In the autumn dawn,
the sun nudges a pilgrim
into long shadow.
Camino shadow
Sunflowers bow heads
in prayer to flagging pilgrims,
faces wilt and yawn.
sunflowers on the Camino
sunflowers on the Camino
How melancholy:
sheep bleat and jangle cowbells
leaving clouds of dust.
a flock of sheep on the Camino
In an olive grove,
a shaded library sits,
words sweet as citrus.
Book crossing along the Roman Road
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“POETRY” Invitation: I invite you to write a poem of any poetic form on your own blog about a particular travel destination. Or you can write about travel in general. Concentrate on any intention you set for your poetry.
During this time of isolation and social distancing, please feel free to write poetry about any subject, whether travel-related or not. I’d love to read and share them here!
One intention for my Camino was to write a haiku: A Japanese verse most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. A haiku often features an image, or a pair of images juxtaposed, meant to capture the essence of a particular moment in time. Another rule one should follow in haiku besides the syllable count, the number of lines, and the opposing two images, is that lines one and two should read as a complete sentence and lines two and three should read as a complete sentence.
I set a goal for myself to write three haikus about some aspect of my Camino. I ended up writing four. 🙂 This is the first time I’ve tried haiku, except for a few feeble attempts in a poetry class. I don’t think I really succeeded in using two opposing images in each poem. I’ll have to keep working at these. 🙂
You can either set your own poetic intentions, or use one of the prompts I’ve listed on this page: writing prompts: poetry. (This page is a work in process). You can also include photos, of course.
Include the link in the comments below by Thursday, June 4 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Friday, June 5, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation, on the first Friday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
Jude’s photo challenge for April is all about being creative with lines. Here are her week-by-week challenges:
Look for horizontal lines. In a photograph, horizontal lines in particular need to be completely level across the frame, because your viewer’s eye will perceive even a slightly skewed horizontal line as uncomfortable to look at or just incorrect (2020 Photo Challenge #14).
Muxia, Spain
Peniche, Portugal
Charleston, South Carolina
the harbor in Baltimore, Maryland
Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
The Dead Sea, Jordan
Look for vertical lines. Vertical lines convey a sense of power and strength, especially when the subject itself is towering and imposing, such as a very tall tree or building. Watch out for diminishing perspective on very tall buildings (2020 Photo Challenge #15). I like the photo below because of the reflections, which emphasize the vertical lines.
Inle Lake, Myanmar
Myanmar
Tokyo, Japan
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Along the Camino de Santiago
Modern windmills along the Camino de Santiago
grapevines in Spain
fishermen storage in Essaouria, Morocco
These vertical trees converge near their tops.
a path in northern Virginia
The photo below has converging lines in the mowed lawn and vertical lines in the trees behind the house.
a freshly mowed lawn with trees behind
Converging lines. These convey a sense of depth and distance, try to have something of interest at the point where they appear to meet. Or position them on the diagonal to infer motion.(2020 Photo Challenge #16).
Camino de Santiago
Camino de Santiago
John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, Cincinnati, Ohio
a path in the woods, Oakton, VA
Vienna, VA
Vienna, VA
Curved lines. Curved lines allow the viewer to explore an entire image, meandering from one part to another. S curves divide an image into equal parts and lead your eye through the image. (2020 Photo Challenge #17)
Longji Rice Terrace, Guangxi, China
the Meseta, Camino de Santiago
Merzouga, Morocco
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“PHOTOGRAPHY” INVITATION: I invite you to create a photography intention and then create a blog post for a place you have visited. Alternately, you can post a thematic post about a place, photos of whatever you discovered that set your heart afire. You can also do a thematic post of something you have found throughout all your travels: churches, doors, people reading, people hiking, mountains, patterns, all black & white, whatever!
This particular post is to participate in Jude’s photo challenge, which in April was all about lines.
You probably have your own ideas about this, but in case you’d like some ideas, you can visit my page: photography inspiration.
I challenge you to post no more than 20-25 photos and to write less than 1,500 words about any travel-related photography intention you set for yourself. Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, May 6 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Thursday, May 7, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation, every first, second, and third (& 5th, if there is one) Thursday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
Here we are, another week of stay-at-home orders, the last Wednesday in April. Welcome to my fifth cocktail hour, a virtual world where we STAY HOME and drink. 🙂 Drink plenty of water, gargle with saltwater or drink orange juice, grape juice, kombucha, or hot apple cider. Or imbibe in coffee, tea, wine, beer, or even something harder. Fluids will help, or so they say. Let’s pour them down.
Though you may not feel it deep inside, I offer you Cheers! À votre santé! 乾杯/ Kanpai! Saúde! Salud! May we all remain healthy, safe, financially afloat, and hopeful despite the barrage of bad news.
Here’s my Covid-19 diary for the last week.
Wednesday, April 22: I had another virtual visit with my doctor, and since I’ve had this nagging congestion and cough for seven weeks now, she thinks it might be sinusitis. She thus prescribed an antibiotic. I went for a walk with my husband on the CCT trail in Oakton; he signed off a bit early from work so we could do this.
The Cross Country Trail (CCT)
The Cross Country Trail (CCT)
The Cross Country Trail (CCT)
The Cross Country Trail (CCT)
Thursday, April 23: I walked in Vienna, down Glyndon Street and Park Street. I had a virtual happy hour with my sister Steph and my brother Rob by FaceTime. It was lots of fun hearing about TV series they’re watching and how they’re coping during this trying time.
Friday, April 24: It was raining most of the day, so we took a short walk in our neighborhood after dinner. I’m still working on the short story I started with my daughter. We keep extending the deadline, and our new deadline is now Tuesday, April 28.
Saturday, April 25: I was tickled by my daughter’s “story” on Instagram about how she and her friend Nick in California had a virtual meeting of their pets, with a screen shot of their three dogs. Cute. 🙂
I took a walk through a neighborhood close by, Franklin Farm, for a change of scenery. We got take-out dinner at Luciano Italian in Oakton, but we weren’t very happy with the food.
pond in Franklin Farm
flowering globes at Franklin Farm
Sunday, April 26: Today is my daughter’s 36th birthday. She was going to have a social distanced meeting at a park with some friends; they each would bring their own beers and sit on a towel, appropriately spaced, because it had been raining off and on. She lives alone, and I am always worried about her being lonely during this lockdown time, but luckily she has a lot of friends who call her and Zoom with her, so she is surrounded by plenty of love.
We watched our church service online for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, but it felt quite sad; it seems everyone, including our priests, are worn down by this whole situation.
Mike and I walked around Lake Audubon. It has been raining a lot lately, so it was good to have a little period between showers to get outdoors.
flowering dogwood at Lake Audubon
I texted my son in Nicaragua today but never heard anything back. Of course, I’m worried about him and imagine the worst when we don’t hear from him.
Monday, April 27: I walked in Peterson Lane Park in Vienna. Only after I finished the walk did I see a piece of paper stuck to the sign that said the park was closed. Oops!
Peterson Lane Park
COVID-19 Safety
flowers abloom
azaleas in Vienna
Tuesday, April 28: We have tried to contact our son in Nicaragua, but he hasn’t responded. This of course worries us. He has gone off the grid before, usually when he is dealing with some serious problems and wants to avoid us. I just hope he is safe and is not suffering any kind of emotional or physical trauma, illness, or financial difficulty.
I finished the first draft of the short story challenge I started with my daughter, where we used six words we’d drawn from a hat: nostalgia, monopoly, grapefruit juice, chaise lounge, yellow raincoat, and fountain pen. As always, I found it very challenging to write fiction!
As of today, I’m halfway through my course of antibiotics, and I’m not feeling any change in my symptoms. I guess it will be back to the drawing board. 😦
I walked in my neighborhood between rain showers and after bundling up. I am so ready for warm and sunny weather.
azaleas in my neighborhood
Wednesday, April 29: This morning, I had my last virtual Spanish class of Spanish 100 level. Next Wednesday, I’ll start level 200; this class will go through the end of July. We seem to be moving very slowly, but not slow enough for me! I’m very challenged when it comes to learning languages. 🙂
As of today, we still haven’t heard anything from our son in Nicaragua. I hope we hear something from him very soon. 😦
Today, we hit 1,012,583 cases of coronavirus and 53,034 deaths in the U.S. In Virginia alone, we have 14,339 cases and 492 deaths. It’s amazing that we have more cases than any country in the world, when we are third in the world in the size of our population. We have only 23% of the population of China and India each. We only have 4.25% of the world’s population, yet we have 32.4% of all the confirmed cases. What the heck is going on?? Is it because of our abysmal leadership, our aging and unhealthy population, our high level of mobility and individualism, or a higher level of testing? We have tested 5.8 million people, out of our population of 330.6 million (1.8% of the population). Who knows? I have to say it is very distressing being here in the middle of it, with no end in sight.
Several weeks ago, we finished watching the first season of the Hulu series, Ramy. One of the last songs they played on the show was this: Vincent Delerm, “Je ne veux pas mourir ce soir” (“I don’t want to die tonight”), from the Ramy soundtrack.
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In the midst of all this, what can we do to make the most of our stay-at-home orders? I’ve created a page where I’ll share different ideas I’ve come across of ways to cope during the coronavirus. It is here: how to make the most of a staycation... or how to cope during the coronavirus #Stayathome orders. If you have any positive ways to get through this, I invite you to share: bits of humor, projects, what we can do to help others, how to keep our sanity, TV shows or movies to watch, books to read, exercises to do, etc. Please feel free to express your emotions during this trying time as well. I’m sure we can all relate to any and all emotions you are feeling.
I wish you all the best during this crisis. Stay at home, and stay safe, healthy and always hopeful.
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I’m going to write a cocktail hour/diary about this challenging time either weekly or bi-weekly on Wednesdays, depending on how much I have to share. I invite you to share your own experiences with what we’re going through right now, either in the comments below, or in your own blog post, which I invite you to link below. I’ll try to keep writing this as long as we are suffering through this together. I hope that we will get through it unscathed, sooner rather than later.
Before visiting Bahia Palace, our driver dropped us off along Avenue Mohammed V in front of Koutoubia Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakech, near the famous square Jemaa el-Fna.
I remember the sound of the call to prayer over the loudspeaker, the muezzin drawing out words from the Quran, his voice undulating “Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah,” and the prophet’s name, Mohammed, floating over the airwaves like heat rising off of hot asphalt. I remember craning my neck to see the 77m minaret tower, with its spire and orbs. I remember the ornamentation, the curved and decorative windows and arches, the band of ceramic inlay and pointed merlons. I remember our guide telling us the mosque was completed under the reign of the Berber Almohad Caliph, Yaqub al-Mansur (1184-1199). Strolling around the large plaza, I remember the sound of palm fronds rustling in the breeze, the sweet smell of flowers, the rustle of papers from a man reading on a bench.
I remember the roaring buses, the sight of a bright red double-decker Marrakech bus turistique, the clop-clop of horses pulling tourists in green carriages, and the clatter of purposeful donkeys pulling carts laden with bulging bundles, the driver in his djellaba clicking his tongue to hurry them along. I remember the babel of languages — Arabic, French, English and other tongues unable to be discerned from the river of voices.
Koutoubia Mosque
Koutoubia Mosque
Koutoubia Mosque
man reading in the gardens of Koutoubia Mosque
Walking through the streets of Marrakech to the Bahia Palace, I remember the sounds of women wearing djellaba and hijab, speaking Arabic to their friends “Salaam u alaykum” and “wa alaykum asalaam.” “Shukran, shukran.” I remember the peach-washed walls and the balconies in the mellah. I remember the smell of chicken, olives and lemons, and the hiss of boiling olive oil from tajines in hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
walking to Bahia Palace
walking to Bahia Palace
walking to Bahia Palace
Wandering through the souqs, I remember cloaked women humming past on bicycles, the puttering of motorbikes and the roar of larger motorcycles as drivers weaved their way among the tourists and locals, who themselves engaged in spirited bargaining. I remember walking through warm strips of sunlight seeping in through the bamboo roof of the souq. I remember the aroma of dried rose petals, bark and leaves, the smell of spices piled high in bright orange and yellow and red pyramids: cumin, black pepper, ginger, turmeric, saffron, paprika, cayenne, and harissa (chili). I remember the sweet enticements of dates and cinnamon.
After the palace, we dove headlong into the souq, where, for rest of the evening, we wandered and shopped. I remember the scents of fresh squeezed juices: papaya, banana, orange, cucumber, and pineapple. I remember the smell of tea brewing. I remember the clattering of a cart selling juice de gingembre, or ginger juice, and its reminiscent-of-Asia scent. I remember the sound of haggling by people in French and Arabic, D’accord and Shukran and Merci beaucoup. I remember the way the shopkeeper said “bargain,” with a “d” sound thrown into the middle: “What a barrdgan!” I remember the colorful tajine pots, the Islamic motifs on ceramics, the Fez hats, the cashmere scarves, the Berber rugs, the brass lamps lit behind purple and pink glass, the slippers in aquamarine, coral, orange, red, and purple. I remember the rough texture of the straw bags with their soft fuzzy pompoms in lime greens and cantaloupe colors. I remember the metal insects pinned to a board, the prisms of light from the brass lamps, the colorful patchwork of leather bags, the paintings of camel races and ancient scenes from a bygone Morocco.
table coverings and bags
tajine covers
dried flowers
dried flowers
brass lamps
ceramics
spices
tajines
shoes
metal insects
brass lamps
brass lamps
brass lamps
straw bags
straw bags
tajines
paintings
paintings
dried flowers
dried flowers
At Jemaa el-Fnaa, the giant plaza in the middle of the medina, I remember the green tarps of the food stands, hundreds of them, where hustling young men grilled their meat, fish and vegetables, smoke rising into the air. I remember the wistful flutes of the snake charmers, the African drums beating a steady rhythm, the young men pushing menus from their food stands into our faces. I remember the jangle of tambourines and men in djellabas playing card games on tiny tables. I remember the coo roo-c’too-coo from pigeons and the twitters and flapping wings of white-rumped swifts and turtledoves. I remember the taste of a delicious pastilla, a savory meat pie, and fresh squeezed mango juice. I remember the long walk back to our hotel, passing a storefront with prickly cacti in every shape and color standing sentry on the sidewalk.
Jemaa el-Fnaa
leaving Jemaa el-Fnaa toward Koutoubia Mosque
cactus shop
cactus shop
Finally, at the end of the evening, I remember drinking mango juice through a straw out of a light-bulb shaped glass, while our friend Chai sipped on a turquoise drink suggestive of exotic isles.
drink in a light bulb
Chai with a fancy blue drink
*Steps: 16,948, or 7.18 miles*
*April 20, 2019*
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“PROSE” INVITATION: I invite you to write up to a post on your own blog about a recently visited particular destination (not journeys in general). Concentrate on any intention you set for your prose.
It doesn’t matter whether you write fiction or non-fiction for this invitation. You can either set your own writing intentions, or use one of the prompts I’ve listed on this page: writing prompts: prose. You can also include photos, of course.
One of my intentions for my travels in Morocco was this: Walk through the city, town or countryside of a new place. Use all senses to write down details, then do a freewrite beginning with “I remember the sound, taste, smell of …” Use words that create sounds on the page like “smack,” “thump,” etc.
Include the link in the comments below by Monday, May 11 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this invitation on Tuesday, May 12, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
This morning we left Essaouira and drove three hours to Marrakech. We got to Hotel Gomassine and checked in, then went to a restaurant down the street for lunch. After lunch, we headed with our group to several places in Marrakech, stopping midway at Bahia Palace, a palace and gardens in Marrakech’s medina.
garden at Bahia Palace
orange tree at Bahia Palace
The oldest part of the palace, Dar Si Moussa, was built between 1859-1873 by Si Moussa, a former slave who became Grand Vizier of the Sultan.
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
The palace was completed at the end of the century by his son, Si Moussa Ba Ahmed, when he became the wealthy Vizier to the Sultan. He added the lush gardens and decorated each room in elegant Moroccan style. The ornate palace was given to his favorite concubine, Bahia, which means “brilliance” in Arabic.
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
The palace is lavishly decorated with woodcarvings, geometric paintings, and stucco work throughout the ceilings.
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
The materials used in Bahia Palace came from across north Africa. The marble was brought from Meknes, and possibly originally from Italy. Perhaps it may have been brought from the ancient Volubilis and the nearby Badi Palace, which was built in the 16th century during the rise of the Saadians, when Marrakech became the capital. That palace was built by the most well-known of the Saadian rulers, Ahmad al-Mansour.
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
The cedar likely came from the Middle Atlas and the glazed terra-cotta tiles from Tetouan.
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace is still used by the government, and the Minister of Culture Affairs occupies a small section. Some scenes from the 1956 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much, were filmed in the palace.
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
Bahia Palace
After visiting the palace, we walked through a small part of Marrakech’s medina.
*Saturday, April 20, 2019*
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On Sundays, I post about hikes or walks that I have taken in my travels; I may also post on other unrelated subjects. I will use these posts to participate in Jo’s Monday Walks or any other challenges that catch my fancy.
To get ready for our May visit to Chicago, we first made our flight reservations. I had a $200 voucher that I had to use by mid-February from the horrible experience we’d had with United on our flight home from Portugal in 2018. So the flights weren’t badly priced due to the voucher. Then we reserved an Airbnb condominium near Lincoln Park. At the time, we thought my son and his girlfriend in Denver might join us, so we got a two-bedroom condo.
Next, I started reading Fodor’s Chicago and a book I’d picked up in Cincinnati last year: Walking Chicago: 31 Tours of the Windy City’s Classic Bars, Scandalous Sites, Historic Architecture, Dynamic Neighborhoods, and Famous Lakeshore, by Ryan Ver Berkmoes. I haven’t yet finished the Walking book, but hope to finish it before I leave.
Of course, I always create a reading list of novels set in my destination. I had been to southern Illinois twice in 2019 (to visit my sister), so I’d already read some books set in the state. The books in green below were books I already had on my shelves, two of which I’m currently reading. I read Stuart Dybek’s collection of stories, I Sailed with Magellan, and the heavy and not-very-rewarding tome, The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo, in preparation for this trip. It looks like I may be reading the rest of the books I own in lieu of actually taking the trip, as we will likely have to cancel our Airbnb due to the coronavirus by April 29, the last day we have for a full refund.
Since none of us is going anywhere for a while, I hope, like me, you’ll enjoy exploring the world through books. You can find lists of books by setting here: books | u.s.a. |.
Of course, I always enjoy making my travel journal and setting my intentions for my journey. Here are some pages from my Chicago journal. I always love studying and following maps, so from now on, I am going to try to incorporate map-making into my journals. I have been inspired by a book called How to Make Hand-Drawn Maps: With Tips, Tricks and Projects by Helen Cann. The first chapter is “Compasses,” which gives instructions on how to make a compass rose.
How to Make Hand-Drawn Maps
Here is my result:
map from Fodor’s Chicago and my compass rose
Here are some more pages from my journal.
plans, plans, plans
and more plans
and more
plans…
Finally, here are my intentions, for whenever we go:
my intentions for Chicago
FINAL NOTE: Thursday, April 23, I was asked by my Airbnb host if we were still planning to come to Chicago. Due to financial hardship, she wanted to remove her apartment from Airbnb and rent it out long term. After checking with United Airlines and finding we could get a voucher for our flight (to be used on any flight during the next 24 months), we decided to go ahead and cancel our trip. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go later this year. Luckily, I’ll be prepared whenever we go. 🙂
my journal from the Tiffany exhibit at Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
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“ANTICIPATION & PREPARATION” INVITATION: I invite you to write a post on your own blog about anticipation & preparation for a particular destination (not journeys in general). If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments. Include the link in the comments below by Thursday, May 21 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Friday, May 22, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation, on the 4th Friday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂 If you’d like to read more about the topic, see: journeys: anticipation & preparation.
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
My husband is the one who has the urge to visit Chicago. I drove through once in 1979 on a road trip across country with my first husband. We didn’t stop for a visit, but simply drove our old van along the the shore of Lake Michigan and marveled at the skyscrapers. It seems only now, some 40 years later, my husband Mike and I have decided to delve into the city, but the reality on the ground will probably waylay us this time around as well.
As the most populous state in Illinois, and the third most populous in the United States, Chicago beckons with its steel-framed skyscrapers and a slew of iconic and influential architecture created by such famous architects as Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, and Daniel Burnham.
Guidebooks for Chicago
It has famous and unusual public art in Millennium Park: the polished steel Cloud Gate, affectionately called “The Bean;” Frank Gehry’s stunning Jay Pritzker Pavilion; and the Crown Fountain, which displays the changing faces of native Chicagoans spitting a fountain of water. The city is home to some greats: Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum, and Willis (Sears) Tower. Chicago is known for its comedy and music, especially blues, soul, and jazz.
We hope to do public art walks and architecture walks, take boat rides in the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, and pedal bicycles along the shores of the freshwater Lake Michigan. There are skylines to see, towers to climb and art museums to visit.
Guidebooks, map and journal for Chicago
And there is plenty of good food to be sampled. The city is known for its Chicago-style deep dish pizza, artistic hot dogs, classy steak houses, Mexican food, Asian fusion, and Italian roast beef. Maybe these are not the most healthy choices, but they’re certainly hearty fare for an often frigid and windy city.
Connected by the El, short for Chicago’s elevated rapid transit system, Chicago is a city of neighborhoods: The Loop, the South Loop, the West Loop, Lincoln Park, Near North, River North, Pilsen and Hyde Park.
Chicago had 58 million visitors in 2018, the second most visited city in the U.S. after New York City. We planned to be two of them; we have a plane flight scheduled and an Airbnb rented for May 13-18. We will probably have to cancel due to the coronavirus (we have until April 29 to decide), but if we do cancel, we’ll try to go as soon as the governors give the okay for businesses to re-open.
First notes on Chicago
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“THE CALL TO PLACE” INVITATION: I invite you to write a post on your own blog about what enticed you to choose a particular destination. If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments. If your destination is a place you love and keep returning to, feel free to write about that. If you want to see the original post about the subject, you can check it out here: imaginings: the call to place.
Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, May 27 at 1:00 p.m. EST. My next “call to place” post is scheduled to post on Thursday, May 28.
If you’d like, you can use the hashtag #wanderessence.
This will be an ongoing invitation, on the fourth Thursday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
Here we are, another week of stay-at-home orders, the fourth Wednesday in April. Welcome to my fourth cocktail hour, a virtual world where we STAY HOME and drink. 🙂 Drink plenty of water, gargle with saltwater or drink orange juice, grape juice, kombucha, or hot apple cider. Or imbibe in coffee, tea, wine, beer, or even something harder. Fluids will help, or so they say. Let’s pour them down.
Though you may not feel it deep inside, I offer you Cheers! À votre santé! 乾杯/ Kanpai! Saúde! Salud! May we all remain healthy, safe, financially afloat, and hopeful despite the barrage of bad news.
Here’s my Covid-19 diary for the last two weeks.
Wednesday, April 8: I contacted my son in Costa Rica and he seems quite happy to stay where he is. He said the only available flights were in late May, and he didn’t want to rush into anything; as of now he thinks he’ll stay quite a while. He said he’s enjoying hanging out and talking with lots of different people, swimming in the lake, doing free yoga classes once a day at a hostel near his cabin. He said they had a cacao ceremony last night and there was way too much chocolate there. Mango season is coming up soon, so he can’t wait for that. Otherwise he’s been eating lots of watermelon ($1), passionfruit ($0.15), bananas ($0.07) and papaya ($1) when available. The local fruit stand has good days and bad days so he’s learning to go with the flow. Sometimes he splurges and pays $4 for a smoothie of $6 for a vegan curry. He said he’s generally really happy as he learns to overcome the obstacles and not get too attached and frustrated with them.
My daughter in Richmond and my son in Denver have started ongoing games, similar to Scrabble, with me on the app Words with Friends.
Thursday, April 9: Jobless claims hit 6.6 million last week. New York has more confirmed cases than any other country.
I’m feeling particularly bad today, with lots of congestion and even some coughing. No fever though, and no difficulty breathing. These allergies (if that’s what they are) are really getting me down. It probably didn’t help that I took a walk in the forest, where allergens are high.
trees reaching to the sky
fungi in the forest
Japanese maple
redbud tree
azaleas
Friday, April 10: Today I saw that investment advisors are predicting a 50% drop in the stock market, with no quick V-shaped recovery expected anytime soon. The market was closed today for Good Friday.
Saturday, April 11: I felt a little better today, which improved my mood. In the evening, we drove to Anita’s Mexican Restaurant in Herndon and ordered takeout, and then drove by our friends’ house to wish one of them a happy birthday from out in their driveway. We’ve decided we need to systematically start ordering takeout from our favorite restaurants to help keep them in business.
a walk on the Glade Trail
Sunday, April 12: EASTER! We listened to our Church of the Holy Comforter Easter Service on YouTube and then had a Zoom meeting with the whole family. My oldest son is still working, and their Colorado butchery shop was busier than ever, with over 300 customers on Holy Saturday before Easter. The company has now hired an extra person to help with the increased demand. My daughter is still unemployed, but collecting unemployment.
My youngest son has now moved from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, the second poorest nation after Haiti in Central America. Things worked out in a “serendipitous” way, and he is living near a hostel on an island in the middle of an alligator-infested lake. Apparently, Nicaragua’s borders were still open as their president, Daniel Ortega, hasn’t been seen in a month, and the country is in denial about coronavirus. The country is still conducting large scale events, urging citizens to go to the beach, enjoy holiday cruises, go to soccer matches, and turn out for Easter-season passion plays. Despite the government’s denial, and the lack of testing and health care in that country, my son seems very pleased to be where he is.
Monday, April 13: We moved a portion of our retirement funds out of the stock market and into bonds and money market funds. We don’t want our entire retirement funds to be at risk during these turbulent economic times. Of course, we always risk selling at the bottom of the market, but in my opinion it’s likely the market will go much lower in the coming months. I feel the optimism that is buoying it is unjustified.
Wednesday, April 15: We continued our Spanish classes on Zoom. I felt chilled and miserable all day with all the congestion I still have. We went out to our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Enatye, and ordered takeout, hoping to contribute to keeping local businesses afloat.
Enatye Ethiopian
Thursday, April 16: As of today, I’ve been sick with constant congestion, coughing and throat-clearing for six weeks now. Still, I have no fever or difficulty breathing, so I can’t get the COVID-19 test, which is reserved for the only the most dire cases.
Stay Strong America!
daffodils on the bike trail in Vienna
spring buds
Friday, April 17: Today, of course right after we sold a portion of our funds out of the market, the market surged on news that Gilead Sciences spiked to the top of the NASDAQ 100 due to positive results from the company’s remdesivir treatment on Covid-19 patients in Chicago. Of course, I would expect there to be good news if a treatment for the virus or a vaccine was found. But I feel the markets are grasping for some kind of positivity, as the test for this drug was only done on 125 people.
walking the gravel trail in my neighborhood
cherry blossoms
Saturday, April 18: I’m still sick and feeling particularly run down today. We ordered take-out dinner from our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, East Wind, again contributing to keeping our local businesses afloat. Mike made hot mulled cider with bourbon to drink on the way, so it felt as much as a date night as possible these days.
I walked 3 miles outside, and seemed to feel a bit better today, despite the high pollen count outside, which makes me wonder if it is simply allergies that I have.
the lower Glade Trail
buds in our neighborhood
Monday, April 20: I walked in our neighborhood under gloomy skies. But I came home to find some azalea branches Mike had put into one of our vases.
azaleas
Tuesday, April 21: Today I set up another virtual visit with my doctor for Wednesday afternoon because my symptoms haven’t responded to over-the-counter treatments, nor have they changed in nearly seven weeks.
Wednesday, April 22: Today, we hit 825,306 cases of coronavirus and 40,316 deaths in the U.S. In Virginia alone, we have 9,630 cases and 325 deaths. Before long we’ll have a million cases, and yet our worthless, despicable president and his brainwashed minions (out protesting with their guns and calls for freedom) want to reopen the economy and get back to life as usual. I understand with 22 million people now having filed for unemployment that people want to get back to work. But realistically, people are going to be hesitant to return to life as normal. Even if governors open parts of the economy, many people will likely continue to stay in place, and people who have to go back to work won’t be happy about exposing themselves to the virus. We need widespread testing and contact tracing, and some kind of reliable treatment for the virus before people will be comfortable resuming normal life.
Today is the anniversary of my mother’s death in 2002. She died of emphysema, on a ventilator, much like many of the coronavirus patients of today. Her disease came from many years of smoking. It’s hard to believe 18 years have passed since she died. Here are a few pictures of her. I’m sure I have a lot more somewhere, but I’m not sure where they are at this moment.
Dad and Mom – early days
me almost two with Mom and Dad
Dad and Mom in the back, Joan, me and Steph with Brian in front
Dad, Mom, me, Sarah, and Bill
Me, Joan, Mom, Rob, Steph and Dad
My mom and I were never close, and I’m sad that we never had the chance to create the kind of relationship I would have liked with her.
Robin of Breezes at Dawn asked the question in a comment: What do you want to become on the other side of this? I think this is a great question to ponder. I don’t have an answer for it, but I plan to give it some thought.
Here is a song I have on my playlist. My youngest son is a big fan of this singer, Nahko. Here is “Love Letters to God” by Nahko.
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In the midst of all this, what can we do to make the most of our stay-at-home orders? I’ve created a page where I’ll share different ideas I’ve come across of ways to cope during the coronavirus. It is here: how to make the most of a staycation... or how to cope during the coronavirus #Stayathome orders. If you have any positive ways to get through this, I invite you to share: bits of humor, projects, what we can do to help others, how to keep our sanity, TV shows or movies to watch, books to read, exercises to do, etc. Please feel free to express your emotions during this trying time as well. I’m sure we can all relate to any and all emotions you are feeling.
I wish you all the best during this crisis. Stay at home, and stay safe, healthy and always hopeful.
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I’m going to write a cocktail hour/diary about this challenging time either weekly or bi-weekly on Wednesdays, depending on how much I have to share. I invite you to share your own experiences with what we’re going through right now, either in the comments below, or in your own blog post, which I invite you to link below. I’ll try to keep writing this as long as we are suffering through this together. I hope that we will get through it unscathed, sooner rather than later.
In the morning, we had to wait interminably in the CapSim Hotel lobby to be served breakfast: a tasteless omelet, croissants, coffee, orange juice, and a bottomless supply of bread. I was anxious to get out and explore Essaouira on our first free day since Merzouga.
still life in CapSim Hotel
CapSim Hotel lobby
Susan, Chai and I went out toward the harbor to see and photograph the blue boats. The port offered picturesque views over the the fish market, the boat builders and the Île de Mogador. Blue boats nestled into the harbor, fishermen repaired their nets and sold the day’s catch, craftsmen built traditional wooden boats, seagulls swooped and squawked overhead – it was all a cacophony of noise and activity. Boat builders here supply fishing boats for the entire Moroccan coast in particularly seaworthy designs.
Seagull at Essaouira’s port
blue boat at Essaouira’s port
blue boats at Essaouira’s port
blue boat at Essaouira’s port
blue boats at Essaouira’s port
blue boats at Essaouira’s port
blue boats at Essaouira’s port
boatbuilding at the port
The fish market was particularly pungent, with its sardines, squid, shrimp, clams, and glassy-eyed fish.
fish market at Essaouira’s port
fish market at Essaouira’s port
fish market at Essaouira’s port
fish market at Essaouira’s port
fish market at Essaouira’s port
Susan seemed in a rush, but Chai and I wanted to linger to take pictures.
Essaouira’s port
a jumble at Essaouira’s port
Essaouira’s port
Essaouira’s port
Essaouira’s port
fishing nets at Essaouira’s port
Essaouira’s port
Essaouira’s port
Essaouira’s port
me at Essaouira’s port
We strolled across a long expanse of beach and walked to a cafe on the shore, where we had coffees and took pictures of each other, the beach, the walls around the medina and the fetching flowers.
the beach at Essaouira
Essaouria fuzzies
wall around the medina of Essaouria
Essaouria’s wall around the medina
commercial boats in Essaouria
me and Chai
me and Susan
We then walked through the gates of the medina. Essaouira, once known as Mogador, was ruled by the Portuguese in the 16th century, when it prospered for a time as a major fishing port and a strategic military post. It was part of a long line of Portuguese holdings all up and down Morocco’s Atlantic Coast, including Asilah, Azemmour, and El Jedida, which fell eventually to the local Regrara tribe.
Mohammed III reinforced the city’s walls, added to its fortification, and established direct trade with Marrakech in the 18th century. The town’s fortified layout is a prime example of European military architecture of North Africa. It has a mellow, chill atmosphere, narrow winding streets lined with colorful shops, whitewashed houses, clean streets, and heavy old wooden doors.
As the city became more Arab in the 1960s, “Mogador” was changed to the Arabic name, Essaouria. Now it is known commonly as the windy city for the strong winds that blow across the beach.
Essaouira’s walled medina was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2001.
the gate to Essaouira’s walled medina
At the first shop inside the gate, I bought another scarf and Chai bought a blue striped bag. We stopped at a riad to take pictures.
fetching scene in Essaouira’s medina
riad in Essaouira
riad in Essaouira
We dipped into a shop of paintings where Susan and Chai bought a bunch of Berber alphabet pictures. I kept debating over various paintings, but engulfed by indecision, I bought nothing, much to my regret.
painting shop in riad in Essaouira
painting shop in riad in Essaouira
Then we stopped at our hotel to drop off some of our purchases and Chai said he was off to take a nap. I took Susan up to Skala de la Ville, since she’d been sick last night and had missed our excursion.
view of the coast from Skala de la Ville
Susan at Skala de la Ville
Skala de la Ville
Skala de la Ville
Skala de la Ville
Skala de la Ville
After that, we wandered around the medina and shopped, a very pleasant experience. At lunchtime, we stopped in a hole-in-the-wall cafe where we shared a vegetable pastilla dusted with cinnamon. It was delicious. Then we continued through the medina, buying random things along the way.
still life in our hotel
rugs for sale in Essaouira
bags and textiles in Essaouira
We dropped our purchases at the room, then Susan and I walked down by the harbor and parted ways. She took a walk by the beach, and I went back to the harbor to see the blue boats in the afternoon light. I saw oranges peeled in fringe-like curls on an orange juice cart. I captured the blue boats in various poses, while seagulls squealed and swooped.
orange curls in Essaouira
blue boat in Essaouira
blue boat in Essaouira
blue boat in Essaouira
a jumble in Essaouira’s port
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boats in Essaouira
blue boat in Essaouira
seagulls of Essaouira
a fetching orange stand
a fetching orange stand
After, I walked up to the uppermost deck of Taros, where I had views over the square and the harbor. I ordered a glass of wine and then a kind of bruschetta with tuna and fresh veggies accompanied by a wonderful salad. From atop the deck, I saw Susan sauntering across the square, weighed down by her sweater, with her purple fleece jacket around her waist. I expected her to come up and join me as I’d told her I’d be there, but she never did.
Taros
dinner at Taros
dinner with a view
view from Taros
Since Susan never showed up, and neither did Gabe, Rene, Christian or Natalie (they had planned to watch sunset from Taros), I left after dinner and strolled around the town. Musicians played lively tunes on the street and an old crazy drunk man kept trying to steal the money the musicians had collected. A young guy picked him up by the collar of his jacket and tossed him off to the side, but the drunk kept picking himself up and trying to take the money again.
I eventually returned to the hotel, where I had the room to myself. Susan didn’t return until 10:00. I was happily reading although a little annoyed that she’d never shown up to join me. Though she’d never shared a glass of wine with me the whole time we were in Morocco, she came back tipsy from drinking some wine with the younger gang of four. That irritated me and, combined with all the other things that irked me, I determined I’d never be traveling with her again. I didn’t speak much as I wanted to read my book and I didn’t have anything to say to her. I was basically counting the days when we’d go our separate ways, and would very likely never see each other again.
I was so happy to connect with Chai today and when we were in the Atlas Mountains. I know it was passive-aggressive of me, but after Fez, I had stopped tagging Susan on my Instagram/Facebook pictures because I was tired of taking the time to edit pictures and post them, while she didn’t want to bother to do it herself.
I enjoyed Essaouira, but by this time I was tired of being tied to the group. I felt I was either stuck with them, or being shunned by them. I know I’m not generally a warm and fuzzy person and I can keep myself at a distance from others, but it takes me really trusting someone and believing in their goodwill before I can consider them a real friend.
*Steps: 14,340; or 6.08 miles*
*Friday, April 19, 2019*
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On Sundays, I post about hikes or walks that I have taken in my travels; I may also post on other unrelated subjects. I will use these posts to participate in Jo’s Monday Walks or any other challenges that catch my fancy.
After a breakfast of yogurt, granola, raspberries, blood orange juice and coffee, we packed our Mercedes and left our La Spezia apartment by 8:30. We drove by the port at La Spezia, past the military shops, leisure boats, shipping containers, cargo ships, the promenade, and a huge round church with a cross.
Soon, we were driving south to Pisa on the A-12 near Carrara. To the east was Parco Naturale Alpi Apuane. It was a beautiful day of blue skies, tatters of clouds with gray underbellies, umbrella trees, and a village atop every hill. Pastel houses with ornamental grasses, garden plots, and red-tiled rooftops adorned the landscape. A fancy tour bus passed us by – probably a Chinese group. The coast lay to the west. We passed stone houses with green shutters, an Agip gas station with yellow canopies, a red SOS sign and phone box. Poppies erupted in bright red exclamation points. Farmland stretched to the eastern mountain range, broken by a grove of spindly-trunk trees. We pulled off at an IKEA, where we used the facilities in a McDonald’s.
We arrived in Pisa and stood with other people at a parking lot ticket machine for a long time trying to figure it out. It turned out you had to put the zone # in. One frustrated man, upon finally paying, said, shaking his head, “It’s so easy, once you finally figure out how to do it!” That made me laugh.
We were greeted with cheap souvenirs on the approach to the complex known as Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) in Pisa, which sits on the Arno River. The lawn was impossibly green, and there it was, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, with its 15-foot lean (3.9 degrees) from the vertical. Of course, everyone, including us, had to take pictures of each other holding up the tower.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Duomo
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Mike holds up the Leaning Tower
Me holding up the Leaning Tower
Mike with the Leaning Tower
The complex has five grand buildings: the Cathedral (or Duomo), its bell tower (Torre Pendente, or the Leaning Tower), the Baptistery (Battisterio), the hospital (today’s Museo delle Sinopie), and the Camposanto Cemetery. They represent the main events in a Pisan’s life: christening, marriage, ceremonial honors, hospitalization, and death and burial.
From 1000-1300, Pisa rivaled Amalfi, Venice and Genoa as a sea trading power, often swapping European goods for exotic items from Muslim lands. The city used its wealth to build the now-famous leaning tower. Pisa’s power ebbed in the early 15th-century as Florence grew in dominance. Though it enjoyed a resurgence in the mid-16th century under Cosimo I de’Medici, it sustained heavy damage during World War II. Luckily, the Duomo and Leaning Tower were spared.
The tower, built as a campanile for the Duomo, was built over two centuries by three different architects beginning in 1173. It ran into problems almost immediately, and was leaning when it was unveiled in 1372. The heavy tower, with its shallow 13-foot foundation, was sinking on the south side into marshy unstable soil. The structure has since been anchored to the land.
According to legend, Galileo dropped metal balls from the top of the 187-foot (56m) high tower to experiment on the nature of gravity.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Pisa’s cathedral, the Romanesque Duomo, was begun in 1064 and consecrated in 1118. It uses a horizontal green-and-cream marble-striped motif inspired by Moorish architecture. This motif is common in Tuscan cathedrals.
The Duomo
The part-Gothic round Battistero (Baptistry), begun in 1152, is known for its remarkable acoustics. It is topped by a gild bronze John the Baptist (1395). The lower arcades are Pisan-Romanesque, while the upper section and dome are Gothic. Galileo Galilei was baptized in the octagonal font in 1246.
The Baptistery & the Duomo
the Baptistery
the Baptistery
We walked along the wall which goes 3km around the entire town. It has its first exit at 1km, but we never reached it. We met chattering school groups atop the wall. Parts of the wall had metal poles forming a screen; they reached high up, blocking the perfect views of the tower. What a rip-off. In those spots, no photography was allowed. I thought they should have told us that before we paid the fee and walked up there.
The wall around Pisa
walking the wall
view of Campo dei Miracoli from the wall
view of the Leaning Tower from the wall
walking along the wall
view of Pisa neighborhoods from the wall
view of the Leaning Tower from the wall
view of the Leaning Tower from the wall
view of the Leaning Tower from the wall
view of the Leaning Tower from the wall
The open-air courtyard of the 1277 Camposanto Cemetery, sitting on the western side of the Field of Miracles, is surrounded by a cloister of Gothic porticoes. In the Middle Ages, wealthy and powerful Pisans were buried here in ancient Roman sarcophagi. Many of the cloisters’ frescoes were destroyed during WWII. According to legend, the cemetery is filled with earth that returning Crusaders brought back from Cavalry in the Holy Land.
view of Camposanto Cemetery from the wall
We went to a small cafe for a coffee and a plain croissant and when we walked out, it had started raining a bit. Big black clouds hunkered down overhead, obliterating the skies that had been so blue before.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
the Duomo
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
We picked up the Mercedes, after taking a few more pictures of the tower, and began our drive to Lucca.
*Monday, April 29, 2019 (half day)*
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“PHOTOGRAPHY” INVITATION: I invite you to create a photography intention and then create a blog post for a place you have visited. Alternately, you can post a thematic post about a place, photos of whatever you discovered that set your heart afire. You can also do a thematic post of something you have found throughout all your travels: churches, doors, people reading, people hiking, mountains, patterns, all black & white, whatever!
One of my photography intentions for Italy was to take photos of iconic Italian places, one of which is certainly the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
You probably have your own ideas about this, but in case you’d like some ideas, you can visit my page: photography inspiration.
I challenge you to post no more than 20-25 photos and to write less than 1,500 words about any travel-related photography intention you set for yourself. Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, April 29 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Thursday, April 30, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation, every first, second, and third (& 5th, if there is one) Thursday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
My path less traveled. Rediscovering self after surviving the abuse that almost sunk me. Goal of strengthening and thriving on my adult legs. 👣🙏🏻 #recovery #forgiveness
This blog is for those who wish to be creative, authors, people in the healing professions, business people, freelancers, journalists, poets, and teachers. You will learn about how to write well, and about getting published. Both beginning and experienced writers will profit from this blog and gain new creative perspectives. Become inspired from global writers, and find healing through the written word.
Explore, discover and experience the world through Meery's Eye. Off the beat budget traveler. Explore places, cultural and heritage. Sustainable trotter.
shareable tales of Meery is Meeryable
~ wander.essence ~ 
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