Easter festivities April 24, 2011

judas tree in full flower

we were able to pick our Easter wisteria bouquets

preparation of the lamb, lots of rubbing of salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic

it's not Easter without the eggs

and we can't forget the chocolate eggs

our harvest of field asparagus - tonight's dinner risotto

found some lovely wildflowers and honeysuckle on my morning walk

Lovely Easter weekend in Umbrian countryside "in famiglia". Easter flowers, delicious and very plentiful food, dyed Easter eggs, chocolate eggs, roosters, lambs, and chicks. Weather could have been better but Easter Sunday gave us some sun to go hunting asparagus, after me and the older set attended Mass in the village church.  Lots of relaxation, fun, great company and fabulous, bountiful food. Thanks Elizabeth and family!

South Sinai - Sharma el Sheikh april 2011

south camp of Sinai where gulf of aqaba and red sea come  together. photo shows the area of "old Sharm".

view from our quarters, tourist dive boats heading to Sharm

Jelly fish on sand, but they don't bite

sunset view of the sinai mountains, spectacular

moon rising over the water. Came up as a big, huge reddish/orange curved object. gorgeous

moon

Sunrise was just as beautiful. this was the view from our living room area!

beach on the camp. incredible shades of blue

lots of jellyfish seen through the water

another beautiful view from beach

and another beautiful sunset sky

lots of sand and wonderful mountains in addition to the sea. One sees the mountains on one side and the sea on the other

Great visit to the southern camp of the peacekeeping force. Had fabulous weather, warm, light breeze, cooler nights. Attended the military awards parade for one of the american battalions and we toured Sharm at night. Was nice to see that some of the tourists have returned to this area. Tourism had been way down due to the threat of sharks in Nov/Dec and then the revolution in Jan/Feb. Sharm is "over the top" in regards to restaurants/tourist shops/bars etc but the setting is spectacular.  Last time I was there, about 18 years ago, I don't believe there were any hotels to speak of and there was a dive shop or two that sold a few postcards.  That was it. Now it has become somewhat of a Las Vegas by the Red Sea.  Not really my cup of tea but a gorgeous setting none the less.

sinai full moon and more desert bloom april 2011

has been a beautiful full moon for a few days

more cactus bloom

the snails love these cacti

pretty purple and red blooming cactus, the yellow is a flower popping up in between

these are everywhere

a different variety

lots of red and white camelias around

sinai

egyptian delights

the normal stopping off bar enroute from cairo to camp. We were met by owner who proudly grinned and said "Welcome to the New Egypt"

cactus in bloom

and another

can you find the snail?

flowers encroaching on the cactus

cactus fruit

great colors

very pretty bouganvilla

North Sinai - with lots of very pretty flowers and cacti blooming

Cairo, Egypt April 17, 2011

a

a fabulous pool all to myself

shisha anyone?

lots of flavors to choose from including Red Bull, doesn't seem right

very creative palms which I purchased from an eldery man selling them next to the church

Cairo - quiet, calm and a work day for most. Took in part of the Palm Sunday Orthodox service (on the screen as it was being televised from the main church I think which was full?) and then headed back to the pool as it 100 degrees here. Great swimming outside, paradise. Scott off working

Roman weekend- touring when museums are free!

Coliseum

museums (including the coliseum!) are free this week 

best preserved side

shows underground area which had a systems of hoists and pulleys to get scenery, animals etc up to floor level

gladiator graffiti which was most likely carved on the steps

 Busy weekend with museums being free from april 9-17th. We took advantage and went into the coliseum.  Despite the fact we see it almost every day neither of us had been  inside in many, many years. One improvement is that they now have some well-written explanatory signs. We also toured the forum and the palatine on a beautiful sunny Roman day. Today, Sunday we took advantage and toured Trajan's market on its many levels. That was followed by three exhibitions at the Palazzo Esposizioni. One on Italian coins, from the unification of Italy through the euro, which was way too much reading and not visual enough. The second one was on 100 masterpieces from the Stadel museum in Frankfurt which included 2 Renoirs, a Van Gogh, Cezanne, 2 Klees, Courbet and many others and finally a great exhibit of the Russian Aleksandr Deineka. He is the Soviet's most famous realistic painter of the 20th century. He was also a sculptor, mosaicist, drawer, illustrator, and more. He did a lot of drawings/posters/propangada of industrial art, as well as painted a huge number of paintings of sporting events, and people engaged in sport.  He did many of the mosaics which are in the ceilings of the Moscow underground. Great exhibit, almost (but not quite) made me want to go to Moscow.