The longest journey of a frequent traveler.

I'm sitting and steaming in the Bangkok airport and reflecting on my journey to Sydney, still not complete, that is taking me approximately 2/3 of the way across the globe.  I have had some interesting routings in my time but this one takes the cake for sure.  Due to an 11th hour change of venue for a big meeting, I will have gone from Boston to Sydney - the long way.  How long you ask?  Well, let's recap so far.

Thursday I dropped off my rental car after almost 3 weeks in Boston - 1 week more than planned but no complaints since that meant 1 more week to snuggle my amazing little nephews (one of whom has somehow grown fangs as his first top teeth, but that's another story).  Dropped the car off and got on a flight leaving at 2:30pm to Washington Dulles airport.  Got to Washington and waited for my flight from there to Zurich which was scheduled to leave at 5:00.  We got on the plane and waited a bit.  Pilot came on to tell us there was a fuel leak and we needed to deplane and wait for it to be fixed.  Being the optimist that I am, I figure - better to know while on the ground that you have a fuel leak, no?  After a couple hour delay, we were back on the plane and taking off.

I arrived in Zurich at 10:15 am local time (rather than 8am as planned).  Hopped on the 1hr 15 minute train journey to Luzern and arrived back at my apartment.  Got home after 12, showered, repacked, checked email, updated Facebook, watered the plant and then was off to catch the 4:10 train back to the airport.

By the way, did I mention that somehow on Thursday I managed to obtain approximately 12 (guessing here) mosquito bites on my left foot?  Precisely along where my shoe hits my foot so they are constantly being rubbed making me want to scratch myself bloody.  But I digress...

At Zurich after checking in for my flight to London I grab a beer and watch the flight screen nervously.  You see, I have about 2 hours to connect in London between terminals.  Yes, those of you who have flown through London are now shaking your heads and making little "tsk tsk" noises.  Let's just say it's a gamble at best to connect between terminals with less than 3 hours.

The flight gods continue to toy with me and my flight is delayed by 45 minutes.  We land in London at 8:30 and my flight leaves at 10 (gates close at 9:40).  Now I know I'm screwed.  I'm imaging my poor sister who has never flown internationally alone wandering around the Sydney airport tearful and clueless.  But I get incredibly lucky - bus to Terminal 3 is there and waiting, takes right off and then - get this - there is absolutely no one in security.  So I coast through that and briskly walk smugly towards my gate.  Except, it's not my gate.  I saw the routing but didn't double check the flight number.  Crap!!! I'm at the wrong gate.  Now my brisk walk becomes a kind of fast waddle/shuffle/walk/run and I arrive sweaty and panting at my correct gate just as they are boarding.  For the love of Larry, enough is enough.

My ticket says London - Sydney flight duration 23 hours.  So, I'm guessing we stop somewhere and we do - Bangkok.  We are a bit delayed out of London but here I am in Bangkok.  Looking at my blackberry, it seems to be 6am on Saturday Boston time.  So, I have now been on the road for 40 hours by my count and I still have another 12hr or so flight to Sydney.  I left Boston at 2pm on Thursday and I will arrive in Sydney at 6am on Sunday, local time.

As I feel in danger of feeling a bit sorry for myself I have to admit that I'm sitting in the British Airways Business Lounge and - wonder of wonders - they have showers here in Bangkok.  I popped out of writing this blog to take a much needed shower and now with a glass of ginger ale with ice I am feeling much more my positive self.  After all, before work starts in Australia (road trip of 5 cities in 5 days) I get a week of vacation in the South Island of New Zealand which has been at the top of my list since 2001 when I got to the North Island and kicked myself for not leaving time for the South. 

Lord of the Rings country here I come!!!  When I say I circled the globe to get there, I wasn't kidding:
Boston to Washington - 1.5 hrs
Washington to Zurich - 8 hours
Train and replacking - 6 hours
Zurich to London - 1.5 hours
London to Bangkok - 10.5 hours
Bangkok to Sydney - 13 hours
Sydney to Christchurch - 3.5 hours
38 hours in the air not including transit time or flight delays

Volcanic ash issues - just another day at the office

I am back and forth to Boston about every 6 weeks or so but this week was a little bizarre.  A volcanic eruption in Iceland has spewed so much ash in the air that so far there have been 17,000 flights grounded across Europe.  I'm sitting right now at Zurich airport where we are reassured that our flight is going to take off just fine in about 2 hours.  Meanwhile the ash has come as far south as Paris closing airports there and in Amsterdam, Germany and everyplace else north of that.  My guess is that this same flight tomorrow won't be going.

Not only does this affect me but it creates a small work emergency as it is leaving au pairs stranded both in Europe heading to the US and those that have finished their year in the US and need to head home.

It seems slightly bizarre to me that today's major challenge for work involve a volcano in Iceland.  Go figure.

Jerusalem

I don't care who you are or what your beliefs are - Jerusalem should be on everyone's bucket list.  I don't think there is anyplace else on the planet where you can see as many different people co-mingling in one tiny space or as many amazing and meaningful sights that individually are worth their own trip.

Without intentionally doing so, we booked our trip on the rare year when Easter and Passover coincide.  Although Jerusalem was super crowded and opening hours were limited, it was an absolutely incredibly awesome time to be there.  I had no idea that there were this many different religious costumes.  It was surreal enough to feel like being on a movie set.  

 

 

 
The sites in Jerusalem are just awesome as well.  Old Jerusalem is a walled city that is only .35 square mile.  The wall has 11 gates of which 7 are open today.  The old city is divided into 4 quarters: Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian.  Each is distinctly different from the others.  Within this tiny area are housed some of the most famous, interesting and holy sites in the world.

The Cardo Maximus is the excavated Roman "main street" of Jerusalem.  This used to be a large boulevard lined with shops and market stalls.  There are parts of the original road and columns here.

  

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre houses the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial (Golgotha, Calvary).  It is managed in a very carefully shared way between many different Christian sects: Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholics, Ethiopian Orthodox, Coptics and Syriac Orthodox all share some responsibilities of the site.  It's such a careful arrangement that one Coptic monk who moved his chair from its agreed site into the shade caused violence to break out.  They won't even agree to remove a ladder that has stood on the facade so it has to be replaced whenever it rots away (see under the right window):

Close by sits the famous Western Wall otherwise known as the Wailing Wall which is perhaps the holiest site in Judaism.  Jews from around the world come to pray here and leave notes in the wall's cracks.  The wall is all that remains of the destroyed Temple compound.

And sitting right above the Wall sits the Temple Mount where the Jewish Temple used to sit but now sits the Dome of the Rock - one of the holiest sites of Islam to mark the spot where Mohammed ascended to heaven.  Jews believe this rock is also the site of the "Holy of Holies" and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Today the plaza is open to all people but only Muslims are allowed within the Dome of the Rock.  

It wasn't unusual to see people who were overcome by being so close to such sacred sites.  

 

Apart from its religious landmarks, Old Jerusalem itself is beautiful with winding streets and lots of stalls selling everything from wooden crosses to Jewish kippa to head scarves. 

 

There are plenty of soldiers around - barely out of their teens and packing machine guns.  Luckily when we were there they were relaxed and happy to pose for photos with pretty girls.

    

Across the Kidron Valley is the Mount of Olives, site of the oldest Jewish Cemetery in the world and many churches marking events like the Ascension, Mary's tomb, etc.

     

With only 3 days we saw a ton but I think even after a month we would still be discovering new treasures in this amazing city.  Between the people and the sites it must be one of the most fascinating places on earth.  

Tel Aviv

My friend Kjersti and I spent our first 3 vacation days in Tel Aviv and it turned out to be the perfect start Tel Aviv is a city on the beach like Waikiki.  We lucked out with a hotel one street in from an awesome beach and right around great restaurants.  Tel Aviv is truly a modern city and very cosmopolitan.  It feels kind of like a blend of Europe and the Middle East - a little rough around the edges but very alive.  Coming from snow (literally that morning) in Switzerland into the summer sunshine was amazing.  Everyone was out with friends and family walking along the beach promenade and cooking out in the parks along the ocean.

One of my favorite things about Tel Aviv (and in fact Israel) was the food.

We ate lovely fresh grilled seafood every day.  They do this awesome thing in Israel - before your main course they bring you little tasty bits of food called meze.  You might have a bit of hummus, a bit of grilled cauliflower, a bit of shaved carrots with mint, etc.  It is incredibly hard not to fill up before your main course.  Here are a few food shots for the foodies out there.





During the evenings the beaches are turned into ocean side bars.  People come and hang out with friends and family for a few drinks, something to eat and maybe a smoke on the hookah.  Kjersti and I just loved being able to sit outside with our beers and some cards for a little Spite and Malice.

When we weren't eating or drinking we did do a little sightseeing.  We did a walking tour checking out the typical "Bauhaus" style architecture for which Tel Aviv is now included as a world heritage site.

We also went to the market - I'm a big fan of markets :)

  

This is the Carmel Market and while most of it is composed of stalls selling cheap tshirts and jewelry some of it was really cool.

All the way down the beach from where we were staying is Jaffa.  This was known in Biblical times as the port of Jappo and it has a really lovely old town to wander through.

Since we were there during Passover, most shops were closed but Jaffa looks like it has a really cool artist presence.  Another reason to go back I guess!

After 3 days in Tel Aviv we were relaxed, tanned and well fed and ready to hit the ancient streets of Jerusalem.  I already miss the fabulous soft sand but I have a feeling I may be back.  It's only a 3 1/2 hr direct flight from Zurich after all!

Why Israel

On my week trip to Israel - Tel Aviv and Jerusalem - it became apparent that instead of one vacation I was getting two for the price of one.  Tel Aviv and Jerusalem couldn't be more different and each really cool in their own way so I have decided to do one post each to give them the attention they deserve.

But before I do that, I thought I'd answer the question pretty much everyone asked me - "Why Israel"?  Actually, it's not the first time I've been.  I went in the late 90s with my aunt, uncle and grandmother and was struck by the history and significance.  This time, the choice came about a little randomly.  In Switzerland we get off Good Friday and Easter Monday from work so it's common to go someplace fun for an extended long weekend.  My friend Kjersti and I looked at flights trying to find someplace with sun, someplace exotic and we saw that there are direct flights between Zurich and Tel Aviv and quicker than you can enter in a credit card number, our tickets were booked.

Israel is a pretty amazing place.  It has 7.5 million inhabitants and is only a tiny bit larger than the state of New Jersey.  Its official languages are Hebrew and Arabic and as anyone with a television can tell you, although it's a Jewish state they share their space with Arabs who have both Muslim and Christian backgrounds.

Israel has beaches, diving, deserts, great people watching, fabulous food, a Dead Sea, archaeological sites that will blow your mind, and a city with pulsing nightlife.  So, really, the "Why Israel" question is easy to answer - no matter what your interests are there is something to interest you in Israel.

The art of packing

Since I'm already sitting here considering what to pack for my upcoming trips, I thought I would share my tips on smart and simple packing.  This next two weeks poses particular challenges - get this: 


Sunday Mar 21 - fly Zurich to Stockholm (via Copenhagen for some extra flavor) - current temp in Stockholm 30 degrees F
Wednesday Mar 24 - fly Stockholm to Boston - current temp 70 degrees F
Tuesday Mar 30 - fly Boston to Zurich, arriving mid day March 31.  Who care's what the temp is because then I fly
Thursday, April 1 - Zurich to Tel Aviv - current temp 82 degrees F


Now, anyone who knows me knows I have the upper body strength of a toddler. Besides that I just HATE lugging stuff.  I even bought a granny cart to grocery shop here.


So, for those reasons and many more, I've disciplined myself to pack light.  Here are a few ways I keep my packing in check assuming a 7-10 day trip:

• I notice that the earlier I start laying things aside to pack the bigger the pile because I keep seeing things I'd like to add.  So, I don't pack very far ahead and find that it helps me not overpack.
• I decide on the size suitcase I should need for the length trip and make myself live with it.  I don't pile everything up and then look for a bag to fit it all in.
• I have trial sized everything (mostly snatched from hotel rooms).  They go in a ziplock bag, not a cute (but inevitably bulky) toiletries bag
• Make-up: I only take one versatile eye shadow, some mascara and 2 lip glosses
• I never bring perfume.  Not necessary and can leak or break.
• I never pack a hairdryer - there's always one at the hotel
• I try to get an easy haircut so I don't care about straightening, etc.  If you have long hair it's easier to pack an elastic than a straightening iron.
• I'll usually bring a fun necklace or two since they don't take up space and they will jazz up your outfit b/c you're packing fewer clothes if you're good.
• Clothes - ok here's where you all go crazy.  This is my formula
• Bottoms - # of days divided by 2.  One of those should be suitable to go out to dinner and not feel like a bum, but can also be comfy enough for running around sightseeing.
• Tops - depending on the weather, usually 1 sweater (2 in winter), a few light long sleeve shirts and a few short.  # of total top options = # of days minus a couple.  So, for a 7 day trip I'd have 5 or 6 tops.  I always have 1 or two I really like and want to wear a second time.
• Instead of a bottom/top combo above I like to pack a jersey dress that you can just throw in the bag it won't wrinkle.  These are awesome.
• I always wear the bulkiest of the clothes I plan to bring with me on the plane.  If it's warm, the sweater goes around my waist to save luggage space.
• I buy really easy pjs to pack (usually light bottoms and a tank)
• Shoes - 2 pair limit.  One ok for work/dinner and one that I can really walk in.  Flip flops don't count.  Always wear the bulkiest on the plane.
• Undies and socks go in last and you shove them around everything else
• Always remember your chargers (phone, camera battery, kindle plus adapters)
• You can fit more clothes by rolling them than folding them but I normally only need to do this on the way home after shopping!
• Speaking of, remember - the less you pack the more you can shop.
• Nothing valuable every goes in checked luggage and I never lock it (I'm convinced this invites attention of thieves anyway).
• Many cell phones have alarms so you don't need to pack one.
• To the airport I wear the bulkiest clothes and shoes I'll need and any coat/jacket.  You can always shove the coat/sweater in the overhead bin if you're hot.

Before I close the suitcase one last time I do this check in my head:

• Make sure you have your passport
• Make sure you have your credit cards and money
• Remind yourself that no one cares really what you wear so can you take anything else out?
• Make sure you have your toothbrush/toothpaste
• Don't worry about anything else - you can always buy it.

Let's Go travel books always say - pack your bags and then take half that amount and twice the money.  It's as good advice as any.

These are a few of my favorite things

As I run out of projects in the Melrose house I am starting to feel the withdrawals of decorating.  Although I'm not a creative person I am loving the process of re-doing the spaces in my house.  Though the thousands of hours watching HGTV and listening to how colors can "pop" and how important "texture" is, it's becoming ever more difficult to rein in the tweaking.  For those of you that don't care about this stuff, go ahead and hit your "back" button, but for the rest of you (anyone?) who dream of auditioning for Design Star, I'll share are a few things that I'm loving right now. What's on your list?

Purple/Plum
I'm starting to see this color pop up in magazines and for the heck of it threw it into my dining room and I love it:

Can't really see it from here but there are coordinating pillows on the chairs along the back wall and I found great paper with which I lined the shelves of my hutch.  David Bromstad says you have to repeat a color at least 3 times in a room and I'm a good pupil.















I am also loving retro fabrics:

Such fun fabrics!!  I want to make some pillow covers to add to the dining room for a little punch since there is no other pattern there.  In general I like simple fabrics but a little punch of color here and there is really fun.  

I think the Hollywood Regency style of decor is so beautiful - especially in a bedroom

 

It's characterized by lush fabrics, lots of shine like mirror or glass, and nail heads on upholstered pieces but it's also very clean looking at the same time.  Perhaps now my new bed purchase makes sense: 

Some of the upholstered beds are too feminine but this was perfect for me and I LOVE nail head detail.  I also didn't want something I'd be sick of in 5 years so this seemed a good compromise.

Going a bit to another extreme, I've been eyeing a new dining room table for almost a year now since my current one is really too small for the space.  Some day I'll plunk down the cash for this one or similar:

It's a chunky industrial, rustic table.  One of my design shows they described one person's style as "rustic contemporary" or rustic revival and I guess that's as close to what I like as they come.  I like pieces with character, I tend to like more masculine pieces (other than when "shiny" and "rusched" are involved) and I definitely like clean lines and simplicity.  I've been going back to this table every few months to see if it's on sale at Pottery Barn but no luck yet.

On an earlier post I had this mirror on my wish list and now it's mine!  I love Zgallerie where I got this fabulous sparkly dining room mirror.  Zgallerie is one of my favorite sites for a lot for ideas on cool and unusual pieces.

Well, that's a few fun things for right now.  I have major shopping itch now.  I guess it's obvious that one of my favorite things is online treasure hunting.  I wonder if there are any sales running....