what in the world...?

virtual treasures...

...my visual treat du jour. The Online Gallery at the the British Library in London. It's fantastic and I would encourage you to check it out today.

Books you can view online include a 17th century copy of the great Indian epic, Ramayana; the Gutenburg Bible circa 1455; the Lindisfarne Gospels - the oldest surviving translation of the Gospels into English; a 14thc Qur'an...

Not sure of their plans for putting more literary works online. I hope they do....curling up with these books almost took the frustrating weekend away. I said almost....  ;-)

wing tipper...

...wild ride - near miss at Hamburg airport in Germany. A Lufthansa flight caught in crosswinds as it descended towards the runway in a storm. Scrapes the ground with its left wing tip and takes off again before landing safely. London Times has the story.

notes from lisbon...

...finally - back at home and almost over my jet lag! For some reason, it always seems to hit me harder when I travel westward.

My Lisbon picture gallery is up - enjoy! Remember to click on the thumbnails in the gallery to expand each image...

If you've been following along, you know I was at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal this past week.

I needed a visa to get there and wasn't even sure it would arrive in time. Finally got the okay...a scant 2.5 days before I had to leave. There were a few 'throw things in a bag and run' kind of moments before I finally got on the plane! 

What it meant, though, was that I had not had time to read up on the city and the country. To be honest, I was so frazzled by the lengthy visa process, I wasn't really looking forward to the destination at all - just the meeting.

Pleasant surprise - Lisbon is a gorgeous city. Flying in, I was startled by its beauty - and was hoping to have a bit of time to get some pictures.

Lisbon has a strong nautical heritage, and you can see visible signs of that - simply everywhere. From ships decorating the tops of lamp posts, to mosaics of ships on the pavements, to ships on trash cans...

Lisbon's history dates back to Phoenician times; you'd be hard pressed to find much evidence of that however - almost the entire city was flattened in 1755 by a massive 9.0 earthquake and a resulting tsunami. 

It is today a city of grand avenues and narrow, precipitous, cobbled streets. A city of beautiful art-deco buildings and old churches. Its main street is the tree-lined and gracious Avenida de Liberdade, which was modeled after the Champs-Elysees in Paris, but to my mind - is far more evocative of a different, gentler, era than the Parisian boulevard. Having said that, here's a wry historical note. Portugal was neutral in WWII - and yet was known for being rife with spies.

As with most team meetings, we had the chance to have dinner in a couple of unusual locations. The first was the Blues Cafe, on the banks of the river Tagus. Entering it was a bit like stepping back in time (unless you noticed the DJ and his sound equipment!) Red plush velvet furnishings, potted palms, pink lampshades, retro metal fans, oil paintings on the walls....and...hmmmm, look...is that a Kenny G.-ish sax player? Yep.

Dinner the second night was at the Palácio dos Condes D'Óbidos, a old palace that is now the HQ of the Portuguese Red Cross. This is a stunning location, made even more so, by the imaginative decor at dinner. The palace is richly tiled throughout; the dinner tables, with their profusion of tumbling fruits, flowers, terracotta and candles were such a fitting complement. View my pictures.

On the final day of our meeting, I had a few free hours and took the chance to wander over to St. George's Castle - a castle dating back to the 6th century BC. I'm torn whether to call this a castle or a fort - when I think of a castle, I think of (say) the Alhambra in Granada - my favorite castle in the world. Unlike the Alhambra, there's not much left within the interiors of St. George's Castle; I suspect the earthquake of 1755 may have had a hand in it somehow. It's just walls, battlements, lots of cannons lying around, and miles of stunning views.

And, may I add, murderous cobblestones. How did the ancients manage it? It's one thing to ride  a horse up cobblestones...quite another to walk on them - for hours on end. I picked my way warily round the castle - not helped at all by the boots I was wearing. If you'd called me a tenderfoot that day - you would not be off the mark.

I wanted to see the castle for another reason...it has a connection to India.

The great explorer Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon to India, arriving there in 1498. India still retains elements of Portuguese culture, especially in the cities of Goa and Bombay. An aside...Bombay was gifted by the Portuguese to the British in 1661 - as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza when she married Charles II.

When da Gama returned to Lisbon as a hero, he was received by King Manuel I of Portugal at.......St. George's Castle.

one more before the weekend...

...a few more pictures from the sunny side. Beautiful weather in Lisbon today. We had a team game outside that led us to clues around the city. Managed a couple of shots...and then there was dinner...we went to a palace this evening! Here are a few pictures to keep you going until I get back and post more this Sunday. You'll see a new 'About Me' picture. It was taken tonight...at dinner. Good night! :-)

A tram whizzes by as we hunt for clues around the city this morning...

 

Art that I wished I had had time to buy...but there was a clue to be found...

Guard dog. A Chihuahua stands watch over his master's accordion on Rua Augusta. Bite me.

The dessert table at dinner tonight :-)

Stunning decor tonight...the tables were beautifully done. This was at the salad bar.

Traditional painted tiles adorn the palace. This depicts the city's proud seafaring history.

Seen from the bus...on the way back to the hotel tonight.

seen around lisbon...

...I'll create my Lisbon album over the weekend. In the meantime, here are some random pictures from the city today...

Evidence of the city's nautical heritage can be seen all around - even on the tops of lamp-posts.

A frieze on the hotel's facade.

A poster on the walls of Indochina - a bar next to the Blues Cafe, our dinner location tonight.

 

Inside the Blues Cafe...

I have absolutely no idea who this is! My attention was caught by the arresting image of a tiger skin on a horse.   

 

the flying engine...

...am in Lisbon, Portugal and rushing to get ready for the day! Flew in last evening and from the air, this is a stunning city! Busy week ahead and will post at length when I return...for now, here are some pictures from the air. I just happened to be sitting right on the engine. Inside the plane, though...would have been a freezing trip otherwise. Ended up trying to make the engine a part of each picture! :-)

Tip of the Isle of Wight. I went sailing here last year. The white tip you see is this part of the Island. 

 

The Cantabrian Mountains...

First glimpses of Lisbon...

lone ranger...

...I know the feeling well!

Dining out alone when on the road can be an odd experience. I've tried a number of tactics: a) taking a book, b) chatting with strangers sitting next to me, c) people watching...

There's always the 'ol standby: room service. It's sadly easy, especially when I travel overseas: dinner + emails, answering messages from your colleagues a continent away...working across two time zones. That said - room service gets monotonous really, really, fast.

I do try to eat out when I can - with mixed results. I've found restaurants where the food is phenomenal, but the lighting so dim I couldn't read even if I wanted to. Then there was the time the restaurant owner insisted on having a protracted political discussion with me even though I pointedly tried to focus on my curry, trying to fob him off with a weak grin. I have found a few in London that do work for me including my favorite: Veeraswamy's. I will happily eat their fabulous food anytime - despite the low lighting which means I have to give up option A (read) in favor of option C (people watch).

Read O Solo Mio, on MSNBC...

lucky to have a safe landing...

...a BA flight crash-lands at Heathrow this morning on its way back from Beijing; 136 passengers and 16 crew have a lucky escape with minor injuries reported. Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on another plane, getting ready to take off for a trip to China and India; a BBC reporter on his plane blogs about the crash of the incoming flight. The Daily Mail provides a graphic of the event.

The plane came in low over the airport perimeter. I've traveled on the road right next to it, and yeah - the proximity never ceases to amaze me. The crash could have been much worse...it took a skilled pilot to bring the plane in the way he did.

oh so tempting....

...I would love to try something as offbeat as this: walking across Africa on foot. Fran Sandham did - and tells the tale. One of these days...

top twelve great escapes...

...from the London Times obituaries. No, I don't make it a habit of reading obits! The headline caught my eye and then this story did:

Brigadier Gris Davies-Scourfield

Capture came at the end of the ill-fated British venture to secure Calais in May 1940. Early in 1941 he joined a team digging a tunnel through the floor of the music room of their prison camp near Salzburg. On watch, he was warned of approaching guards and hastily covered the tunnel entrance with a piano and began to pick out a few bars, but the plan was discovered.

He and his companions were given 45 days’ solitary confinement. Soon afterwards he was moved to an ancient fort at Poznan in Poland. Choosing a day when rubbish was dumped under the eye of an habitually casual German sentry, he and two comrades were in turn hidden under rubbish and wheeled in a small handcart and tipped into a pit beyond the camp gate. In civilian clothes made from camp blankets, they walked to a rendezvous with the Polish Resistance. He set out for the Swiss frontier in February 1942 accompanied by a British lance corporal who had acquired good Polish with the Resistance. They intended to reach Austria by train via Czechoslovakia using forged papers, but the corporal did not understand a question by a German policeman on the train. They were arrested and interrogated. After refusing to reveal the names of those who had sheltered them, the corporal was returned to prison camp and Davies-Scourfield was sent to Oflag IVC — Colditz Castle, near Leipzig.

Fascinating. Although Brigadier Davies-Scourfield passed on in 2006...may I still say: R.I.P?

Did I tell you of meeting a friend's father a few weeks ago only to find he served in the Pacific during WWII on the Essex (CV-9)? 

Unexpected stories - we each carry them within ourselves. All it takes is a willing ear to draw them out.

trips to change your world...

...read this on CNN today. 40 trips to change your world - and that of someone else. India is on there...though to be honest the trip mentioned is definitely not one I would have chosen! My picks from this list are: Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and Namibia. The latter, I notice, requires mandatory evacuation insurance. hmmmm...

black tie

...last night was the big night and I am currently operating on sheer adrenaline and two days with limited sleep. Nine months of planning and guiding a program and one night of absolute delight as people I know presented or delivered acceptance speeches.

The rustle of silk and beaded dresses, the formality of tuxedos and full dress kilts, a stunning room, a wonderful vibe as people mingled and networked....the biggest satisfaction I get is watching the pride in people's eyes as they win an award or chat with leadership.

Good gravy, suddenly I sound like a den mother!

I took this picture in the room before we started; it's admittedly blurry and I don't think the flash popped up for this one. I was in a hurry! For the record - the flowers were stunning.

I wore a full-length gown and I wrestle with describing the color.

Hmmm, I also wrestled with the zipper in my room while trying to get it on! I won that battle.

The color was green/gold/blue....depending on which way the light fell.

This next one is titled: dadgumit, part two and is for Claire.  ;-)

I spoke about a certain impediment to facial perfection in the post right below this one. Claire recommended toothpaste as a quick fix.

Never loth to try a helpful remedy, and desperately short on time, I ran to the bathroom before realizing I had the gel kind, not the chalky toothpaste that I think I needed. Still, I dabbed and waited.

Did I mention I was in a hurry? I waited for all of a couple minutes and then ran to wash it off and head downstairs to work. So, I'm not entirely sure it worked - but I can confirm my zit was minty fresh all day long.

Which is a long-winded way of saying with a grin, cropped pictures are the only images you will see of me attending the dinner!

dadgumit!

...the mirror does not lie....on my left cheek, like some sort of a winking beacon...a dreaded zit.

Time to a fancy black-tie dinner: less than 24 hours.

My location: London.

Location of my sure-fire zit killer, Proactiv - my bathroom shelf, a continent away.

Darn it.

Perhaps I can just treat it like a beauty spot and pretend it was always there. Every woman's essential fashion accessory. A bit red - but always there. What? You mean you do not have one?

Who am I kidding? Out, damned spot....out!! Ack!! 

a foot in either hemisphere...

...standing with one foot on either side of the Prime Meridian, I waited for an epiphany. Look! I'm standing with a foot in either hemisphere! Here I am quite literally, standing over East and West - and well....

Okay, I was not going to have a hallelujah moment yesterday - yet it was a very fascinating day. Pat and I took a boat over to Greenwich; an hour and one funny, opinionated, river tour guide later, we disembarked right in front of what used to be the Royal Naval Hospital.

The Royal Observatory is a short walk from the pier, through the grounds of the Royal Naval College  and up a gentle slope. It was commissioned in 1675, by Charles II. The plaque lists his name as Carolus II and it took me a second to realize that that's the Latin representation!

There is a lot of history in the air; John Flamsteed was the first Royal Astronomer (1675-1719), and just around the corner from the plaque is the room where he housed his camera obscura. The tombstone of Edmond Halley, his successor, is embedded in the wall nearby. I read with interest later in the evening that Flamsteed had  differences with Isaac Newton when Newton and Halley published his work without due credit.

And wouldn't you know it? My ol' buddy - Henry VIII makes an appearance here as well. The Palace of Placentia, or Greenwich Palace, used to stand where the Old Royal Naval College does today. It's where he was born and his marriages to Katherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves took place. He also spent a lot of time there with Anne Boleyn and the palace was where Elizabeth 1 was born. Excavations in the area have revealed remnants of the palace. I'm bemused to note they covered it up again to make a car park.

Let's bring this back to today and something we look at each New Year's Eve without realizing what it is...the ball drop at Times Square each year. One of the first time balls was erected at Greenwich in 1833 and  drops each day at 1300h. They were originally intended to help mariners set their chronometers.

More pictures from the day in my Greenwich picture album.

it's a merman....frozen in stone...

...a couple of pictures from the grounds of the Donnington Valley Hotel and Spa, and taken on a beautiful fall day.

I'm fascinated by this statue - It looks like a merman to my uneducated eyes, in an embrace with his mermaid.

Isn't it an arresting sight? When you look at the same statue in the picture below - his girlfriend appears flat. In the first picture, you can see her profile.

cleaning up before the cleaning lady...

...just a quick grumble. would somebody please explain the logic of an electric stove with touch panel controls to me? It's just not ergonomically friendly!

The apartment I'm staying in is impressively furnished and comes with a kitchen. I had a few spills wrestling with the touch controls - they can be hard to manipulate in a hurry and now I've been trying to clean up before the apartment cleaning crew get here tomorrow.

And I can't find one of my socks - the washer/dryer combo seems to have made a meal of it. Well, small mercies - at least I finally have the hang of using these machines. There have been times on previous trips where I've ended up cooking my laundry. My clothes have come out too hot to hold and a size too small in some instances. The steam fogged my glasses...

in london town...

...the best way I've found to deal with jet lag? Walk it off. Despite the picture of the bus, I walked around Hyde Park this afternoon! Truly one of the greatest city parks around. I'm especially fascinated by Rotten Row - the first road lit by gas lamps in this city - in the 17th century. It's a wide boulevard that is great to walk along, especially in the mists of early morning hours.

The one spot I have not found? Tyburn. Call me ghoulish...the Tyburn gallows used to be where people were hanged until 1783. The location was near where Marble Arch is today. I walked up to the Arch and around it - but may have missed the three triangles that mark where the gallows once stood. I've seen them while on one of those London tour buses - but want to get a picture.

It's not as odd as you might think. I do find it fascinating that we all walk over, and by, areas each day that have played a role in history - and hardly give it a second thought. The Tyburn gallows, once a spot where dissdents were hung, is right next to Speaker's Corner - where people have the right to speak their mind, politely. Rich irony of history.   

More pictures. You might also like to read my account on historical coincidences; the areas I mention are close to Hyde Park and the Duke of Wellington's home. 

...just another pile of stones...

Stonehenge, voted as a 'tourist attraction that leaves visitors cold'. Stony-faced, I agree.

I thought back to Spring, 2002 and the time I walked from Salisbury to Stonehenge (and most of the way back...about 18 miles in total). A colleague braved the trip with me and we traipsed through villages and back roads, meandering our way through to this pre-historic monument.

A walk of many firsts - my first view of thatched roofs! Look! There's a stile! Vintage British farmland! I blame it all on Enid Blyton - her books were set in and around the picturesque English countryside. I would later go on to Dorset - where she set many of her books, but this was my first exposure to lush farmland and I fell in love.

Stonehenge was another matter entirely. After three hours of walking, and dodging cars careening through country roads, we finally turned the corner, crested a rise - and there it was. I think my memorable reaction was: 'erm....that's it?? It looked like a pile of rubble- an impression that did not change the closer we got to the circle.

I tried. I really did. I closed my eyes and tried to picture Druids around the circle. I opened them and focused on rumbling tour buses. It was also cold and damp, and hot soup only margially altered my cranky frame of mind. Still, the day had its riches. The serenity of the country was wonderful.

Keep the stones.....here are a few other places in England I would highly recommend:

• Hever castle, in Kent. Once home to Anne Boleyn  - one of Henry VIII's wives. My trip to Hever.
• Chartwell, also in Kent and Winston Churchill's former home. The picture accompanying this post is from the gardens he loved. My trip to Chartwell.
• One from London: The Cabinet War Rooms - a treasure often missed by tourists *
• The White Cliffs Experience at Dover Castle *
• Corfe Castle *
• Beaulieu and the Montagu Arms Hotel *
• Listen to the choir at Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge *, and St. George's Chapel, Windsor. My trip to Evensong at Windsor.

* just means I wasn't blogging at the time I visited these places; I have a list compiled over several years of visting England!

If you read the list from the BBC that prompted the post - yes, I disliked the Eiffel Tower as well. But - that - is a whole another story.

turn off the blackberry...

...kicking and screaming. I must. I am now on vacation for a bit and am really trying to stay away from the winking red light. If you own a B'Berry - you know what that light means. It's dreadfully addictive!

music from stones and wood

I had the chance this evening to attend Evensong at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. There is truly something spiritual about listening to a choir in a church that is hundreds of years old. I closed my eyes to better listen to the music; individual notes turned into color. Ribbons of color that each singer picked up and wove into a rich, musical, tapestry.

I mused about sounds that embed themselves in the fan-shaped arches and among the wooden pews; centuries of music and worship looking down upon, and joined by, tonight's lyrical sounds.

Imagine too, spending eternity buried in a chapel and have hymns and prayers float over you each day. That would be inexpressibly wonderful and peaceful.

And what do you know? The ol' rapscallion himself: Henry VIII is buried in the choir area along with wife #3, Jane Seymour. I mentioned peace a few lines above. Here's hoping he rests, at last and found a peace he did not really have in life. I couldn't resist one (just one!) irreverent question: was he buried in instalments...?