sharleenstuart30 Minutes in the Life: October 2023: Sydney
Posted on October 30, 2023
We’re back in Sydney post the Bondi walk and I had things on my list that I wanted to see. In 1846 the Customs House (below) was built near the Sydney city center. Over a period of 10 years from 1837 to 1847, convicts worked to reclaim the land to form Circular Quay. The Customs house form the solitary symbol of British power over the land and sea, with custom officers checking for contraband and smuggling.
Towering over the customs house is this very unique building. Again I am fascinated by the juxtaposition of old and new buildings and grateful that Sydney has maintained it’s unique history with the upkeep of these interesting old buildings.
We were not the only people taking pictures of the city that day.
Below is a mix of new and old that we found on our walk back into the city center.
Below is the Sydney Sky Tower. We did not go up but it stood tall amongst the buildings and was pretty neat to look at.
The building that impressed me the most, and one that I had researched and also been told to visit was the Queen Victoria building. I loved the old dome roofing and the beautiful arched windows, along with the intricate scrolling on the outer façade of the building. Walking inside this gorgeous building is a shopping mall. And I wanted one pic, but I did get a few more.
The pastel window in the ladies bathroom was gorgeous. In fact, the ladies bathroom was impressive.
In the center of the mall was this tall clock with historical images in the center of the clock.
There were also some incredible stain glass windows.
This was the photo I wanted showing all the levels and the beams of the roofing.
We’re back out on the street again and the first thing I saw was this vibrant burst of color.
Last but not least I was out of time and added to that super tired. I will explore the clock tower on another day.
We’re back at the hotel, ready to put our feet up, but there is still the repacking to do. We have to switch up the contents of the suitcases because we are traveling Qantas in the morning to Melbourne, and honestly my camera back is equivalent to a small suitcase. So I am going to be booking my two suitcases and Richard’s one, and he will take clothes for both of us in his small suitcase, just in case.
My nerves are already getting the better of me. We are off for a quick dinner and then it is off to bed. We have an early start in the morning back to the airport. I am looking forward to seeing family again. We have not seen our nieces since they were 5 and now the one has a little girl who is 5. Crazy how time has flown. I am so glad that we are doing this trip now.
Check out my friend Lupji Photography to see what he has to share this month.
Until next time …. stay well.
30 Minutes in the Life: August 2023: Sydney Opera House
Posted on August 28, 2023
This blog is probably encompasses the 30 minutes, plus a few add on’s. The Sydney Opera house is an impressive sight to see. Unfortunately we timed it badly because 10 days after we left there was a light up Sydney event and the opera house looked stunning with all these lights on them. However, it is what it is. The fact that I was there makes it so much more impressive.
An unknown fact, maybe, is that I love different kinds of architecture and I have to be honest you just have to be impressed by this incredible building. In fact there was a lot of different architecture in Sydney that appealed to me.
So what is the history to the opera house. From what I have read Sir Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra believe that “all people, regardless of their class or background, had the right to enjoy fine music”. In 1956 a competition was created for the proposed new building. In 1954 the beginning stage to support an Opera House began. In 1957, Jorn Utzon, an unknown Danish architect was announced as the winner. The estimated cost of the design would be around 3.5 million pounds It was believed that this design would become on of the greatest buildings in the world. In 1959 the construction began. Stage 1 was completed in February 1963. Stage 2 began in 1063 and took 2 years to complete. Due to a number of issue the cost of the building had now increased to 13.7 million pounds, In February 1966, after some conflict Utzon quit the project, blaming the then Minister, Davis Hughes, of forcing him out. In April 1966, a panel of Australian architects were appointed to complete the job. In 1966, Peter Hall was asked to complete the Opera House. Initially he declined, but later accepted the request. In January 1967, stage 2 was completed. Stage 3 focused on the interiors. On October 20, 1973 the Opera House was finally opened by Queen Elizabeth 11, and on September 28, 1973. the Opera House’s first productions opened. I have radically summarized the story. Credit is given to https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/our-story/peter-hall-and-completion-opera-house for this information. There were 6 pages of interesting reading, which if you are interested in architecture and in this incredible building it is well worth visiting the website.
Sadly we did not get to go inside, we were out way to early in the morning and nothing was open, but I enjoyed every minute of this architectural masterpiece.
One of the other things I wanted to get was some images from the ferry both day time and night time.
These were taken on our return to Sydney were we headed out to Watson Bay on the Saturday evening to meet up with a cousin of mine and his family. Here are a few night shots coming back into the Harbor from the moving ferry.
These images were taken the last day of our Australian trip. We headed out to Manly via the very efficient ferry system. Although there were tourists it was a little blustery, and so most of them headed inside. I on the other hand was determined to stick it out.
Next stop will be the some of the downtown area that we got to walk through, so look out for the posts.
My friend Lupji from Lupji Photography is co-blogging with me today. Don’t forget to check his blog to see what he has been up to.
You can also find me on Facebook, and Instagram.
Stay well.
Share Six: July 2023: Bondi to Bronte, Australia
Posted on July 6, 2023
Two months in a row we have tried to do a particular theme. It’s not happening. First, I came back from Australia to a dead computer. It took around 3 weeks before I got it back. Then this past weekend, I managed to damage my 34″ monitor giving it the kiss of death. A huge black spot and then black lines going up and down the screen. Reminded me of Christmas bows, and it was definitely a expensive oops. That said I managed to get a new monitor via Amazon within 3 days and it is all set up, and it is better than the last one so I am all good.
Most of us were challenged with the theme we had originally chosen. So to keep it simple this month, we made the choice easy. The theme we finally selected for Share Six is (Your Choice). However, just a heads up this post is going to be a lot longer than 6 images. I would like to keep the whole story in one blog.
So why Bondi Beach to Bronte? My childhood friend, who lives in Brisbane, shared with me that this was a must do on our list. She told me this was the opportunity to get out and explore the natural coastline of New South Wales, and to really enjoy the beauty of this area. Not everything is about the city.
It’s around 7:30am and we are trundling along the city streets, by bus, watching with interest the world going by. The outer suburbs of Sydney city are much older and the buildings are dated, but they are interesting as well. People hop and off the bus using the tap on and tap off system.
Richard always has these options of how to get to places that involve walking. We could walk from the main Bondi terminal or catch the bus. Obviously I opted for the bus.
The weather is not bad, but kind of hazy while we were heading along the walk. This is also the one day in Sydney that I carried a light jacket. I wasn’t expecting to be cold but there was a gusting wind coming off the ocean.
We finally arrive, about 20 minutes later, at the infamous Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is Sydney’s most famous beach. Is it a nice beach town? Absolutely. We did not explore the town as we were on a time agenda but it looked like there was a fair amount of shopping that could be done. As for the beach, it’s a wide open beach with lots of space and it spans a fair distance. I could imagine that it could be quite busy on the weekends. There were some surfers out, not as many as I expected. Perhaps because it was a weekday.
Richard walked down onto the beach. He loves to get his toes in the sand and he wanted to get closer to the ocean, since his camera was his phone.
I, on the other hand, decided to walk along the promenade taking photo’s of the graffiti. Eventually Rich and I met up again at the end of the beach boardwalk.
Below I tried to capture the bay’s two heads and the rolling waves in-between. The surf appeared to be pumping, however the only person I saw going into the waves was the lifeguard. The were a few people hanging out on the beach enjoying the weather.
Bondi Beach has everything you could want. Lots of restaurants and cafe’s, some interesting shopping area, a grassed area for you to sit on or picnic, and a very interesting board walk filled with beautiful graffiti. I did spot this interesting surfers code below as well.
At the end of Bondi beach we climbed stairs (the first of many) up towards Bondi Icebergs on Notts Avenue. Bondi Icebergs is a local swimming club with a restaurant and a beautiful sea pool.
This is where we started our Bondi to Bronte walk. For the most part the walkway is concrete, with a lot of ups and downs. The map below gives you a time frame for the walk but I think that is for speed walkers. To give you a time frame, the first photo I took was at 7:58am (at Bondi Beach), and the last one of the walk was at 9.26am. Of course, I keep stopping to take photos and Richard keeps walking, eventually he would have to wait for me to catch up. Clearly the beach area is a more upmarket area and the homes are really nice along the walkway. Perfect views of the water line.
Another heads up is that this is a popular walk so you are constantly passing people. There is also a exercise workout stations along the way as well.
We walked through some incredible rock formations. The pathway left the concrete road way and headed down some steps and along a created cement pathway.
I loved the rocky out crops and the different colors in the stone . We passed Mackenzie’s point lookout, and were heading down towards Mackenzie’s Bay. From what I read every so often Mackenzie’s Bay becomes a beach when the sand gets washed up. For the most it is a bay.
Beyond Mackenzie’s Bay we arrive at Tamarama Bay seen above in the distance. Tamarama Bay generally offers rough surfing conditions and strong rip tides and is generally better for suntanning. As you can see there is a wide open beach.
Moving along we now were on the last stretch of the walk, from Tamarama Beach, to Bronte. Again there is this rugged coastline to traverse and steps going down and back up again. While Bronte is a surfing beach, the water can be dangerous at times.
Bronte was the end of our journey, but the walk continues and you can follow the trail to Coogee Beach and Gordon’s Bay and beyond to Malabar Headland.
The one interesting thing that happened was switching busses on our way back. If you are traveling from Bronte to Sydney, the bus drops you off outside the terminal in Bondi. The pick up bus was about 15 steps away from where we were dropped off. However, due to our lack of knowledge we ended up walking into the terminal and then had to look at virtually every pick up point before trying to find our way back out of the terminal to the street. My advice check the outside bus stops prior to going into the terminal.
Bondi to Bronte was a beautiful walk and I certainly recommend it if you are traveling in the area. The area is rugged and stunning and like Day 2 on The Great Ocean Road it coast line was very impressive.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Janet of @wiredtothemoon_ is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her IG page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Next up is Days 2 of exploring Sydney – The Opera House, a short walk alongside the Botanical gardens, a bit more exploring through the city before packing out bags to head to Melbourne.
Look out for more blogs.
Stay well
You can also find me on Facebook, and Instagram.
Sydney and it is day 2…Sunrise over the bay
Posted on July 4, 2023
Sleep came early the previous night. 5pm and we were lights out. That does not bode well for wake up time. 3am and we are hello… it’s still dark outside. Somewhere around 4:30 Richard decides that he is going to walk down to the Opera House and go and watch the sunrise. Well, of course I am going to go, but I see no point in going all the way back to the hotel, to go all the way back virtually to the Opera House to start our day.
So off we go…… navigating our way in the semi dark, down to George Street and along to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It’s somewhere around 5am. We are going to hang out there to watch the sun come up around the Opera House.
We stop at the end of the pier adjacent to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The bridge is one huge piece of metal. Fascinating structure that spans the river from one side to the other. Interestingly, you can actually climb the arch of the bridge. Not something I would choose to do but I found it interesting that others would want to do that. It’s a lot of steps and I am not crazy about heights. When you stand under the bridge you really look so small. Looking across the river, you can see Luna Park, the amusement and theme park, in the distance.
One thing I do have to say about the people of Sydney, they are very health conscious. There were more people out running so early in the morning than I expected on a work day.
Sunrise is happening and there is nothing nicer than watching the day start with the sun peaking out through the clouds. OK, the setting sun is pretty awesome as well but we really did not do any of that on this trip. However, watching the sunrise over the Opera House is pretty epic. I never thought I would ever see that happen.
This morning was the culmination of a dream that has long been on our hearts. Standing in Sydney watching the sun come up was a thrill. Standing in the city of my grandfathers birth was even a bigger thrill.
Next on our agenda is the Bondi Coastal walk. So another cup of coffee and sausage roll later, yes…. I said sausage roll. Do you know when I last had a decent sausage roll? Not for a long long time, unless I made it myself. Okay I digress. With the coffee and sausage roll in hand we head back to Circular Quay to the bus that will take us to Bondi Beach. Join me as we walk along one of the beautiful coastlines of New South Wales in my next blog.
Thirty Minutes In the Life: June 2023: Given the choice of the whole world, why Australia?
Posted on June 26, 2023
It’s 30 Minutes in the Life time again, and our little group seems to have got down to 2 of us, so just a heads up my blog will be a lot longer than 30 minutes.
You may recall that during Covid (2021), Richard was diagnosed with a melanoma. Actually more than one melanoma, and I started pushing for him to make a visit to see his mom who lives with his sister in Australia. Up until now (2023) his results has been positive. He has shown signs of being NED which means no evidence diagnosed. In 2022 we were asked by Amy and Daniel to go to Macedonia. Having done that trip, Richard finally decided to he was ready to go to Australia. But only for 2 weeks. Yikes only 2 weeks…. I seriously tried to make it longer but he wasn’t budging.
Richard has not physically seen his mom since 2007. Zoom calls happen but that is not the same. He has not seen his sister and husband since 2011 when they traveled to the US. We have not seen our nieces since they were 7 years old and they are now in their 30’s. And he has not seen his brother for a number of years as well. We got to see all but his brother, who lived on the other side of Australia.
But there is also another side for me wanting to go to Australia. Both my fathers parents were born in Australia. My grandmother was born in Mackay, and his father in Chippendale, Sydney. For the longest time, I have wanted to visit Sydney. When I was in my late 20’s I asked my father to apply for an Australian passport. He was not interested. I tried to make him see that it was not for him, but for me, but he died without applying for one. In the end, we moved to the USA as Richard was offered a job there. So it was kind of surreal to be in Sydney knowing that this was the city of my grandfathers birth. In addition, his mother was born in Redfern and his father in Seven Hills. I am sure today they areas are nothing like they were back in the day of my grandfather’s youth but it was good to see something of where he had lived.
I had done a fair amount of research and come up with some plans of things I particularly wanted to see, or at least try and see them.
On map number 1, these where what I had selected to see:
- The Opera House from the Botanical Gardens near Mrs. Macquarie’s chair.
- Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair.
- The Opera House
- The Customs House (given that my grandfather was an emigrant)
- Circular Quay
- The Rocks
- Sydney Harbor Bridge
- Restaurants
- Photo spot for the bridge and the theme park across the canal
- Renewal project which is a 22 hectare waterfront precint. Shops and Restaurants, and you can catch a ferry from that point.
- Observatory
On Map number 2 these were the places I had listed to view:
12. George Street
13. Queen Victoria Building (Beautiful architecture)
14. Sydney Tower (restaurant right at the top)
15. Pitt Street Mall.
16. Hyde Park – Memorial Garden & Sculpture
17. St Mary’s Cathederal – Gothic style church.
18. Anzac Memorial
19. China Town
20. Chinese Garden of Friendship
21 Darling Harbor area
22. Restuarants.
23. The Green Line that took us back to the Hotel.
While I may not have done them all, I felt like we managed to get through quite a bit.
Sydney, Australia… I believe I fell in love over the course of 5 days.
Day One we arrived at the airport at 7am, having travelled around 32 hours from the time we left home to the time we arrived in Sydney, exhausted and sleep deprived. I do not sleep on flights and so I was surely dragging. As I mentioned in the previous blog, Australia has a long long list of what you can and cannot bring into the country. If you are planning on traveling to Australia, make sure to check out that list. Also do yourself a favor and get a doctors letter for prescription medication, they will ask for it. We did, so all was good.
Walking into the terminal there are about 8 check-in machines and people standing in line. Once you get to the machine you scan your passport, answer some questions, and it issues you with a card. You then take that card and enter it into the pass through and you by pass the immigration process. However, my card did not work. I had to go to a counter and a very friendly lady checked me through. We then had to pick up our luggage and go through border control. We had put our prescription medication into our check in luggage, so we had to dig it out and put the doctors letter with it. I feel like having shown them that, they were happy to let us go through.
Next we headed for the train. We had done some research and knew that we could use our American Express card for transportation, instead of buying one of their transportation cards and then having to top it up every time it got low. And yes there is a bank fee, but it was minimal and worth avoiding the possibility of having to leave money on a useless card. Interesting system they have there. They have a tap in and tap out system. So when you go through the station gates to get on the train you tap your credit card. Then when you get off at your station you tap your card again. That then defines your fee. It is so efficient and really works well. This system applied to all the transportation we used in Sydney. The only thing that was a little annoying about that is that I needed to have my credit card handy all the time and my wallet was in my backpack.
Our hotel, The Mercure Hotel, was situated pretty centrally and we got off at the Wynyard Station stop and walked a block to our hotel. Of course getting there at 8am means we are super early. We were unable to check in until 2pm. Fortunately we were able to drop off our luggage. That meant we were zombies going on a walk, or at least that is what it felt like. What I did not realize was our hotel was on a hill. So wherever we walked we were going downhill leaving, and uphill coming home. What to do, where to go? Seemed like the closest was Darling Harbor. So off we went and walked around. I had listed a number of places of interest on a map and Darling Harbor was one of them. We walked all over, took a wrong turn and landed up in places where I had planned to go on a different day.
It was finally close to 2pm so we headed back to the hotel, got checked in and into our rooms. We were able to have a shower, feel a little more human. I thought we would catch a nap but nope, Richard wanted to continue exploring. So off we went.
According to the New South Wales gov website “The Rocks was given its name by the members of the First Fleet, who, on 26 January, 1788, were landed on the rocky peninsula on the western side of Sydney Cove. This was the site of the first convict encampment, military camp, bakehouse and hospital.” To read more about this interesting area check out this link.
Back up the hill we headed, after missing our street, and finally to the hotel. I was super tired and ready to put my feet up. However we were also hungry and we wanted a early dinner, bed was calling.
Exhausted we decided to head back to Darling Harbor for dinner. Little did we know that the place had siesta time from around 3-5pm. That may not sound bad, except that by 5pm we were in bed, asleep.
Totally exhausted we headed back to the hotel. After the 32 hour travel, my knee was worrying me and all this walking and going up and down hills just aggravated it. I was glad to get back to the hotel. We decided to share a pizza at the hotel and then crash. The pizza was an interesting combination of cheese, pepperoni and what tasted like Worcestershire sauce or on second thoughts it may have been mango chutney. It wasn’t a bad taste but definitely different.
Sleep came super early. As I mentioned 5pm and we were both lights out. The time change and jet lag were not fun, but more about that next …..
Up next we get to watch the sunrise over the bay, explore Circular Quay and it’s surrounding area and head off to walk from Bondi Beach to Bronte.
Stay well
My friend Lupji from Lupji Photography is co-blogging with me today. Don’t forget to check his blog to see what he has been up to.
Macedonia: Vinica
Posted on September 2, 2022
Vinica was the town we would be in for the next 5 days. Today we are going to explore some of the town and a little bit of the history. We often have preconceived ideas of what to expect.
Like most of Europe the cities are full of history. I had already used my google man to do some exploring but Vinica was too small to explore. The town was so interesting, we loved meeting family but, best of all, the welcome in Vinica exceeded my expectations. Like most countries that originally formed part of the Soviet block there is not a lot of infrastructure and the income level is not high. Vinica is found in the north east of Macedonia about 1 hour from the capital Skopje. Vinica is also the center of the Municipality of Vinica.
Vinica is a small town with a population of 10, 863 inhabitants. Broken down the town is made up of predominately Macedonians, but there is also a small group of Roma, Turks and Aromanians as well. It is located between the Golak and Obozna mountains and at the foot of the Plachkovica mountains.
The name Vinica is derived from the word vine, and Daniel tells me that Vinica was at one time well known for it’s vineyards. Walking around the town you will see vines growing on awnings outside of the houses.
This morning we walked up the street above to Daniel’s family home to meet up with Amy. We were heading to the Park Hotel for breakfast. Breakfast was good. We had omelets that cost us about $4 each. Coffee was good and they accommodated my milk and hot water request. I drink tea but only certain teas. The coffee was strong for the most part, mainly Turkish.
Luka ate some tomato’s at breakfast and had a bad reaction to them so Amy rushed off to the pharmacy to get an anti histamine to settle the reaction down. Looking back she feels like the blotchy face may have been the second time he had a reaction to tomatoes. We later walked up to the fort so he slept most of the way.
What was interesting for me, and to some degree worried me, but I am sure that up north USA you will see the same thing in winter. The amounts of firewood stacked in the streets and against the houses is incredible and I am sure that in winter this is all used. But I have to confess I kept thinking fire hazard. Oh me, of the state (Florida) of eternal heat. And if I am confessing, I have to be honest and say “hats off” to anyone who can live for months in snow.
Vinica has fallen under a number of different times. Neolithic times, Byzantine times, the Ottoman empire and the Yugoslavia times. Neolithic times is defined as the Stone Age, in around 4500BC. Byzantine times was apparently when the Eastern Roman Empire split in about 395CE until it fell to the Ottoman Empire in about 1453. Last but not least Yugoslavia from 1929 after the war until the 1980’s when the federation broke up.
There are three schools in Vinica, 2 primary and 1 high school. Amy taught English, through the Peace Corp at one of the schools, over a 27 month period. I had hoped to travel over while she was there but that did not happen.
In preparation for traveling I pulled up a map of Vinica and plotted out what to do and see. I will be honest, there is not a lot of “sights” to see in Vinica but on my list of things was St Arhangel Michael (where Luka would be baptized), the school where Amy taught, the St Apostal Luka, the Mosque, the Fortress, known as Vinicko Kale, the City Museum, St Pavale. To be honest we did not get to all of them, but Vinica was about family and we did a lot of that. There is also a cross on top of the hill, but after hiking to the fort, I was not up to hiking to the cross. I am unfit, the altitude affected my breathing and it was just so hot. Temps were sitting around 103 F. However, walking around the town, there were many things of interest, parks, coffeeshops, general shops etc.
One thing I did notice about Vinica, which we are just not used to anymore, was the overhead power lines. I have to think it would be an American Electricians nightmare. Daniel’s brother told me that the power system was sold to an Austrian company and they are required to only use that form of power. As you will see in other images, in winter wood is their main source of fuel, and they have big stoves in the basement that heat up the houses.
Amy showed us the apartment above that she lived in for at least 18 months. It was the lower right apartment of this building. It was perfect for the quick walk to school.
Hotel Central was the hotel that we stayed at and I will say in all honesty that it was well worth the stay. Not only was the room comfortable, but they provided a breakfast for us each morning. They also offered a gym and a spa. As much as I wanted to get a massage, trying to fit it in with all that was going on was not happening. Below the hotel was a shop where we could go and buy water and any other items we may wish to snack on. It was very convenient given that the temperature on most of the days. I also loved that our hotel had air conditioning. It was good to be able to go and cool down when the temps got to high. I think Luka and Amy loved it as well. We are so spoilt. I forget that growing up in South Africa we didn’t have air conditioning either. That said I am not sure I could live without it now.
There are apparently three major hotels, but I only found the two, Hotel Central where we stayed, and Hotel Aleksander Park where we went for breakfast a couple of times. There are lots of shops, bars and restaurants. Very often in the mornings the coffee bars were full. Mostly men drinking coffee. We drank beers at the Park, and I will tell you that those beers were far bigger than the standard size you get in the US. Skopsko IPL was the beer we seemed to order most of the time. We also ate at one of the pizza restaurants one evening, but again most of the time was spent with family. More on the lower part of town in another blog.
The main farming production around Vinica is rice, which also explains the high population of mosquitos in the area. Nasty biting mean machines :). In addition to the rice farming, there is also is known for their textiles and wood furniture production.
There appeared to be two sides to Vinica, the slightly older side and then the more modern newer looking side. This we came across as we walked to the Vinicko Kale later in the day. What interested me was the solar powered water heaters on the roof.
In addition I noticed that while the buildings may be older, the owners loved adding colorful flowers to the balconies and walkways to beautify the area. They did a really good job of making the area around their homes look pretty.
While Vinica is a smaller and older town, we had a wonderful time there. We were welcomed by the family with open arms, some tears and a whole lot of hugs. Despite our language challenges we were able to meet all the family, and to see some of this historical town.
If you are looking for a place to stop over, then the Hotel Central is ideal. Take time to explore, visit the churches, climb to the Fort, and the Cross if you can, sit at the beer garden and try a Skopsko, do early morning Turkish coffee. Breathe in the smells, experience the beautiful culture, love what you see. That’s the only way to travel – with an open mind, and an open heart.
Next blog will be my Share Six blog, then we will be heading up to the Fort. Join me if you can. If you want to see the other blogs on Macedonia click on the blog tab and scroll down
30 Minutes in the Life: August 2022: Macedonia Day 1
Posted on August 29, 2022
In the last blog I gave a short synopsis of our trip to Macedonia. Check it out if you have not read it. I arrived home tired, and found that the jet lag was just crazy. We struggled for at least 10 days to get our bodies back in sync. Sometimes I think poor Luka is still struggling. For these blogs, the images are going to be a mix of not so great quality cellphone pics, as well as camera pics. It was just easier sometimes to grab my cell and take the pics.
Macedonia has been on the cards for a while, but Covid stopped it in 2020, and Richards health and Amy’s pregnancy stopped it in 2021. 2022 Amy and Daniel decided that they had waited long enough and they were going. Daniel really wanted us to go with so that we could meet his family. I plotted and planned, researched, and jotted down notes. Pulled up maps and made key references to places of interest. I am a planner. I probably over plan, however, I am also the kind of person that does not have to get to everything. I just want to know if I am missing out on anything.
11 days before we were due to leave, Snow and Rory, (Amy’s two cats) moved to our house. 10 days before we were due to leave we drove Amy, Daniel & Luka to Miami airport. Oh man, my heart was going on an airplane and I was not going with. I was going to miss that little man.
Finally D-day arrived and we were set to head out. I left Simba in charge of Moo, Snow and Rory. My good friend from down the road was willing to come in twice a day and take care of all 4 of them. Bags were packed and we were ready. We agreed to leave early. You never know what the traffic is going to be like driving to Miami and we had a good hour and a half to drive. Going through customs was quick and easy and then it was the coffee and breakfast while we waited. Our flight was through Turkish airlines and we were on board and ready to go fairly quickly. Amy warned me that they feed you pretty quickly once you are up in the air, but then don’t feed you until about 4 am Turkish time which is 10 pm our time. So a meal at noon and then nothing until 10pm is a long time. What I did find out flying back is there is food at the back that you can snack on but being up front I had no reason to go to the back. Talking food, I was pretty impressed with the food we were given on the flights.
The best part of our flight was that I had booked isle seats. I had two people sitting next to me and Richard had 3 seats to himself, so I shifted across to the free seat and my seat companions were forever thankful that they then had a seat between them.
After what felt like was forever on the flight, which in theory was 1am our time, we landed in Istanbul. Little did we know how big the airport was.
I feel like we landed on one end of the airport and had to work our way through to the furthest point of the airport to catch our connecting flight. The challenge that came was the flight was not showing on the board, and by the time we actually found out what gate we were leaving from we had 20 minutes to navigate this huge airport. Little did we know that there were walking escalators on the upper level. We really did not have time to take in the beauty of the airport, because we were rushing to catch our flight.
I needed a bathroom pitstop and so we found some signs that indicated there was a bathroom entry. I told Richard to stay exactly where he was and not to move. I then found myself entering the bowels (sic) of the airport. I felt like I walked forever before I found the ladies rest room. Navigating my way out, I come out at the entrance only to find that Richard is not there. I was so annoyed. I started walking knowing that I had to go down the walkway. As I started recognizing landmarks and I quickly discovered that the entrance I went in and the exit I came out of were not the same. Thankfully I found Richard standing exactly where he was supposed to be. Frustrated, I might add, because I had taken so long. Of course he is now on a mission to get to where we have to depart and we are virtually running to get there.
Flying from Istanbul to Skopje in Macedonia was on a much smaller plane. Initially I thought that we were going to be on a very roomy flight but that idea was quickly squished when a connecting flight boarded. I had two traveling companions next to me, a guy around my age, traveling with his mother. Richard had a mother and child, and the grandmother. The flight was uneventful until just before we were going to land. The wheels of the plane kicked out and then man next to me nearly jumped out his seat. He did the sign of the cross 3 times and then grabbed his mothers hand. He sat in this rigid position until we hit the tarmac with a bump, after which he gave thanks for the safe landing. Exiting the customs area was quick and hassle free.
And there he was, my heart, back in my arms again. I had missed this little face so much. I missed the cuddles on my Friday. I missed his smiles and his laughter. What a sweet moment it was to be able to just hug this little body again. Daniel, Amy and Luka came through to fetch us at the airport. My first impressions driving through from the airport to Daniel’s home town, was that it was similar to the Natal midlands in South Africa. A place we visited a lot growing up.
Macedonia covers an area of 25,713 km². It is not huge. Towns are scattered across the countryside, with Skopje being the capital. We were traveling an hour to a town called Vinica, where Daniel grew up. Most of his family live there. I will share more about the town in another blog.
We arrived at the hotel, had time to unpack, have a shower and then head up to Daniel’s moms home. What a sweet welcome with had, with hugs and tears. Our biggest challenge was language, with us not speaking Macedonian and Daniel’s mom not speaking English but the hugs made up for the difference. What a sweet, sweet time.
Aside from the greeting I was there with a purpose. Daniel was taking Richard for a beer, while Amy, Luka and I were joining the traditional bread making ceremony. Traditionally the family of the unmarried bride host a bread making ceremony. However, in this case, Daniel’s mom hosted the ceremony. The bread is shape in a round circle to symbolize something that has no beginning or end. Daniel’s young cousin, was the lady who made the bread. First the dough is made and kneaded, then it is patted in to the round dish, then Luka (who it appears is the star of the show) had to give his foot stamp of approval. While we were not looking a coin was placed in the bread mix, then Daniel’s cousin and his aunt created a beautiful design on the bread. and finally Daniel’s mom placed butter and oil onto the top of the bread.
The bread making ceremony was not just about making bread, it was the gathering of the women, the dancing of the traditional dance the Horo, and the drinking of rakija which is the traditional Macedonian drink. I have to confess it was a little strong for me, and I stuck to the giant beers 🙂 A little bit more information on the Horo. This is a traditional dance where the guests link hands and do this intricate little step (which I mastered at slow speed, and caved as it sped up) and they go around in a circle celebrating the event. This was a beautiful time of learning their traditions and hugging and smiling at everyone. The only word I knew was “Stravo” which means “hello” and I said that quite a bit.
Of course, the whole happening was about Amy and Daniel’s second wedding reception and Daniels family wanted to do this as a traditional wedding. Amy and Daniel got married in 2018 in the USA with just our immediate family and a few friends. Daniel’s family was not able to attend and it has always been their intention to have a ceremony in Macedonia for his family. So this was Amy’s bread making ceremony.
After the bread making ceremony Amy, Luka and I headed down to the Park where we joined Daniel and Richard for what must have been the largest beer I have ever drunk, and would continue to drink over the coming day.
We ended our evening off with the family gathering for dinner along with the two groomsmen. There was an enormous amount of food, lots of translations, and plenty of the bread that was baked earlier in the day. I did not tell you that the person who gets the piece of bread with the coin in it, is said to have luck for the coming year. That turned out to be Daniel’s mom. Hopefully she will be lucky and the embassy will grant her a visa to visit the USA in December.
Tired and weary we did our five minute walk back to our hotel. It had been a good day. My next blog I will share a bit about Vinica and the town itself.
Thank you for joining us, 30 Minutes in the Life is a circle blog and we have some very talented photographers in the group. I always love looking at the sneak peaks and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what Kristina of Hello Olivia Photography has for you this month, and I look forward to seeing what she has to share.
Share Six: August 2022: Travel
Posted on August 6, 2022
I chose the them {Travel} this month because I knew I would only be arriving home from 12 days in Macedonia four days before we were due to go live.
Travel plans to Macedonia started way back in 2019, but circumstances kept postponing it. In December 2018, Amy & Daniel got married in our back garden, however, none of Daniel’s family could be with us. So Amy & Daniel planned to go to Macedonia and have a reception there for his family in 2020. Well we all know that covid happened and that put paid to any traveling. 2021 was the year from hell, and Richard’s health played a big role in us doing anything. In addition Amy was pregnant and was not able to travel. So 2022 comes around and the kids are determined to go back home to Daniel’s family and they wanted us to go with. This would be the time to have his family celebrate their wedding and also have Luka baptized. We would spend almost a week in his home town before heading out on a road trip to see the rest of Macedonia as best we could.
Below is a short synopsis of the traveling we did. Details will follow in additional posts.
Macedonia was a beautiful experience that we may never have done if it was not for Amy and Daniel asking us to go with. I am grateful that we got to meet Daniel’s mom, brother and sister in law, and their daughter, as well as extended family on both his mothers and father’s side, his groomsmen and friends. We also got to experience some of his culture and understand Daniel a little better. Added to that we got to see a fair bit of the countryside. Hopefully Daniels mother will be able to come out later this year and we will be able to reciprocate the hospitality. Today I get to try to make two different macedonian dishes, kebapi and borek.
Travel rounds out your understanding of the world and life as it is lived by others. It gives you a better sense of knowledge and helps you to be more tolerant of different ways of life. Travel broadens your horizons and gives gives you the opportunity to meet new people, taste new foods, and drink new drinks. Travel is something I wish I could do more often. Next on the list is a visit to family, part of my family history and a place we have always wanted to visit, Australia.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Janet Douglas is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_travel
Share Six: September 2021: Quote
Posted on September 6, 2021
Can you believe it is September? A few more weeks and life is going to change again. I will go from being a parent to a grandparent. It is so exciting and a little stressful as well. Having a baby during covid makes my heart beat a little faster.
With all this going on there has not been a lot of photography done. This year has run me down to be honest. But we did try to get a 2 day away in before the baby comes along and Richard and I traveled up to St Augustine. A place we used to visit regularly but have not been for a few years. We did take a detour last year on the way to Georgia and it was so busy we kind of by passed and went away from the historic district.
It turns out that this month Lynne chose a quote and it work perfectly with our St Augustine trip.
“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport”
— Steve McCurry
We love to travel. We have been doing the odd get away. Richard has been a little nervous taking his vacation because he doesn’t know whether he will need his vacation. I on the other hand am conscious that I still have 3 weeks vacation to take.
So we hit the road and 4.5 hours later we booked into a quaint little Bed and Breakfast right in the historic district of St Augustine. It was a 5 second walk to the main street and all the restaurants. A 10 minute walk to the cruise. This trip we did something different, something that we have never done in St Augustine. We took in the winery, the distillery and the brewery. And that was all before lunch. Oops, I needed food. Seriously though, they only give you tiny little glasses which are half full. But if you are heading to St Augustine I would recommend you check them out.
Richard loves the sunset cruises and so that was our goal for the first evening. We quickly grabbed dinner at Harry’s and then headed down to the quay to wait on the cruise. The weather was iffy to be honest and I was not optimistic that I would get anything worth while but I did manage capture a few images I was happy with.
When I looked at this picture I thought that Richard looked like he had been out in the sun all day. This is one of the side effects of the immunotherapy. His skin turns really red. The other side effect is that he gets a very itchy rash.
The boat trip was just a intracoastal trip and not out to sea, but I do enjoy seeing the under carriage of different bridges and this was was not too bad.
The company on the cruise was quite fun, and very chatty which made the slow moving boat a lot more interesting, and I managed to get a few sunset images as well.
We were fortunate that we made it back to land dry and we were able to get back to the guest house and to relax.
Day 2 was a marathon of walking. This was our booze walk, if you can call it that. We headed up through Flagler college, which is an incredibly beautiful university in St Augustine. This was the first time I had actually walked through the college.
On the far side of the buildings grounds, there is a fence that looks like it has been made out of old cannon balls. St Augustine’s history is that this is the oldest city in Florida, originally Spanish founded and occupied in 1565. St Augustine has a really interesting fort that you can visit. Richard would try and find a bit of shade while waiting for me. Me on the other hand was just distracted by all there is to photograph.
With it’s history, St Augustine is well known for it cemeteries and we passed one I had not seen before. Just to the side of the bench I see a little squirrel digging deeply for it food.
Our first stop was San Sebastian winery. They gave us a tiny tasting glass and we made our way around tasting wines at various stations. Some I liked and some I didn’t. We each have our own palate. What I did walk away with was a really smooth bottle of sherry. We also decided to buy some cheese and crackers and have our own little cheese and wine evening in the gardens of our Bed and Breakfast.
Next stop was the St Augustine Distillery where we got to taste, gin, rum, vodka and bourbon. I am a rum person and it was pretty good. The distillery has an eating place upstairs but we had one more stop before we planned to eat, so it was back to walking again until we arrived at Dog Rose Brewing Co.
I am also a beer person, but I tend to stick to something like Heineken, whereas Richard likes IPA. So he is at home at these different brewing companies and I find myself really restricted. When we were in Naples I discovered that a larger kind of works for me, and so I asked to taste a larger at Dog Rose Brewing Co, and I was not disappointed. In fact, after all that walking the first beer went down super fast and the second I took my time.
Last stop was a lunch garden before heading back to put our feet up and relax and catch up on the highlights of the Tour de France.
St Augustine is a great place to visit if you are looking for history. There is so many different areas to seek out that we did not visit this time around. It is definitely worth stopping at if you are heading to Florida.
Just a reminder if you are hitting Florida, remember the suntan lotion and a big floppy hat. It is hot here and you want to take care not to get seriously burned. Richard is dealing with the results of plenty of sun and not enough sunscreen. Melanoma is not something to play with.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly artistic friend Lynne of Lynne Grant Photography is up next is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page or Instagram page. Definitely take some time to check her out.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_summersun.
30 Minutes in the Life: May 2021
Posted on May 31, 2021
Life has become day by day. It is precious and moments are not to be wasted. Given that we do not know what the time frame looks like we have opted to make the most of it. We both have a lot of vacation to take this year or we loose it. So for the month of May we decided to take a short 3 day vacation to Naples, Florida.
I am not sure that we have ever stayed there before but I left Richard to do all the planning. The only input was that perhaps we consider heading to the Naples Botanical Garden on our second day when we did not have a whole lot of plans.
Wednesday we headed out. From our home is is about a 2 hour drive across Alligator Alley. Short, quick, and before we knew it we were there. Richard booked into Cove Inn. The room sat on the edge of the waterway, and it came with a room, kitchenette, bathroom and a balcony. Only change I would make would be to go to an upper level. Our balcony looked more to the boats than the bay. That said the place was perfect for what we needed.
Once we had settled in, we did a 30 minute walk down town to the historical district. We wanted to check out restaurants and breakfast places. Turns out that Cove Inn had it’s own breakfast place and it was more than adequate for us. Extra large eggs means you get three instead of 2 even though it is a 2 egg breakfast. Below is a cell pic of some of the Cove from the dock across the way, where our sailing ship would leave from.
One of the purposes for going out there was that Richard wanted to get back out on the water. Planning is a little more challenging now. We both love the sun, but he has been told to stay out of the sun. It is hard. Your default is that you want to go back out and do all the things we have done for the last 34 years.
We planned a sunset cruise. So today’s blog is about getting back out on the water. However, Richard has factor 50 sun screen on, a factor 50 shirt and a hat. All things that we did not think about before. It was a perfect sky and I was convinced I could see a bird in these clouds.
We are ready for our cruise. Just a few steps away from our room, was a restaurant called The Dock. We chose to go there for dinner before heading out on our cruise.
Dinner was a share of calamari and mussels. Filling for both of us and done in time for us to settle the bill and leave to walk down the dock to our boat. The Sweet Liberty crew do not offer drinks and snacks on board but you were able to bring your own. While the boat was not full to capacity, there were enough people on it. We headed to the back where we shared space with a couple from Nashville. If I have to say anything negative, it was that a young girl was on the boat with her entourage, doing a photoshoot. So every where you moved you kept tripping over a model, her mother, a camera man, and 6 other people. Beyond that the boat ride was perfect.
The cruise itself was so enjoyable. The captain was informative and his crew got the sails up and had us under wind power and on our way. Heading out to the ocean, I think they took us on the scenic route through the waterways. It was a lot shorter coming back. Like the east coast the waterways are lined with big, fancy houses and impressive boats.
I was pretty impressed with the clouds and the formations in the sky, that was until sunset and then it was too much.
My thirty minutes officially ends here but I am going to continue so I get all the images from our cruise together. The picture below is looking to Marco Island and I will share more about that in a few days.
It was so good to see Richard smiling and enjoying the outdoors, wind in his face, and the smell of sea and factor 50 sunscreen. I find myself wanting to take images where ever and when ever I can because I don’t know what tomorrow may bring.
Our cruise is over but we have more planned. Check out our walk through the Botanical Garden on the Thursday, and our boat ride on the Friday through the 10 000 island and towards Marco Island. One of the views that really impressed me was the dome houses, so look out for that blog.
If you are a sunseeker like we have been, please consider using sunscreen that provides a significant cover, watch out for odd looking moles, and educate yourself. Australia, Florida, California are listed as the top 3 places for melanoma. I am going to add South Africa to that listed because where we grew up the climate is exactly the same. See a dermatologist and get yourself checked out. Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer and we are dealing with this right now. This was the first thing I did since Richard came home. I am good, but the peace of mind is so worth it. At this point we have no idea if the medication Richard is on is working, so each day has become a memory making day.
Thank you for joining me for another 30 Minutes in the Life. This is a circle blog. It’s a small circle this month. Please follow the link to see what my very talented friend Kim, of This One Ordinary Life, has to share this month.
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