Toto, we're not in Kabul

It probably seems like we are always on vacation, given that I never really write about much else. It's true, the leave package for Afghanistan is pretty generous and we've certainly taken advantage of having more time (and probably more money) then we'll have again for a loooooong time. That's to make up for having no weekends and holidays (for which I do not receive any OT - just like any other salaried position) and no time/energy to even talk on the phone to friends and family after work. But since this is it - our last real vacation for a looooong time - we made the most of it on an Azamara cruise through Greece and Turkey with Kabul friends (and half the male British Air flight attendants) , topped off by a few days at the end in Istanbul.
So, so beautiful - maybe we'll have to do a tour in Greece someday to spend more time there. In the meantime, I've found that Istanbul's internet is pretty speedy so I've caught up on Facebook and Flickr photo postings. Anything else will have to wait though as I've got this whole wide beautiful city to explore and only a few days to do it!

Of Fish and Phuket

I have some more Bangkok photos, some of which are really pretty, but first want to share the fact that my husband got a fishie pedicure. While looking for the foot massage joint with the most comfy looking chairs one evening, we passed a tank of fish that promise to eat the dead skin from your feet. Naturally, I turned to my darling husband and dared him to try it.

His verdict is that it tickled and felt weird at first but then didn't bother him. His feet felt really soft afterward. From my perspective, it just looked really weird. Then again, I'm the weirdo who doesn't like fish touching me when I snorkel. And speaking of snorkeling, isn't that a really cool close-up photo M got? The fish are eating the watermelon that I threw in the water so that they'd swarm around M. The Aussies we were with did it for their friend as well but she kind of freaked out by the abrupt crowd. I can't blame her for that.

Ko Phi Phi

The Phi Phi islands are famous for being the film site of Leonardo DiCaprio's movie 'The Beach'. If I hadn't already known that, I certainly would have from ALL of the advertising around Phuket islands. Of course, we love boats and couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a nice long boat ride to some gorgeous islands.

We signed up with a big group but snagged seats in the front of the boat with some funny Aussie tourists. The group of us kept things pretty entertained and the next time we get to Oz, we'll have to try out all their recommendations for Melbourne. But...the islands. They weren't particularly deserted. We expected that, given that we were with a fair-sized group ourselves but it was hard to take a picture of the beach or even the water without getting lots of people and boats in the shot. Oh well.

We took in the beautiful scenery on Phi Phi and did some people watching at the same time. Swimming around the boats, we also managed to get away from the crowds and float in the cove for a bit.
The boat kept going to a few other islands after Phi Phi - stopping for snorkling, monkey-feeding, and a mediocre buffet lunch. Lest I sound like too much of a complainer (becuase really, it was gorgeous), we finally stopped on a quieter beach with local vendors selling drinks and yummy snacks like grilled corn.

I thought I'd catch up on my reading but the sound of the waves and the gentle breeze lulled me into a calm meditation. Can we go back now?

The Maldives

Heaven on earth - that's the easiest way to describe our all-too-short getaway to the Maldives. Since the weather in Kabul has been pretty dicey lately, we changed our tickets at the last moment to add an overnight in Dubai on the way out. Very lucky since SOMEBODY lost a flip-flop and we had to make an urgent shopping trip at the Mall of the Emirates. It's surprising difficult to find flip-flops at one of the largest malls in the world.

Flippies in hand, we boarded a plane that took us to Male. The airport is actually on a separate island from the rest of the capitol city but we were quickly whisked away by representatives from the Sheraton Full Moon resort to the speedboat that would take us to the atoll our resort was on.

The Sheraton was lovely and as Starwood Gold members, we were THRILLED to get upgraded to an overwater bungalow for the five nights of our stay. Smooth sand, crystal waters, multiple bars (all with gorgeous ocean views, naturally) and it was amazing. We snorkled, wake-boarded (him), spa'd (me), and spent most of our time on the deck of our bungalow (see immediately below), reading and looking over the water.

This was our first time as a couple spending more than a long weekend at the beach - can you believe that? Going on six years and NEVER a beach getaway!? We looooooved it (and we'll do it again soon - Koh Samui in April) but we learned that we really aren't "resort people" for more than a few days. The decompression of those oh-so-not-busy days was perfect and just what the doctor ordered coming from Kabul. Under a gorgeous sunset with a Manhattan (his) and Singapore Sling (hers) we said good-bye to the Maldives and prepared for the next five days...in Sri Lanka!

Sydney, Australia (aka My Kind of Town)

After leaving the cool weather and clean air of Tasmania, we headed back to the big city. Luckily, there was plenty of fresh air and warm (but definitely not hot) temperatures in Sydney as well. We spent a fair amount of time sitting in scenic areas, drinking beers, and people-watching but did a whole lot more walking here too.

We stayed in an area of Sydney called The Rocks at the Lord Nelson Pub and Brewery. It's the oldest pub in Sydney (yes, they brew their own beers too) and there's also a hotel attached. Some rooms have adjoining bathrooms but since we're cheap and Sydney is expensive, we opted for the traditional inn-style of a shared hallway bathroom. Luckily, it wasn't a problem to share and the hotel kept things very clean. The rooms were small but well decorated and we really loved the atmosphere (plus the stumbling distance to the room after a pint or two).


The first two days after we'd hit Sydney, we were lucky enough to catch a street fair in The Rocks, right on the street leading to the water. We came accross it the same way we come across most things while on vacation - by wandering around. The first day, the market was oriented to cheese and locally made foods (think olive oils and jams rather than veggies) with a smattering of arts & crafts and clothing. The second day (I think it was a Saturday), the market had quadrupled in size and had almost everything you could possibly want. We continued our tradition of buying a Christmas ornament to mark this new country and admired how the stalls were covered with a roofing reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House.


Speaking of the Opera House, we decided to stop by the box office on our first full day and were pleased to discover that there were reasonably priced seats left to the theatrical production of "Our Town". We went back later in the evening and though it wasn't in the grand auditorium, the production was great and it was really need to be there and have our intermission cocktails on the deck, admiring the lights of the Opera House. Mark got another great view of the Opera House a couple days later when he completed the Sydney Bridge Climb! On an escorted tour, he strapped in and climbed to the top. I joined him later to take the steps to the top of the turrets along the side of the bridge (can you see it in the picture below?) and since even the views there were great, I know that what he saw was amazing.


A friend from my wild Paris days left Paris shortly after me to return to her native Australia. Six years later (my, how time flies) she's married with an adorable baby. We were lucky enough to meet up in her 'hood of Manly Beach. We sat in a cafe, played with baby Poppy, took a walk along the shore, and caught up. At nap time, Mark and I explored the rest of Manly (including yet another street fair) and wished that we'd had more time to surf (or in my case, learn to surf).

Our visit to Manly only made us want to spend more time on the beach so we hopped on a bus from Circular Quay to the famous Bondi Beach the next day. The sky was blue and sun shining so it was nice to take off our shoes, roll up our pants, and stroll in the sand. We saw a group of kids running off to surf school with their boards and sat for a couple hours just talking and taking in the waves. Put Sydney on my "dream assignment" list for the future.

Hobart, Tasmania

We did a bit more in Tasmania than just wine-tasting and kangaroo-petting. We walked. A lot.

We walked the city streets of Hobart and all along the the docks. We stopped for fresh seafood at the little restaurant/boats that are docked alongside the city. We drank some yummy beers (including a delicious non-alcoholic ginger beer) at the Cascade Brewery.


We drove out to Seven Mile Beach, parked the car, and walked and walked. We saw a dog that looked like Cooper, played with him a while, and tried not to be too homesick in such a gorgeous place. We wore jackets because it was pretty darn cold out there and we were SERIOUSLY far south. It was tempting to buy sheepskin boots (the original Uggs) from one of the MANY stores selling them. I refrained.


One of us (ok, me) also accidentally OD'd on Tylenol. Did you know that was possible? I did not and it took me a really long time to figure out why I felt so whacked out.

The Solway Lass

I've been crazy-busy since getting back but finally have a moment to breathe and thought I'd work in another post.

I first saw a photo of Whitehaven Beach about two years ago. I've been obsessed ever since. When we decided to plan a trip to Australia, we knew we couldn't pass it up. We love boats and sailing and decided to see Whitehaven and the rest of the Whitsundays on the sea.

There are a lot of party boats leaving out of Queensland's Airlie Beach but I think we found a good one. There were some very young backpackers on board but the rest of the group was is their twenties - making us the old foagies (and I'm still in my twenties!). Drinking a beer with a guy born in 1992 is something that was difficult to get used to. A CERTAIN SOMEBODY celebrated his birthday on board, the crew helped me to arrange a cake but the complimentary prosecco was best enjoyed the next day at sunset.

Our boat was the Solway Lass. She's a wooden tall ship with two masts - she was gorgeous when all sails were up. Built in 1902, she's criss-crossed the globe as she traded from Dutch to British to Scottish to German and finally to Australian possession when she was purchased for Whitsunday Cruises. Quite a change from her original cargo ship days carrying coal, produce, and stone.
We slept in a tiny compartment down below but it did the trick. No sailing at night but when we set off early the first morning, the rocking did get to me a bit. Nevermind though, the fresh air outside did the trick. A quick dip into the water (making sure to wear the scuba suit protecting against deadly invisible jellyfish - no joke, basically my worst fear - an invisible enemy) was even better.

It's hard to decide what we liked more, our time on or off the boat. On board, we had the gorgeous islands, crystal clear waters, cool breezes, and a rope swing. Ashore, well, stay tuned....

Brisbane - Welcome to Australia!

After 16 hours in the air and 10 in various airports (Kabul, Delhi, Singapore) along the way, we went from here:

to here:

Ok, maybe that picture doesn't mean much to you but it meant a lot to me at the time. Sunshine (of the non-blinding sort), flowers, greenery, thoughtfully designed architecture, fresh seafood, spring...all of that was there to meet us in Brisbane, our first stop during vacation in Australia.

Brisbane doesn't get much press compared to her sibling cities in The Land Down Under but it was the perfect place for us to shake off our jet lag and get re-acquainted with life outside of Afghanistan. We only had three night and two days in this Queensland city but took full advantage of the gorgeously warm spring weather by staying outside. On our first afternoon, we spent the early part walking around the center of the city, near our hotel. After years of vacationing in Europe, it was a little weird to visit Brisbane's oldest church and discover it wasn't even 200 years old. However, thanks to a recent renovation, it was still in beautiful shape. I was pleased to find my favorite saint - St. Christopher - in the windows. St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers.

We spent a good deal of time along the river. On one side, we explored the City Botanic Gardens, testing the benches and watching all the business-folk take breaks during their work days. We even saw some creepy lizards in there.

A ferry along the Brisbane River brought us to the South Bank Parklands for more exploration (this time with more teenagers and children). The Parklands was created in 1992 to make use of space originally designed for the 1988 World Expo. One of the highlights is the Grand Arbor, a one kilometer arched walkway covered with bougainvilleas and pictured above. The Ferris wheel also made for a lovely distraction in the afternoon. However, the real star of the Parklands was the Street Beach. Made mostly from reclaimed Brisbane River land and surrounded with sand imported from the nearby Moreton Bay, the beach has river views on one side and parkland on the other. Even though it was a workday and the weather was only in the upper 70s, lots of kids were in the water, surrounded by parents with their toes in the sand.

On our last night in Brisbane, we happily met up with a friend's friend for dinner. Trina brought HER friend and our little group had some delicious Thai food as our new Aussie friends gave us suggestions on things to see and do during the rest of our trip. After dinner, Trina was kind enough to throw us in her car and take us to the top of Kangaroo Point Cliffs. From there, we had expanded views of the whole city. Looking around, it seemed like it wasn't just Brisbane, but rather all of Australia, welcoming us.

Vacation

Sometimes I think there's no better word in the English language. We're in Australia (Tasmania at this moment, to be specific) and have another week or so to go. These pictures are from Whitehaven Beach in Queensland. The sand is so fine, NASA used it to help cut glass or parts or something (I really wasn't paying attention) for the Hubble Telescope. The water is truly turquoise but clear at least up to your mid-thigh.

Probably won't post again til we're back in Kabul. Ciao!