Photos Finally!

Photobucket and our old, slow, glitchy computer have conspired to make life difficult, so it has taken me forever to get our Ireland photos uploaded. Better late than never! Here are some highlights:

Emerald Isle

I've been out of the blogosphere for a while, but we're back from Ireland and ready to post pictures! Well, almost, that is. "Almost" applying to the picture posts, I mean. We're definitely back, and not even too jet lagged. But between the unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, make-up class work, and bill paying, I haven't gotten the photos off the camera just yet.

I don't think I mentioned it in previous posts, but Jeff and I were in Ireland for almost two weeks. We toured the island from sea to shining sea; at least, east to west. We went from Dublin to Enfield (in County Meath), and from there toured down to Kildare and over to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. We saw the Hill of Tara, Loughcrew, Irish National Stud (complete with an $80 million dollar racehorse!) Trim Castle (where parts of Braveheart were filmed), and more sheep than I can count. I'll have more details and the promised pics in the next post, but I'm off to catch up on chores now!

Beijing 2013: Highlights

We saw so many historically and architectural important and beautiful places in Beijing. It was a wonderful experience, but the pictures tend to blur together into one big pagoda after a while, so I'll just hit the high spots with a brief description!

Beijing 2013: Olympic Park

What a beautiful view we had of Beijing Olympic Park! Whether by day or night, smoggy or clear, inside the hotel or out, we saw some very pretty sides of the city.

Beijing 2013: One Big Party

There was one interesting occurrence that really brought home the unusual political system that China has. With a history of communism since 1949 and the odd co-mingling of that with capitalism today, our guide explained that China has a "one party" system. But we American and European tourists had a very difficult time grasping that concept. How does it work? Who do you vote for? What are party members even called? Certainly not representatives, since they don't answer to the public! It all came to a head when we were visiting Tiananmen Square and trying to understand the lack of parlimentary buildings. In fact, the "White House" equivalent, where the Chinese president lives, is secret! The Chinese people don't even know where their leader resides! And most Chinese no nothing of what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989, which is ironically the only thing Americans likely DO know about China and its political history.

It was certainly an usual experience to explain democracy and the divided branches of the American system to our young Chinese guide. He couldn't seem to comprehend such a system, just as we cringed at the idea of his!

Great Hall of the People

Soldiers in Tiananmen Square (you can see Chairmen Mao's picture in the background)

We got a tiny taste of how seriously China takes their communism when we visited the mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong. There is generally a several hour wait in line to go through, but we came long right before closing and zipped in. We had to leave hats, bags, purses, backpacks, etc. all outside with a friend or rent a locker. Nothing is allowed inside except your person! No cameras, no flowers, etc. We went through several layers of security and then were rushed along a pathway and up the stairs into the mausoleum. We were herded through the building and past the preserved body of their revered communist leader (who was draped in the Chinese flag and encased in a glass box, no less). It was a bit surreal and I'm certainly glad we didn't stand in line for any length of time for the privilege, but it did seem to give us a glimpse into the culture and politics of this country.

Mao's Mausoleum

Beijing 2013: Home away from Home

You may have noticed these posts are late. I'm having to back-date my posts (it's actually near the end of June now and we're already back from China). This is because China does not allow access to Blogger. Nor YouTube. And has spotty WiFi to boot. So, I couldn't blog while in China. And we were so busy, I didn't have a lot of time to upload photos to include with my text, anyway. But we do take our freedoms (and Internet freedoms) for granted here in the States, so the infringement thereof was an interesting first impression.

But speaking of first impressions, our hotel is beautiful. Since Jeff is presenting a keynote paper at the conference, his trip expenses are covered, including the room. What a great blessing, because some of the other cheaper hotels are apparently not nearly as comfortable. Air conditioning is spotty, breakfast buffet limited to Chinese food, no WiFi, staff only speak Mandarin; these are some of the issues other conference participants have had to deal with.

But we have a nice suite with gorgeous views out the humongous windows of our 13th story room (though very superstitious about certain numbers, 13 is not one of them in Chinese culture, so this hotel actually has a 13th floor). The staff is friendly, and language is not such a barrier here (although all the concierges have pretty poor English, which makes getting directions or advice rather difficult)!

We have a corner room, so our bedroom and sitting room face Olympic park and our bathroom looks out over the convention center. Our 70+ square meter suite is apparently bigger than most Beijing apartments!

I absolutely love our double vanity vessel sinks and the iridescent blue-green mosaic tile around the tub and walk-in shower. It's given me new ideas about our downstairs bathroom remodel!

Beijing 2013: Travels

World travel may sound exotic, but the getting there is mostly a grind to be endured. At least, that's the case in the economy cabin! Business and first class seem quite tolerable, maybe even enjoyable, but we have neither the miles nor the moolah for the upgrade, so steerage level for us!

But I can't complain. Our flights to China went as well as could be hoped, with only the basic hassles and standard discomfort that is three legs of a trip to get half way around the world. The upside: I can now say I've been to Japan! We had a connection in Tokyo, although it was dark when we landed and took off, so I can't claim to have seen Japan, just been there. And their public bathrooms are all I could have hoped for. The acclaimed Toto toilet was in every stall with the fabulous Washlet toilet seat that washes your rear, plays sounds to hide your sounds, deodorizes, etc., etc. Good thing there was a multilingual explanation sheet or I might have missed my connection trying to figure out how to flush!

Beijing!

It's official! We are going to Beijing! Jeff is presenting a paper at an international professional conference in China next month, and I get to tag along.

We weren't sure it would work out since visas are required, the language barrier is a little more intense than usual, and Beijing is a huge, crowded, somewhat polluted, and intimidating city. I wasn't certain I was up to fending for myself as I usually do while Jeff is occupied in talks all day. But Jeff has arranged tours for me every day from 9 to 5 and we're going a few days early so we can acclimate and enjoy China together. We have some contacts and friends there as well, so perhaps we'll get an insider's view of the city, too! I'm very excited for our week and a half visit, as this will be quite different from the other four continents we have explored.

San Antonio

Jeff had a professional conference in San Antonio earlier this month, so I tagged along. It was beautiful weather and a gorgeous setting right down on the Riverwalk, so I entertained myself during the days and we had fun together in the evenings.

If you've never been to San Antonio, there is so much to do! I went up in the Tour of the Americas (built for the World's Fair) for a bird's eye view of the city. Then down through the parks and walking trails around the Riverwalk. One day I took the bus out of downtown and toured the Japanese Tea Garden and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.











We, of course, saw the Alamo. It was a very special few weeks for the museum and shrine, as the historic letter written by Commander Travis requesting volunteers and stating their intent to fight (and die, if necessary) was on display inside the church. It had not been on the premises since it was written and sent 177 years ago! It was a very big deal, and there were lines up to five hours long to get in to see it. We toured the plaza, barracks, and other Alamo sites and made plans to come back to see the church and the letter another day. It turned out we saw the letter on the morning of March 6th, the same day the Alamo fell to Santa Anna all those decades ago. What interesting timing!







Since the Spurs were in town, Jeff hoped to see a pro NBA game. Several of his colleagues from the conference were interested, too, so Jeff arranged tickets for all of us to the Wednesday night game against the Chicago Bulls. It was aired on ESPN, so you might have seen us!







Dinners, a riverboat tour, and other enjoyable activities rounded out the week. All in all, a very fulfilling and fun time in Texas.

The Best Of...

Here are just a few highlights of our trip to Israel and Jordan. I've realized we are sometimes rather indiscriminate about taking pictures, and also that context is key. Otherwise, half of the major landmarks and historical locations in the Middle East just look like brownish rocks!

On the Mount of Olives

At Caesarea

Really, this sign was on a stall in the marketplace in Jerusalem! We have no idea what they were selling.

I'll give you one guess where this was taken!

Find the slideshow with titles and descriptions here. I promise, it's not overly long and I tried to make it not too boring!

We're Back!

We had a wonderful trip to Israel and Jordan. All things considered, it was a very smooth, enjoyable, and educational trip. I have lots of photos to sort and label, but I'll try to get some posts up soon. In the meantime, I'm washing, drying, ironing, folding, hanging, mowing, weeding, and just plain getting back in the swing of things.

Life did not stop while we were gone. Our young chickens started laying and we came home to several egg cartons full of "hen fruit". Our closing date for the delayed refinance is only a few days away (taking advantage of 3% interest, hurray)!, the electrician is coming tomorrow to start detangling the mess that is our upstairs wiring, the floor sanding guy will arrive next Monday (whether we have the furniture out or not!), and the bathroom contractors will start demolition in less than a week and a half away. I'd like a pause button on life some days, but it just keeps roaring ahead!

Taking Wing

It's been so hectic lately, I haven't had a chance to post about our travel plans. We are already on our way, winging toward Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel for almost a week and a half, followed by a few short days touring Jordan. We have a layover in Rome, but sadly it will be at the airport only. It seems a cry shame to be traveling through such a beautiful city and not be able to take advantage of it, but we didn't want to be greedy or overextend ourselves. So we will be content with a small (and secure) portion of the Middle East!

Tucson Time

What a refreshing time we had in Tucson! Funny, since our annual religious convention couldn't have been held in a drier place. But we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Southwest.

We rented a convertible and drove with the top down nearly all the time (in blazing 97 degree weather all the way down to cool 72 degree evenings ):

In our spare time, we toured Old Tucson, the movie set where hundreds of Westerns have been filmed:

We ventured into some national parks and took in the flora and fauna:

I got to experience "zero gravity" (not really, but it was the name of this a fun trampoline/bungee jumping combo):

We enjoyed one particularly memorable steak meal (I had the pecan crusted sirloin, Jeff the prime rib):

We took a side trip to IKEA in Phoenix while we were up that way. It wasn't planned, but when we saw the mammoth Swedish store, we couldn't resist. It's only in major cities, so I go whenever I can!

Our flights to and fro were thankfully uneventful, which is about the best that can be hoped for in economy class seating. We've returned home invigorated and excited to take on the challenges ahead!

Canada, eh?

View over the Bella Vista region of Vernon, BC

We had a fabulous time in Vernon, BC! British Columbia is a gorgeous province, and Canadians are so very nice and friendly. The weather couldn't have been better and the setting was very picturesque with lots of family-friendly activities and sites.

We enjoyed a day at the Historic O'Keefe Ranch, a property just outside of town that was one of the first settled in the Okanagan Valley. It has been preserved as a historic site with the original main house and many out-buildings, plus a great steak restaurant, petting zoo, antique farm equipment, and other assorted attractions.

Family Day was held at the Davison Orchard, a family owned farm on 60 acres with produce of all kinds grown and sold locally. We had a brown bag lunch, apple cart ride around the orchard, and plenty of down time on the green grass for football, dominos, checkers, browsing in the gift shop for local artisan products, and just plain basking in the sun.

Vernon is a fairly small town, but it's very well taken care of. We enjoyed a walk downtown through a few of the many large murals painted on building sides. Polson Park was a small green haven when we needed to relax after a busy week. We ventured outside of Vernon for a trip south to the Gray Monk winery, as well as a day spent in Kelowna, the nearest city of significant size.

All in all, it was a beautiful trip to our North American neighbors. I definitely recommend the region to anyone who has a chance to visit!

Vernon Slideshow