favourite photos - Dubai

Dubai book-ended our trip to Europe, so we enjoyed a couple of days on the way there and on the way home. Despite doing and seeing lots of thing while we were there, I actually ended up with only a handful of photos. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, we were visiting family, and as such we ended up just enjoying the time together rather than rushing around and seeing the sights, and with our 15-month old nephew in the mix, our hands were kept pretty full chasing him around. Another reason is that it was hellishly hot. I mean, I like the heat, but when it's 44 degrees with 80% humidity, it kind of saps you. So we spent a lot of our time indoors in malls and anywhere else airconditioned. When you stepped outside, the camera instantly fogged up and you spent the next 5 minutes wiping it dry and letting it get acclimatised, during which time you had started to burn in the sun and were soaking in sweat. Nuff said. It was also Ramadan on our first two days, and I was being extra careful to be respectful and not appear too touristy, in-your-face 'look at me I'm a Westerner' kind of thing.

And lastly, I got a cold. Which brings me to the photo that best sums up Dubai for me as well as the fact that I quite like the look of the photo. I was given a cold by someone on our plane trip, and on our second day it had it's claws sunk firmly into me and I was feeling pretty rotten. But seeing as we were in Dubai I decided to soldier on and enjoy what it had to offer and wanted to envelop myself in this strange new environment and culture. We headed into Bur Dubai, the old town, to take a boat across Dubai Creek (which is really a big river) and see the gold souk. Hm, nothing more likely to tempt a girl than the promise of all that glitters, even when she's sick. The added complication is that the old town area is even more traditional, so I had to cover neck to toe (tourists aren't expected to wear head scarfs). Oh, and another complication is that because it was Ramadan, noone is allowed to eat or drink in public. So there we were, walking through old Dubai, me head to toe in cotton and linen, it's about 48 degrees and 90% humidity, I'm feeling very sick and faint, and I can't have any water.

Needless to say I didn't last very long. I pulled the boys aside and murmured something about needing to sit down so we went into one of the gold shops for a bit of a look. And hallelujah, it was air-conditioned. But it clearly wasn't enough because after 2 minutes of looking around I felt an urgent need to lie on the ground, and my husband took one look at my white face and sat me down. The men behind the counter instantly recognised that I was struggling and immediately gave me a glass of water. I felt awful, there they were fasting all day every day and I a silly white girl couldn't hack it. I didn't want to be disrespectful and drink in front of them, but they were very supportive, and even dashed across the road to get me a juice. As soon as the cold water and sugar hit my bloodstream I started to feel so much better, but we decided that we should head straight home and get me some sudafed!

But anyway, back to the photo. We were on the boat back across the creek, and it was full of local men going about their business. They all stared at me, this (now very pale and washed out) young white girl with her camera. So I started taking snaps, because I realised in all of the drama I had hardly taken any. The creek was fascinating, it was flanked on both sides by so many beautiful old buildings and mosques, nothing like the high rises down the main drag, but smaller and more beautiful, slightly delapidated and worn out. It seemed such a stark contrast to the massive super-modern high rises in the new area. Along one bank of the creek were a collection of old boats, and it was only when we got close that I realised that these were people's houses, that entire huge families lived on them. Here we were, in Dubai - like Disneyland on crack - and there was such a huge contrast between the haves and the have nots. The boat in the photo caught my eye as it was the most brightly coloured boat in the flotilla, and seemed so beautiful despite looking like it was crumbling apart.

Later that night we managed to get tickets to the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world - through my brother-in-law's boss's brother who was on the board. Ah Dubai, where you really need to know someone in high places! We took the lift to the viewing area on the 124th floor (of 200 storeys) and looked down on Dubai as if we were looking down from a plane. The height was incredible. Here we were in this amazing building, replete with all manner of beautiful modern embellishments, and I thought back to the boat. What a contrast indeed.

favourite photos - England

Choosing a favourite photo from England proved to be the hardest of all the places we visited. This is mostly because I was born there so there are shades of a certain sense of 'home' in so many of the photos. However, the one I want to share captures so many memories of our time there.



We took a day trip out to the Lakes District (a 2 hour drive from where we were staying) with my Aunt and Uncle, two of my cousins, their partners, and the three girls. We drove along Hadrian's wall, which was built by the Romans in the second Century AD to keep the rabbits.. er, I mean, Scots out. As you can imagine after almost two millenia a lot of it is ruinous and dilapidated. But much of it is still standing, including some old forts.

The wonderful and surprising thing about our time in England was that it was a bit of a gastronomic tour de force. Which, let's be honest, most people wouldn't really associate with England, it's not widely held to be a world leader in culinary delights. But it has so many hidden gems if you know where to look, and after all, no one does tea quite like the British. So we stopped very regularly for tea, lunches, bites to eat and refreshments. Let me tell you it's the way to travel the countryside!

This particular photo was taken at one such tea stop at a small tea house along the small road we were taking, just over a bridge looking onto the river. While the adults located a table to enjoy the rare sunshine (yes it was sunny the whole time we were there!) the two little ones began exploring the vast garden. Like so many old country houses in England, this house had a beautiful large garden that spilled out onto the walkway along the river. There were many trees perfect for climbing, little gates heaving with vines, bushes blooming their last flowers of the summer, and verdant green grass everywhere. And to top it off, they had a giant chess board. But something else caught my eye, or rather, my ear.

To my left I could hear a rustle under a small bush and caught a glimpse of black fur. Calling the girls closer and finally getting them to be quiet, we peered under the bush to try and find out who was under there. Then out dashed a beautiful black rabbit who made a mad dash across a patch of grass for deeper coverage under another bush. The girls screamed in delight and started off in pursuit. This photo is of one of them skipping along the paving stones in search of the elusive bunny.

It makes my heart warm every time I look at it. Although I quietly curse myself for not composing it better to avoid that ugly light (damn you everyday-ness!), at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. Despite carrying on later that day to the gorgeous lakes, taking in Ambleside and Grassmere before driving home as dusk through the moors as the mist settled into the valleys, it's still may favourite photo. Despite spending another day at the beach and watching my partner stubbornly wade into the freezing North Sea, or our day up at beautiful Alnwick gardens then home via the coast and the old 13thC Priory at North Shields, and a day spent walking through the the 10thC city of Durham and it's Norman cathedral and beautiful riverside, it's still my favourite photo. It represents so much innocence, happiness and life, which will always put a smaile on my face. ALice in Wonderland eat your heart out.

favourite photos - Paris

I thought I might do another quick post today to share my favourite photo from Paris.



We had 3 amazing days in Paris and managed to cram so much in. We walked from our hotel to the Eiffel Tower then caught the batobus along the Seine to the Notre Dame Cathedral which was spectacular, then on to wander through the Jardins des Plantes. On our second day it decided to rain, boo! But we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe which was beautifully breathtaking, then walked all the way down the Champs Elysees which is a mighty long way, befroe finally arriving at le Musee de Louvre.

Once ensconced inside we wandered through taking in so many famous sculptures and paintings, including the Winged Victory and the beautiful Venus de Milo. Despite my protestations, we went to see the Mona Lisa. I have to profess I wasn't particularly keen, the Louvre was already very crowded as everyone had clearly decided to go there to escape the rain, and the thought of the teeming crowds just for this one tiny painting didn't appeal. But we forged on, and I'm glad I did, because it really is something a bit special. But what was even more interesting for me is that she shares a large room with a couple of dozen other paintings, all of which are also very beautiful. Yet there she was, this tiny painting, with a huge wall all to herself and a mosh-pit style sectioned-off area. Everyone was straining to get close and take a photo, sadly many of whom were ignoring the directions for no flashes (which can eventually damage the paint just like sunlight), and they were all completely ignoring all the other beautiful paintings in the room. I felt sorry for these other paintings, it's like being the prettiest girl in the village then having to share the stage with Miss Universe or something.

I eventually persuaded my husband to go and look at the sculpture section, and we came across this stunning piece. It is Psyche revived by Cupid's kiss, by Canova. Despite being carved in the 18th Century, it was so flawless and smooth. The emotion and movement was captured so brilliantly.

It captures a lot of what Paris was for me. Apart from being inherently romantic, Paris is a very beautiful city, everywhere you turn there are gorgeous things to look at, such fine attention to every little detail. Parisians are also a stylish bunch, there is no such thing as overdressed in Paris. And yet, they take all this beauty in their stride, seeming to hardly notice it, taking it for granted that surely all the world must have such beautiful architecture and beautifully maintained parks and gardens and sculptures that you can glance at and then keep walking by. And while I stood there i awe of this work of art, so many people just walked right on by, barely taking it in. We had it all to ourselves for a minute before the next tour group arrived with their damn flashes.

Paris is a beautiful piece of the planet, and next time I'll be packing some much nicer clothes!

favourite photos - Croatia

I thought I would post a handful of photos from our recent trip to Europe. I'll post one photo from each place that is my favourite photo both for how it looks but also the memories it evokes and the story behind it.



This is, I think (there's a few to choose from), my favourite photo from our time in Croatia. We were staying on the island of Korčula for 5 days and had the most amazing weather. The sun shone for 4 of those days, it was warm but not too hot, with blue skies. The evenings were balmy and involved eating lots of food and drinking the local wine called grk.

This photo was taken on the day we hired a little boat and set out to explore the smaller islands in the bay. We arrived at the island of Sutvara first, which had a gorgeous little bay of small white pebbles, smooth faced rocks to one side, and looking out into the bay and ont Mount Ilija.

We had a delicious picnic when we arrived of breads and cheeses and fruit and biscuits. We walked into the water, which required those little 'rock hopper' booties as the pebbles are hard to walk on, and immersed ourselves in the cool water. To be fair, the water was a little cool as it was the end of summer so had started to cool down, but it was so refreshing. The thing about the water in Croatia is how crystal clear it is, and also how quickly it gets deep. We were out of our depth by the time we got behind the boat, yet you could see the bottom as clearly as if it was 2 foot deep.

After our swim I lay on the smooth rocks to get some much-needed sun after our long winter, then we re-boarded the boat to see some other islands including the restored monastery on the island of Badija and the quarry on Vrnik, where we had another swim in the cool blue ocean.

It was an amazing day, and every time I look at this photo it takes me straight back to the warm sun, the cool clear water, and the sense of calm and peace and esxcitement I felt that day. I thoroughly recommend it!

black sheep baaaaa

I've always known I was a little different to the rest of my family. Even as a little one I didn't quite grow out of the 'why?' stage. I had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, for new experiences and new ideas. I also concede I was a precocious little tyke because I thought I understood more than I did. I never hesitated in telling an adult when they had it wrong (oh yes, how endearing!) and once I realised that neither Santa nor the tooth fairy existed, I sought out other tales and tricks to understand and expose.

In my teens this started to become a problem. Not because I stepped on too many toes, but rather the wrong ones. I started to question the big things, things that the rest of my family accepted wholeheartedly and resented being questioned. I started to ponder the big questions many teenagers do, like what is the meaning of life, why are there so many injustices in the world. You know, the usual stuff. The problem was the rest of my family is very religious, and I started applying these questions to the church.

I started to question some of the things being taught, particularly around equality, acceptance, tolerance and compassion. I couldn't see any support for the argument that women shoudl be subordinate to men, or that homosexuality was an abomination, and so many other patriarchal and archaic prejudices and hatreds that fly in the face of what they claim the church is all about. In fact, I felt so strongly the opposite, to the point that I started kicking up a fuss, argued a lot and then left.

I left not only the church but also my family. There was a crucial point of no return, which I won't go into here, but suffice it to say I could see the blatant hypocrisy as if it were a flashing light and decided I couldn't be a quiet little sheep any more. I may not be your typical black sheep - doing drugs, getting caught in the wrong crowd, sleeping with lots of stangers, the usual stereotypes - but that day I knew I couldn't be part of the flock any longer.

In the years that have passed there have been many ups and downs, but there is ongoing discomfort every time my family and I are in each others' company. There is a gaping gulf that I studiously try to avoid around politics and religion. Unfortunately this careful avoidance is one-sided, a truce that doesn't exist. And no matter how many times I tell myself to be stronger and let it wash under the bridge, I find myself arguing back. I can't help fighting back when I feel passionately about something, despite knowing that my arguments fall on deaf ears. I comfort myself in the knowledge that they too know their arguments will not sway me yet they do it anyway, so why can I not do the same, why must it be me who must be silent and accepting a gracious and tolerant. Why can't they for once be understanding of how I feel and let sleeping dogs lie.

The problem with this is by fighting back things just get even more uncomfortable. Every time, that gulf gets a little wider. And I love my family, despite our differences. So I'm stuck in a conundrum of wanting to keep the peace yet not wanting to remain silent on issues I fundamentally and passionately disagree on. I wish I had an answer to it, because it's driving me nuts! Baaaaa...