another night I could share with them some recipes I gathered in Kerala doing research for the Cooking and Spice Tour- we cooked up a feast.
Steve taught me to make paneer and iddli as well, so I am well happy, as before this I had only bought them.

All work in one way, building up recipes and techniques for the cooking tour- another day in the office, but what a few days! Steve has a wonderful palette and is like a walking encyclopaedia of food things so it was good to pick his brains, and yummy to eat the results. I think this is an example of having your cake and eating it, too! I was working during the visit but what fun as well. Thank you Universe for this type of office.

Oh yes and I went to Marks and Spencers for my Fair Trade, organic cotton Tshirts. Only 7pounds [less the AU$20] for long sleeve- so cheap and they DO NOT shrink or loose their shape. Cheaper and better quality than anything I can buy in Australia and good ethics as well…they do mail order.

Well I am in New York. WOW! Somewhere I have always wanted to visit.
Last night on arrival I was so tired all I could do was look out the window bleary eyed and think oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh yyyyeeeehhhhh here I am- where is the pillow?
Truly that is not how I feel. I am now perky, have been since 4.00am and just waiting for things to start and lighten up to get out there. It seems the city rally does not sleep- lighs are on everywhere and things are happening out there. Delhi is a really bustling city, really bustling! sometimes but there is usually a lull around 3 and 4.00am. Not here so I am wondering what it will be like when the city wakes up.
Catching a train up State later to-day for a felting week end by a beautiful lake- really looking forward to it the scenery will be inspiring and we will be working with felt and impressions of landscape….Felt Impressions…I love that title as is it the response of the heart that so influences my view of the world.

Madrid- still -it is so exciting!

I was sitting watching everyone go by and realised I did not know much about the Christian Festival being celebrated.

As an ex-school teacher I must admit my biggest connection to it was the gap it made in the flow of your teaching schedule!
Friday off and not back at school until Wednesday....

so knowing I was coming to Spain around Easter time i thought it would have little impact on me as I fly out on Good Friday....idiot it is the time leading up to the crucial event that is recognized through festival and ritual!

That is nearly a full moon on the fitrst photo. Easter Sunday is after the first full moon after the Spring exquinox...so that is the indicator in the sky to time what is being celebrated.


Here in Madrid it just alive with people, so exciting- mostly locals and many.any foreigners all out and about, I could see locals calling into their local churches and then joining friends in caferterias for lots of chatting and snacking. These looked the most exciting places to be but were bursting with locals- no problem to elbow my way in and smaile.... problem was that many of the men favor really stinky smelling ciggarettes and it was just to much for me.

Most of Europe allows smoking in many locations- you just have to place yourself to avoid it...except it hard in confined spaces.
It is 12' C tonight so outrside was 'bracing'!

See that witch above= he/she was a street performer in the busy square of the Mayor[ below] She was so still but every time someone came to put money in her jar she would jump and scare them!!

such fun.



well this is the most exciting place this evening and everyone seems to know someone except me!
so thaqnk you for letting me bend your ear and Happy Easter!
Tomorrow is Good Friday I do hope I have my timing right!

Madrid

Hola!

Last day in Spain, I am back in Madrid which is quite different ot the towns of Andalusia.
They are all scented and rather relaxed -Madrid is full of excitment and activity!

you win some and you loose some.
I have been so busy organizing things for others and office work
I did not get much done along the lines of advance bookings for my little jaunt. This works well, I could fit in an impromptu visit to Morocco[ still so excited at the prospect of it!]


In Seville I ended up in a 4star hotel, outside of the interesting old area. it was very comfortable but also so cheap!!
they charged for internet access, and movies on the TV. For the prices they were charging that is just plain mean!!



Today I am in Madrid a much more modest 2 star establishment with all the amenities I need and no extra charges! It is right in the middle of town and excellent value.

The last photo is from my little balcony looking along the street.

I am 3 steps from the Plaza del Mayor which is full of cafes and musicians, these guys were playing excellent jazz.

sitting in the sun was a delight watching them and all the people strolling by.

Spain is excellent for promenading or watching others doing it! lovely relaxed pace.

that staircase is the way of getting to my hotel- thank goodness they also have a lift. It is a lovely old building on the edge of the Plaza del Sol.

The first picture is of a Museum to Ham- yes that is a correct translation. The Spanish are very serious about their ham, you can have it for every meal of the day,

the ceilings of shops are hung with ham stalegtites, and now a museum- absolutey crowded with people buying ham, taking a ham lunch or just getting a lungful of fresh ham scents.

If you are not careful to make sure you lookup a translation of the menu items [ where is my dictionary when I need it?] you will find you have ordered ham yet again in a different guise[ that has been my experience any way!]

I have had shredded ham with a fresh tomoto paste for breakfast.

ham and salad sandwiches, a ham type of pate/ meat paste with toast,

ham and scrambled eggs, ham tapas, I thought I was onto something different for lunch today and found I had ordered a toasted ham and cheese sandwixh!

I had dinner in a fish restaurant the other night, carefully ordered my dinner but still suspected there would be ham tucked into it somehwere...to my relief none.

The moral of the story is don't be proud use your dictionary!, practice the language because in Spain the chances are it is another version of the ham they are quite rightly very proud of!

I am finding the food at train and bus stations to be very good- it seems so strange saying that because it is not what I usually find.

I had a wonderful chicken stew the other day- juicy, olive oil, garlic and rosemary- wonderful.

many wonderful cafe solos [ wonderful rich short blacks- serious coffee hits!] and that excellent liquid chocolate- hot chocolate....

Starting to obsess over food- it is time to go out and find a last dinner and glass of wine for the minute anyway.

This is definitely a place to return to!

good food here- yum...

and then the little foray in Morocco seriuosly yummy too!

Seville

ancient tapestries

in the garden

a pool in the subteranean garden for hot summers..

from the roof of the cathedral

cathedral treasures, gold, emeralds, and diamonds...sparkling away...







19 March, 2008.

I arrived in Seville on a balmy afternoon, as I got off the bus I was greeted with the scent of Orange Blossom.

Seville seems a much bigger city than the others I have visited and is in the middle of its very special Holy Week Festivities, a Christian Easter Festival.
The whole city is alive with these festivals.
A bit of a shock at first as people taking part in the processions- penitents, I think- dress in a cassock with a pointed hood. Depending on which procession they are to join determines the colour of these garments- the first I saw were white and to my un-educated eye they looked like Ku Klux Klan. What a shock! Like the holy swastika of Hindu people I realise what a horrible perversion that terrorist group has made of outfits belonging to a Holy Procession.

Yesterday was warm and balmy, today cold and rainy, I did wonder if I should go out, another Palace and Cathedral and old part of the city to look at, more hotels to see, surely they must be similar to others of I have seen recently.

The Alcazar is so different and so delightful a Christian built palace, one of the major builders has decided to let the Moorish tastes influence his choices. Lovely airy rooms, opening onto orange blossom filled gardens, glorious tapestries, tiling and gardens, a delight to wander around. I quickly realised I was tired but not so jaded I could not be captivated by its charms.
After the palace you come to the gardens, wondrous, it was lightly raining so there was a fresh earthy scent along with the jasmine and orange blossom, other flowers will soon replace those, roses are starting to bloom, myrtle following on. I wonder what it will smell like next visit.

Later in the day visited the cathedral- this one was completely over built on a mosque, not much evidence of the mosque on the inside, except the tower which is really worth the long walk up for a view of the old city…just keep thinking 34. you have to be there to appreciate the significance! Some amazing stuff in the treasury as well.

I think visiting Spain is going to be a bit of a problem, thankfully it was raining so I did not have time for much looking but the local fashions here are a little more relaxed than French and nice and bright and could really suit a wandering Australian!

Tangiers, first footstep into Africa

come enter the Medina and then up the hill to the Kasbah... love those djellabah cloaks...and the narrow alleyways

in the Kasbah garden..

and the shops...many picnics nessecary with all the beautiful produce

mint tea at this time of year has citrus blossom added. yum, very sweet, refreshing and I am sure addictive!

tagine, a yummy type of stew...

a gentleman getting the silk waft ready down the length of the street
to weave a length of silken fabric to be made into a djellah cloak- how desirable

shoes are seriously gorgeous

a silk shop, every colour you can imagine to waeve the fabric for djellah...see the man above ...

love those cloaks

a street with carpet shops..

following ladies in those cloaks....i can wait to get out and about more in Morocco....it seems so exciting


18 March 2008,
Thank you India!!
I was in Tangiers to get a taster of Morocco, couldn’t wait when I was so close.
I had read in some book that it can be a bit of a hassle- touts, hawkers, taxis etc so was just a touch nervous.
BUT!! I am used to India and am finding nothing is a hassle after getting used to her.
When Parveen and I were in Vietnam we giggled a few times, as we were warned of potential hassles and just thought – mate you have not seen India!

I can see this is going to be a fun place to explore!.
Tangiers is just the tip of the iceberg- a busy port, full of European day-trippers and legal and illegal immigrants waiting to go to Europe, so much of her charm is a bit tanished….still Morocco’s potential lies before me- what an adventure to start and peek.
I can see I am going to have serious problems with baggage in the future.
I found samples of the ‘Cactus silk’ floor rugs woven by the Berber people I think- gorgeous, and Berber rugs woven of various wools [sections woven, embroidered and some parts knotted] –wow, not to mention the shoes the ladies wear called Babosh I think, and the cloaks- Return of the Jedi cute,
I love the traditional wool ones but also saw some glorious silk and cotton ones…. from daydream heaven- Fiona

can you see those lovely wind generators? they adorn the coast in this area, I always think they are waving their arms in hope for the future...oh and that is Africa beyond them!!!

Tarifa and an Easter Festival

I have found hotels with more walls but nojne with such a fine view!!

The old watch tower....

and the beach on the Atlantic side full of kite surfers, some type of mysterious modern birds, so charming...

17 March 2008.

It started out as a boring day-
2 nights without a proper sleep because I was in a noisy hotel, then the bus to my next location.
The bus trip Cordoba to Granada had been so lovely I was expecting something the same. Well Granada to Algeciras did not make that grade!
Once we hit the cost at Malaga all the way along it was wall to wall high rise. Yuk !!
I arrived in Algeciras only to find I had a 4 hour wait for my connecting bus
[ Sundays for you] Algeciras strikes me as the type of place you go to catch more transport somewhere else and as fast as you can. So I was there at least 3 hours and 59 minutes longer than I wanted to be there… by that time I was feeling very lonely, missing Parveen, my boys, wandering why I was here, perhaps I am crazy,
Perhaps the idea of a nice experience of the coast was ridiculous blah, blah, blah…
Well the bus finally did come and once we had got out of town the trip was glorious.

I could see Africa- it is so close and beautiful Tarifa is charming, just what I had hoped for, I was standing on the very southern point of Europe, I was between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, I could see Africa. And it had a wonderful tower, and some religious festival for Easter. Except for the Statue of Christ it had the same feel as a Hindu festival….
It finished a great day, I had tapas in a local bar and exchanged smiles with the locals…I still miss everyone but am back on track about what I am doing- the day definitely got better in the office.

Interesting French and Spanish men have a way of noticing you and if they appreciate the view letting you know in a nice way, happens in India too… it is only appreciation and feels alright [I wonder if they need glasses though…another story there…]
Other cultures the men look at you and the response is more then along the lines of what they could do with you…not a nice feeling to be the recipient of that.
Morocco and Tangiers today- how exciting the first step into Africa, I hope to be back many times, there are so many places to see…
I already have an itinerary for my trip here and am working with a few local people on the arrangements and will be back later in the year to eyeball everything…. more later I have a boat to catch and then the Kasbah and Grand Sorocco....

hot chocolate reseach

a hot chocolate found at the Granada bus station at 7.00am.

well worth getting up early for -could very well rival the Sapa, Vietnam beauty.

Granada

The Alhambra was so lovely, a million photos would not exhaust its scenery, peaceful even with all the people....gorgeous, serene, idyllic, beautiful, gob-smacking...superlatives are not enough...you get the idea.

The carving on the walls was similar to work I have seen in India pre Murgal times, very deeply worked and creates such pleasing to the eye relief work.

scenes from the Alhambra down to the old town full of life, tapas bars, music and where I will call home with my groups...

16 March 2008,

I am so exhausted, I am really an old chook, I am very busy and active when on tour or teaching, the rest of the time I spend in the studio or at the computer and get no exercise at all!
I can see what it is doing to me I get fatter by the year and less energetic, I am always tired because there is so much activity or not enough…I think my quest for this year should be to find balance…it will only happen if I put the effort in!

Well I have been running around like a chook without a head but this old chook has her head very firmly tired on. I have been checking out the highlights of the area- fun and beautiful [ I can’t wait to return!] and looking at hotels, restaurants, transport etc, etc…all the details I need to cover.
Today I am leaving Granada.
What a beautiful place the Alhambra is extraordinary, an earthly paradise which was the intention of the Moors who designed her.
It is built according to Islamic traditions and makes me realise what is missing from some of the Palaces in India. Many too were designed upon Islamic tradition but the English, when they were the rulers removed the gardens and planted lawns.
Seeing the beauty and smelling the beauty of the gardens here I can add that layer through my imagination to my Indian palaces and see the heaven on earth they were intended to be.
Walking in the gardens and in the streets of the city the scent of citrus blossom abounds- wonderful, and freisia in window boxes, myrtle bushes in the gardens, roses just staring to come out a few peonies and many other scents were wafting on the air...

I also visited the Cathedral, which had on display cloaks embroidered in gold and silver threads that belonged to Ferdinand and Isabella, 15 century, the guys who wrested Spain back from the Moors and sent Christopher Columbus on his travels… mighty legends of history for me!
And a gorgeous illuminated manuscript- something for the creative journalists of my proposed tour to aim at! And many other visual delights.
I have been having fun, this tour I am researching for is planned to be a creative journey- we will have cultural things to look at and experience tracing Moorish influences here in Spain [wonderful food, tapas, flamenco dance, architecture, arts etc] and I am planning a series of exercises to delve deeper into one’s creative side- this really is going to be a moving workshop set in a wonderful classroom- Andalusia and Morocco.

So as I am visiting each location I want to use I am working on some ideas for exercises [a bit of focused daydreaming, gathering a few thoughts, words, sketches or photographs….]- nothing arduous, just fun but I am sure they will be enjoyable to discuss as we meet over a cool drink in the evening and participate in the national sport of watching people promenade past our café and at the end of our travels we will have a wonderful travel journal that for those so inclined will be full of beginnings for projects back home.

Back to the Alhambra- the Moorish tiling would make spectacular quilt designs, so would some of the ceilings and as paintings they would be wonderful…or small, rich embroideries, the gardens for sketching, the pools full of fish and soothing reflections for contemplation…I have been out of inspiration for a while to busy to think of the studio but the rich ochre and sienna colours of the walls studded with bluish rocks gives me new inspiration for a felted silken wall panel when I get home and/or perhaps a series of machine sketches….
Many of the walls of the Moorish palaces have poetry written in Arabic to create part of the deigns of the walls and to add to the enjoyment of those who dwelt there, what a lovely idea.

Off to Tarifa today- I will be able to see Africa across the Straights of Gibraltar tonight and Tangiers tomorrow. I have seen some examples of Moroccan textile here and hope to see more – quite a rich earth coloured palette and robust weaving techniques I have a feeling it will bring the ‘I wants’, still as they say in India “ Madam you only have to look…” and I will need to keep saying that to myself! I can’t carry anything THIS trip.

Alcazar is beyond imagining...so wonderful....

This poor bloke, standing there in his cloak protected from all weather, but what about his legs they are green from dog piss! poor man.

the Moorish influence is everywhere in exquisite tile work in this wonderful town, some of the really old stuff has a wonderful metallic glint to the glaze...

14 March 2008

Cordoba, Andalusia, Spain
I visited the Mosque Cathedral Alcazar yesterday.
One of those places that are almost mythological for me to imagine, walked inside, it was cool and dark and a forest of the striped arches. I thought oh yes…but it did not have quite the impact I expected. Full of tourists running around almost, snapping photos.
As I started to wander though I was completely entranced by it s magic, it has a forest of marble pillars supporting the arches and the most endearing thing is they are all polished and shining up to the height human hands can reach. So many people, for so many years have been wandering through that forest they have left their trail in polished pillars.
The more I wandered the many more treasures were revealed. The rich painting on the walls of one of the small chapels, the muslin mosaic work down the back, the very pale fresco works on some of the walls. This is the type of place you could visit often and still see something new. I started to feel weepy I was so overcome with beauty.

A wonderful experience to feel I was beholding beauty. Amazing what the Christian and Muslin influences can do when they come together! Both gods were lending their inspiration.

The cathedral is open for quiet contemplation between 8.30 -10.00am, no photos or being a gagger tourist [ I will have to walk around quietly too, without my mouth hanging open!] so I am going back again this morning for another visit.

I am working on the details for a tour “The Moorish Delights of Andalusia and Morocco”, a journey of inspiration, we will create travel journals, draw or scratch away in our journals, perhaps play with words, discuss how some of the things we see could emerge in our own creative endeavours. The type of trip that would be suitable to people working in a number of mediums, it will be fun to explore places like this and have some compatriots to discuss and brainstorm inspirations… I look forward to it.

In Rajasthan, I hand out a quiz “The great turban chase” –it is just for fun, aimed at giving the clients something to focus on- there is so much that is new it can hurt the eyes somedays! Usually it is a laugh, some get into it, some don’t we hand out a turban to the person group consensus assigns it to. Well last trip one lady found it to hard she was so busy looking at everything – so she took the colours listed and connected them to things she had seen, hot pink- sunset colours, lemon yellow – fields of mustard flowers etc.
She read it to us at our farewell dinner and it was just delightful, I will have a few similar exercises for this trip…her piece was almost poetry in itself and could certainly become the basis of an art book, I could see a series of postcards being collaged based on it…a story painting…so many ideas.

In the evening after exhausting hours checking out hotel possibilities I found a museum with a display “ A Day in Mongolia” what luck, I am hoping to go there next year as a volunteer and it was so inspiring- I thank the gods for looking after me.