one suitcase only...

Krasnà, krasnà Praha....beautiful Prague

2011-02-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

All shots by Black Snowflake

Caribbean blue....Dominican Republic

2011-02-19T14:23:00.000-08:00

more Sicily shots

2011-02-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

All shots by Black Snowflake

Sicily glimpse

2011-02-19T13:40:00.001-08:00

All pics by Black Snowflake

more pictures from Egypt

2010-04-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Egypt, eternal Egypt

2010-04-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

A dream come true. As an egyptologist at heart, one of my dreams has always been going and stand on the banks of the Nile, watching the sun going down the Theban hills, breathe in the history and legacy that thousands of years of civilization have left us. Nothing prepares you...the sweet scent of the desert mixes with the spices, the cries of the muezzin mix with the swaying of the palm trees...enchanting, as always, forever. Because Immortality was everything to Ancient Egyptians, and their land has learnt from them to breath eternal, to enchant eternal.....
Luxor was all that I dreamt of and more...Karnak is impressive, meandering through it, getting wilfully lost in it, a step back in time, thousands of years back: magical.
The meditative silence of the Kings Valley, the wondrous "discovery" of Horemheb's tomb, the solitary magnificence of Medinat Habu, the long gone splendours of Malqata....
all i wanted...to breathe Egypt in all its essence....

pictures from KL

2009-06-28T03:54:00.000-07:00

A small pictures sample:
From the top:
Poster in Kuala Lumpur
The Petronas Towers
Inside of Sri MahaMariamman Hindu temple
Sri MahaMariamman Hindu temple
Guan Di Chinese temple
Chinatown
Batu Caves
The Ministery of Culture
National Mosque
National Monument
Advertising in KL

Kuala Lumpur: a tale of two cities

2009-06-28T03:45:00.000-07:00

The tropical heat strikes you like an unexpected punch in the stomach. It feels like it’s pouring down, a thousand rain drops that make your clothes damp, but the sky is cobalt blue and there are no clouds within sight. No, it’s just the tropical heat, the humid, suffocating heat of equatorial regions.

“Selamat Datang!” - “Welcome!” This is the way Raja greets us, at the highly modern Kuala Lumpur airport, while I’m still trying to adjust to the local early morning time. Raja is in charge of bringing us from the airport to the hotel. A sincere handshake and a brief exchange of courtesies and off we go in the small minibus. Raja is not very tall, his hair is pitch black and perfectly matches his eyes; his name and his physical features indicate a Hindu origin; he’s very talkative, lively; he talks, endlessly, of his country, with love, with pride. He’s very easy to listen to and very educating.

From afar, I take a glimpse of the city. Even at a distance, the Petronas Towers are a magnificent sight! Kuala Lumpur is a place full of contradictions. Looking up, the more and more peculiar shaped skyscrapers raise themselves towards the skies like tenacious ivy; it’s a jungle of glass, and being in the middle of it, it’s easy to forget that it is itself surrounded by the jungle, the real tropical one, just outside town. Looking down however, especially leaving the city centre and going towards the suburbs, reality is somewhat different.

Footpaths are precarious, some hole here and there, the houses are not elegant penthouses anymore but slums built out of tin on mud. The contradictions, however, in this amazing city, do not stop here. The quest for modernity, of which KL, as their inhabitants call their city, is extremely proud, is in direct contrast, but seems to be perfectly amalgamated, with the traditional ways of its people. Beside huge car-park sized shopping centres lie religious temples. Beside elegant restaurants, food stalls attract tourists and locals alike, and the sweet smell of temple incense tries to cover the less sweet one from the cars’ exhausts. Kuala Lumpur is a melting pot of races.

The three main racial components, Hindu, Muslim and Chinese, appear to integrate themselves seamlessly inside a nation that, though being officially Muslim, allows freedom of religion. As Raja pointed out:” We are born, work, live, pray and die together because we are all part of the same nation.” The city’s multiculture is testified on the streets by a colorful array of sarees, hijabs, chadors and western clothes.

Kuala Lumpur has so much to offer to its visitors.

From the visionary majesty of the steel monsters Petronas Towers, until recently the world’s tallest building, to the lovely and intricated lace-like colonial style or Moorish decorated buildings, witnesses of past colonizations. From giant shopping centres to Muslim mosques, Hindu and Chinese temples, oasis of peace and tranquility, so spiritually distant from the thousand noises of the busy city around them. From the trendy bars and nightclubs to the simple and delicious culinary experiences of Chinatown and Little India. It is easy to think to be in two, three, a thousand different places. Chinatown and Little India’s alleys resemble labyrinths of humanity, where the pace is slow and unhurried, where the passing of time is lived with serenity. Modernity seems so far away.

Fruit stalls offer their daily products, from mangoes to lychees, to durians, the world’s worst smelling fruit; bakeries attract the hungry passer-by with their enticing perfume of just-out-of-the-oven products; beside them, flower sellers are busy weaving wreaths to be offered to the temples. It is easy and relaxing to get lost in that world. But, again, looking up past the already fading colours of terraced houses, the glass monsters loom, reminding you that modernity runs faster than man’s step.

Kuala Lumpur is a relatively new city. Established in 1857 by a group of Chinese tin prospectors, in 150 years it has become the city that it is nowadays. Its name means “muddy confluence”, being, in fact, at the confluence of the rivers Klang and Gombak.

After a past of Dutch, British and Japanese invasions, Malaysia obtained its independence in 1957. Malay people are very proud of that, as they should be. Merdeka square, or Independence square, is a place that sums up in itself the history of its country. A large cricket pitch, bounded by clubhouses in typical north European style, stands opposite to a beautiful Moorish style building; a gothic style fountain on the left and plenty of skyscrapers around. But the pride and joy of Malay people lies up there, with the terribly striking Petronas Towers, with their 451.9m of height and 88 floors that represent for them a jump towards the skies, towards tourism, towards progress. The future for them seems to be full of optimism. From the bottom of the towers, I watch them smiling, and I can’t help but smile with them.

In the following posts, I'll tell you more about this striking city.

Bali Tropic resort, review

2009-06-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

The hotel we stayed in is called the Bali Tropic Resort in Nusa Dua. We loved it!
It was all inclusive, which is not common in Bali, and it was absolutely lovely!
The resort has two storeys bungalows dotted around the grounds, they are of a decent size and very luxurious inside. The door and walls are all decorated balinese style and the gardens are tendered with lots of tropical flowers. It is very common to see squirrels running around.
The resort has its own small temple and a pond. It also has a theatre for traditional balinese dancing (beautiful) and a large pool.
The hotel is beachfront and the beach is a shallow lagoon with lots of sunchairs.
There are three restaurants and the food is very good. It was always a mix of international and balinese food, and the latter was very appealing, though very HOT!!!
The traditional balinese desserts are very different from what we are used to, as they tend to lack sugar and they taste a bit gummy, but they were worth a try.
Here are some pics of the resort.
For us, it was perfect...close enough to explore the island, but tranquil and peaceful to relax.

Bali pictures

2009-06-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

These are just a few of hundreds of pictures that I shot while in Bali.
The first one represents the flower offerings that devoted balinese people leave for the gods throughtout the day.
The second and third show the difference between the sea in Nusa Dua and the one in Legian.
The fourth is the sunset in Jimbaran bay. Spectacular.
The fifth is the entrance porch to a temple in Bali inland.
The next two are shots of the beach from our hotel in Nusa Dua.
Then a lovely welcome to Bali and a statue of Garuda at the airport.

Bali, island of the gods

2009-06-20T03:23:00.000-07:00

Of all my travels so far, one destination surpasses all others for beauty, culture and atmosphere: that place is the island of Bali. Bali is a little island in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago and curiously enough, is one of the few places in Indonesia to retain its Hindu religious connections, after much of Indonesia converted to Islam. Bali is notoriously famous as a beach destination, with large resorts dotting most of her coasts, from Nusa Dua and Sanur in the eastern part and Kuta and Legian on the western side. The sea on the east side is a shallow lagoon while the west side is rougher with high waves, very much suited for surfing. We stayed in Nusa Dua, but we travelled to the other parts to observe the difference. Nusa Dua is a strip of a peninsula dotted with resorts and a large shopping complex. The shopping centre is a very relaxed affair, very different from the hassle you get in other parts of Bali. The price are very reasonable as in all parts of the island. Bali thrives on tourism. Its their source of income. Not the only one but certainly the most remunerative. Bali people are very friendly. Not ipocritevely friendly, but really friendly. Their eyes smile with pride when you praise their homeland. Of course, there are the money schemers as well.... But the thing that gets you about Bali is the tranquillity and calm that this place exhales. The flower offerings that surround the shrines everyday, bring a sort of inner peace, for me at least. I asked a local about this custom after I noticed an offering that contained a cigarette, which I thought was far from holy. The local man replied: " we share with the gods part of our daily life and cigarettes are part of this, so it makes sense to offer one." It makes perfect sense to me too. Travelling inland, Bali is a green lush carpet of rice fields, interspersed often by a shrine or a temple. The temples are breathtaking. Oasis of calm and spirituality, they convey a sense of harmony. They are beautifully ornated and intricatevely carved from stone. I would have loved to assist to one of their colorful festivals, but couldn't find one. As souvenirs go, Bali abounds. Wooden carved little statues, silver figures, Garuda resemblance kites, sunset paintings, decorated sarongs, wooden plates, they are now proudly in my collection of souvenirs from around the world. If in Bali, do go to Jimbaran for a sunset dinner: lovely food and fantastic views of the sun setting into the ocean. Enjoy a fish dinner with your feet in the sand watching the day coming to an end. That for me is the essence of Bali: a celebration of life. Definetely, one of the most beautiful places in the world.

In the coming posts, I will show some photos and a review of our accomodation.

The Art of Travelling

2009-06-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, I do admit it! Travelling is an art, for me at least.
And so this blog will be all dedicated to the ancient, as ancient as man himself, pleasure of travelling, discovering,revealing.
Therefore, this space is for all the people who, like me, love exploring and share their experiences.
In the coming weeks, I will retell all my travels, one by one, from the turquoise waters of the Caribbean to the humble little towns of my native land, Sicily.
Comments are very welcome!
Have a good journey...