First visit to Austria through Graz and its Advent market!

I've only dreamed of going to Austria since I was 12 or so, not that long really... ;o) So I was extra excited when a work meeting got organized in the city of Graz in Austria and I realized I'd finally get to make that trip! Not much time to visit (too much work, needed back at the office), but at least I'd get a glimpse of Graz (plus a day in Vienna!).

Adventmaerkte in front of Graz City Hall

2 full work days in Graz, and all I was able to visit was the Adventmaerkte (Advent Market) in front of City Hall on our way out to dinner one night! But that's ok, it was a nice long walk to get to it from our hotel, and another walk to our dinner spot... enough for me to see that Graz is a city worth visiting at some future point (corroborated by photos shared by a colleague who arrived a day before and got to spend it visiting properly).

Christmassy travels: delightful Christmas ambiance in the markets of Austria and Germany

Three years ago I went all out Christmas on both blogs, and posted here a series on the various Christmas markets I'd visited in Belgium (Liège and Brussels), the Netherlands (Maastricht) and of course Germany (Aachen and Cologne). There's really something magical about those markets... a concentrated dose of Christmas cheer, plus great food and drink! They're a great place to hang out with friends when it's in your own city, and they're fun to visit and do some of your holiday shopping (when visiting some of the really nice ones). And boy do I miss them!!! Each year, when December rolls in, I get all nostalgic for the northern European Christmas Markets... Alicante is a great place to live, but when it's still around 20ºC and not much in the way of decoration and holiday music... it doesn't feel much like you're leading up to Christmas!

German Christmas markets are usually considered the best, so this year I wanted to take advantage of a 4 day December weekend in Spain to head north and catch the ambiance while visiting some friends who are in their last month of a 3 1/2 year stay in Mainz. Since I've tried to organize a trip to visit them twice before, but something always got in the way, I didn't take any risks this time and bought the tickets back in September! Little did I know back then that my job would be sending me to Austria and Germany the week before that trip, right at the beginning of Advent and the Christmas market season... 

And I think I might have a little nuts with all the Christmas markets and glühwein in those extended weekends!!! The proof:

Admiring the National Emblem of Turkmenistan

So last week I was in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, for a big Exhibition and Conference on Education and Sports. I was very lucky to be able to participate as it's very difficult to get a visa to for Turkmenistan. It was a very interesting trip, and hopefully won't be my last!

But more on the actual trip another time. I want to write about something I couldn't keep my eyes off while I was there: the National Emblem of Turkmenistan.

Almost everywhere I went, the main auditorium of the Exhibition Hall, various auditoriums or meeting rooms in a couple of universities, the hotel, the airport... there it was, right in from of me. Together with a photo of the President. When more than half the talks you're listening to are in Russian or Turkmen, and the translator isn't always doing a great job, you end up spending a lot of time observing your surroundings. And the more I looked at the Emblem, the more I was sure each element of it had to tell an interesting story. So I asked one of the other participants I met there, a Russian who's quite a expert on Turkmenistan (both subject of his research and has been there 5 times). So here goes (with complementary info courtesy of Wikipedia)!

At the centre: a horse. More specifically an Akhal-Teke horse (apparently it's the previous president's horse Yanardag, born in the Spring after Independence from the USSR in 1991), a breed very important to the once tribal people of Turkmenistan who depended on them for survival (it's now their national animal - by the way: no horse meat on the  menu in Turkmenistan, unlike the other Central Asian countries!). There's a magnificent statue to these horses in town, of which I only got a quick "drive by" photo as I never had time to go back and properly wander around, camera in hand... Next time!

Am I forgetting anything?

I'm pretty sure we've all asked ourselves that question once we've finished packing for a trip. Sometimes it's a little nagging voice in the back of the mind, just gnawing at you until the light bulb turns on and you go "Oh no! I forgot... Ahhh!!!" Or something along those lines. Sometimes you can solve it by finding a replacement on your trip. Sometimes you can't. And then there are the things you should definitely try to never forget when you travel.

Of course there are plenty of tricks to help you not forget things. I have friends who pack the week before a trip. My father is the king of packers. He's ready the day before, has everything he needs and his suitcase is a wonder to see! (He could be a champion at Tetris if he played.) I myself am a last minute packer which usually means chaos. I prefer morning flights to afternoon flights because if need be I have aaaall night to pack (won't go to bed 'til I'm done), whereas with an afternoon flight I have that added stress of "OMG! Taxi's coming in 15' and I still haven't finished this and this and this!". Yes I know, I should probably be better organized. When cows fly. I do try to write up a list beforehand of what I should include. Or at least I used to. But as it's always the same stuff and it's burned in my brain (a) I rarely finish the list nowadays, and (b) I usually forget to check it when packing! :p

So much to write about, so little time

Actually, let's make that virtually NO time to write! Which is a double shame because not only do I have tales to share that I've started and not finished in the past couple of years (sailing in Greece, New Year's in Granada, England), but as of 6 months ago I've also been traveling a lot more and have plenty more places to talk about!!! 

A day wandering around Amsterdam...

... Amsterdam airport that is! :p

What to do when you have a looong layover (let's say 10h) in Schiphol, Amsterdam's airport?

Bloglovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5094163/?claim=z9gnfxvvqps">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Just adding a bit of code to connect my blogs to Bloglovin'. I'm trying it out as I'm looking for a good app to access the blogs I follow on my iPhone, and while the Blogger app lets me write my own posts, it doesn't show me the blogs I follow and I've been so busy I haven't had time to sit down on my computer and read other blogs and I miss them!!! :p  Hopefully this should help me stay in touch a bit more...

Catching up...

Soooo... how long has it been? And I don't mean since my post reminding you about World Ocean's Day... Nope! I haven't written anything about travelling since FEBRUARY!!! *shock* 

Not only have I abandoned on a Greek island (although you're probably not complaining about that, there are worse places to be abandoned...), I never got started on the New Year's Eve trip to Granada!

"El Patio de los Leones" in the Alhambra

Cousins having fun

And since then there have been a few more trips! *gulp*

A quick overview might be in order...

World Oceans Day is coming up!

It's World Oceans Day next weekend!!! Have you got anything special planned? How about participating in an ocean-themed blogging marathon? ;o)

Next weekend I'll be hosting my fifth annual Oceanic Blog-A-Thon over at my other blog. It's always a fun time with bloggers from all over the place sharing their stories about the marine environment and its inhabitants! 

Hopefully, if I can find time this week (as you'll have guessed from my disappearing act this Spring I've been just a little bit busy lately *sigh*), I intend to write something travel related to post as my participation from this blog for the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon. Will depend on how I manage to organise what little time available I have, and how long it takes me to put together my post for the other blog and the Blog-A-Thon itself! Last year because of the trip to Greece I wasn't able to write anything here, but two years ago I wrote about the majestic Milford Sound in the Southern Island of New Zealand! I have a couple of ideas for this year... we'll see which one looks more feasible to do in a short period of time.

So how about you guys join in? Help raise awareness for the oceans on your blog! Spread the word to your readers! Find out more at "Join the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon for World Oceans Day!". I hope to sea many of you guys there! ;o)

Dokos: water, rocks and a bbq on Saronic Sailing Day 3!

So when I asked if I should continue with Greece or table it for a while and move on to Granada at New Year's, I got votes for both destinations and a suggestion that I just alternate between the two! So I've decided I'm going to that, and start off with Greece just to start reminding myself about the trip since it was now 7 months ago! :o(

So, when I left off back in October (yikes!) we were enjoying the island of Spetses. We left Spetses right after lunch on our third day in the Saronic Islands and had a delightful 2+h sail to neighbouring Dokos (where we had stopped for lunch the day before en-route to Spetses from Poros).

Dokos

Dokos. Hmmm... when I look it up in the two guidebooks sitting on the shelf next to me (Guide du Routard and Lonely Planet), Dokos doesn't appear in either of them! Not only does it not have a section of its own under the "Saronic Islands", but it doesn't even appear in the index! In fact, you have to know it's there to spot it on the map of the Saronic Islands! Even on Wikipedia it's barely got a couple of paragraphs... Why so little love? Well, it probably has to do with the fact that it's an uninhabited island (except by some goats and a shepherd or two) so none of the tourist boats take you there (you can hire a water taxi from Hydra). It's a pity 'cause the coves are great for swimming and there was some nice hiking up the mountain looking for old ruins! Those ruins are a sign that once upon a time it was inhabited (between 3000 - 5000 years ago), and even housed a Byzantine castle (good lookout spot) whose remains I didn't get a chance to go looking for.

Greece or Granada?

Has it really been 3+ months since I last wrote here?! Where has the time gone? It just flies by... To be sure they were very busy months. Work, job hunting, helping my parents out for a time with some serious health issues (my dad had triple bypass surgery), the holidays (Christmas and New Years are always for me, but this year more so as we had extra special visitors in town!)... not to mention my regular (non-travelling) blog and the new blog I started last summer about King Arthur, Robin Hood and other heroes of my youth (and their portrayal in different books and movies). With the BBC series Merlin on every week that gave me quite a bit of work to do! :p

I promise to start blogging here again asap (Merlin's over *sob*, can give the other blog a small break for a while). But I've got a conundrum! Should I continue with my Greek sailing tales? Or should I interrupt them with tales of the Alhambra? And the rest of Granada and the Renaissance castle of Calahorra. Yup! I've been on the road again! We had a family New Year's celebration in Granada!

I think Greece would be another 5-6 posts, and Granada not sure... I might cut up the Alhambra into several posts so they aren't too overwhelming, and I'd mix in with tales and photos from my previous visit 7 years ago (I've only been to Granada 5 or 6 times!).

So I ask those of you reading this: which should I do first - Greek sailing or Granada? 

Oh! And in March I'm going to Santander (capital of the community of Cantabria in the north of Spain) for a wedding. It will just be 2 days, 1 full-on wedding, so very little to share... but I will be blogging about it as well! I definitely need to finish off Greece or Granada before then...

Poros to Spetses via Dokos, Saronic Sailing days 2-3

Oops! Almost two months since my previous post... and I wanted to write one a week to be sure to have the sailing trip finished by the end of summer! Let's just say I've been a little bit distracted by visitors, summer activities and by all the Olympic excitement! :p

In the previous post we had just left Poros en route to Spetses via Dokos, starting our 2nd day of Saronic Sailing. And sailing we did! Was kind of exciting to finally see Vassilis unfurl the main sail and the genoa! :o)

Visiting Alicante, Spain

When I started this blog I wanted to write about my travels, both as they happened (or shortly after returning home) and as trips down memory lane. The idea was for this to both be a travel journal for me, and a place to share my experiences with other people who would be interested in hearing about or visiting these places. The thing about only writing about travelling though, is that it doesn't include writing about one's own hometown! I've often pondered what to do about this... So when I saw the opportunity to ask a friend to write a guest post about her visit to Alicante, you can bet I jumped on it! Annette is a family friend from Minneapolis. She has known me since I was 6 months old, when we moved there from Panama. Long, long time ago! ;o)  She and her husband Tim were part of the adventurous travellers who accepted my parents' invitation to join them on the week's sailing in the Saronic Islands in Greece to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. They also joined in the visit to Athens and Crete and then came to Alicante for a week to enjoy our crazy holiday the Hogueras de San Juan! Here's Annette's tale of their visit to Alicante. Enjoy! :o)

Visiting Alicante, Spain                                                                         July 19 - 25, 2012

by Annette Gagliardi

As part of a larger vacation sailing the Aegean Sea and touring Crete, my husband & I spent the week of “Fogueres de Sant Joan” in Alicante (June 19 - 24, 2012). If you find yourself in Spain, Alicante is a wonderful place to see and to visit. We are lucky enough to have friends who allowed us to bunk with them, showed us the sights and did a fair amount of translation as my husband’s Spanish is non-existent and mine is deplorable. Our friends, Len & Paquita, are the ultimate hosts. Len organized our week on the sailboat, the Stressbuster, drove us around Crete and still had the generosity to want us in their home for the Fogueres week.

And what a festival the Fogueres de Sant Joan is! With fireworks at 2 pm each day, statues erected around the city over the several days of the festival, and a final night of fireworks and bonfires as each Hoguera is set ablaze in its neighborhood. 

The Festival:

setting up the "official" Hoguera in front of the Ayuntamiento

Hoguera Oficial Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Hoguera Alfonso el Sabio

Athens to Poros, Saronic Sailing Day 1

Let's get this Saronic Sailing trip started!

Day 1. June 2nd 2012. We left the hotel in Athens to have lunch just across the street at a little place on the beach, and from there headed over to find our two sailboats, the San Giorgio and Stressbuster, in the nearby Kalamaki Marina.

Half the gang stayed at the Stressbuster, while the rest of us loaded our bags on a trolley and followed our Skipper Vassilis to the San Giorgio where our First Mate/cook Lorella showed us around and explained where things were and how things worked on the sailboat (for example the very important lesson of flushing the sea toilets!).

Welcome aboard the San Giorgio!

We settled in, started unpacking, and headed out right after Vassilis gave us a security briefing (safety first, always!). In no time Athens was behind us and we were on our way, 31 nautical miles to go! :o)

the Stressbuster, with Athens in the background

Sailing the Saronic Islands in Greece

How's your summer going? Mine started a bit early this year, with a lovely week of sailing around the Saronic Islands in Greece! 

40 years and still going! :o)

How did this come about? Just the usual bit of craziness when my family starts organising an event! My dad was looking to do something special to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary, and I suggested they go to Greece since it's something my mom has always wanted to do. So, he started digging around online, looking at options... and then thought "Hey! We could go for a sailing cruise!" There's no way you'd ever get my mom on a big cruise ship (the idea of being herded around like cattle when you land and are told you have x minutes here then back on the bus/boat/whatever is NOT her - nor my - idea of travelling), but on a sailboat -if that sailboat were to stop at islands with archaeological ruins- then yes! And my dad loves sailing (he keeps hoping someone will give him a 40ft yacht, lol!)! No sooner thought than suggested, accepted, and done! He planned a fabulous trip for them which included a week sailing and then a week to visit Athens and Crete. Only problem? Cost! Yup, chartering a sailboat ain't cheap! Well, at least not when you're just two people 'cause basically you pay a fixed rate for the boat (and captain and 1st mate/cook) and it's up to you to decided how many passengers will be on board (the boat had 4 double cabins for passengers). So my dad had to find people who would be crazy enough willing to embark on a Greek adventure! As he started contacting family and friends it looked like it would be tough to find enough people for the cost to be reasonable... then all of the sudden there was 1 person too many for the boat! Since he didn't want to go back and tell anyone "Sorry, you can't come after all", well, he just chartered a second boat! And then started convincing more people for that one! One of which included me! :o)

13 crazy adventurous souls from 6 different cities in 3 countries on 2 (or 3?) continents!

There were a couple of routes possible for a week's sailing, and my dad finally chose the Saronic Islands because a) they didn't involve very long distances between islands (so shorter sailing bits, good since there were people who'd never been on a sailboat before and he was worried about seasickness etc.), and b) they were historically important islands, some with interesting archaeological sites!

"Flying Dolphin"

So, where are the Saronic Islands (sometimes called the Argo-Saronic Islands)? They're an archipelago of islands in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, between Athens and the Peloponnese Peninsula. Of all the Greek isles, they're the ones closest to Athens, and many of them are just a couple of hours away by ferry or "Flying Dolphin". They're popular day trips from Athens, and are popular with mainland Greeks as holiday destinations in summer. Salamis (which we didn't visit) is closest to Athens, Aegina was modern Greece's first capital and in Classical times was a force to rival ancient Athens! Angistri (didn't visit) is very close to Aegina, and Poros (in reality two islands connected by a bridge) just a couple of sailing hours away. Going further south around the Peloponnese Peninsula towards the Argolic Gulf, we can find the quaint Hydra whose fleet played an important role in the war of independence against Turkey, and where you have to move around on foot or on donkey/mule/horse: no motorised vehicles allowed! A short hop away is Dokos, at present uninhabited except for lots of goats and the shepherds who tend them, but with some ruins indicating inhabitants over 3000 years ago! And finally, at the entrance to the Argolic Gulf, Spetses, another important island in the war of independence.

our route (click bigger)

We sailed out of Athens to Poros on Saturday June 2nd in the afternoon, arriving in the early evening. Then on to Spetses (with a lunch stop at Dokos), back to Dokos, then Hydra. From Hydra we went to Epidauros, VERY important archaeological site on the Peloponnese Peninsula. Then Aegina (pistachio capital of Greece) and finally back to Athens on Friday June 8th.

I'll be reliving this trip here on the blog this summer, with photos and videos and anecdotes, and you're welcome to join me! Tales of sailing and snorkelling and wandering around and visiting archaeological sites... So sit back, grab a daiquiri, and enjoy! I sure did! ;o)