Travel

Egypt 2000

I can’t remember exactly when I decided to start writing again, this time with the aim of taking it seriously. I do remember how it happened – it was thanks to an on-line critique group that my friend Gloria told me about. The KooKoos encouraged and supported me, and although we no longer actively critique each others’ work, we are still friends and they remain an inspiration.

My first attempt at a novel was something that I had thought about writing many years before – a time travel story, set in ancient Egypt. While I was writing the first draft in 1999, I wistfully thought that wouldn’t it be nice if I could actually go to Egypt, just to see and hear and smell and feel what the place was really like. Out of the blue, an old friend sent me an e-mail: she was organizing a belly dancers’ tour of Egypt, and would I like to go? I hadn’t belly danced in years, but she still remembered me. I sat, blinking, at the email for some time. Shaking my head, I regretfully realized I couldn’t afford it. But when I casually mentioned it to my husband, he replied that he’d just gotten a bonus and it was enough to cover the whole trip– at which point, I gave up on the excuses, and e-mailed back an enthusiastic, "Sure!" Be careful what you ask for. . . you might get it!

Thirteen women from Calgary and Victoria, B.C., flew to Cairo, via Germany. It was a long flight, and all we wanted to do was sleep when we finally got to our hotel. Jane got a head start on the shopping by buying a small bottle of kohl (eyeliner) from the gift shop when we arrived. The next day, our first excursion was to Madam Abla’s costume studio, where several of us tried on costumes and ordered custom-made outfits. Then we took a class in Cairo from a respected teacher there. After that, we boarded the overnight train to Aswan. I woke up several times and looked out at the desert night. The constellations were oddly skewed from their familiar positions.

In Aswan, we visited the beautiful, modern Nubian museum, where many of the artifacts from the drowned land are housed. Nubia is mostly under the water of Lake Nasser now, thanks to the Aswan Dam. Later, we were entertained at dinner by the Reda dance group. The next day, we went to the Temple of Isis at Philae. The temple was raised, block by block, and reassembled on nearby Agilka Island, mostly as it was – one block was unfortunately put back upside-down!

From Aswan, we boarded the cruise ship Mona Lisa, and sailed for Luxor, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings. Unfortunately, I got "Tutankhamen’s Revenge" on the ship and had to spend the day in our hotel room, and missed the trip to the Valley. I did manage a quick trip to Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, however. Hatshepsut is famous for being a female pharaoh (pharaoh means King, not Queen), and even more famous because her temple, hieroglyphs and statues were all destroyed, so no one knew about her until the 1920's, when archaeologists discovered the fragments and put them back together. Reconstruction of her temple at Deir el Bahri is ongoing.

We took a tour bus in convoy to Hurghada on the Red Sea from Luxor, where we were taken to a Bedouin camp. We had a short camel ride, a fast jeep ride into the desert to take pictures of the sunset, and a delicious dinner after. When the official entertainment was over, some of us belly danced with a bedouin woman and her teenage daughter. It was very moving.

From there, our bus took us back to Cairo, where we toured the Museum and the Alabaster mosque, went to the Khan el Khalili bazaar, and had dinner on a floating barge on the Nile. On our last day, we picked up our finished costumes. Dressed in our finery, we travelled to some stables near the pyramids at Giza and had our photos taken with them in the background.

Tired but having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, we returned to Calgary 17 days after we’d left. It was a trip I’ll never forget.

Taiwan 2002

In 2002, my husband Wayne and I went to Taiwan to attend his brother Brian's wedding. It was a whirlwind one-week trip, which commenced with shopping and getting over the jet-lag.

Our first "tourist" destination was to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. The area includes the tomb, Concert Hall, National Theatre and several gardens, plus a vast concourse where families congregate for tai chi, kite-flying, etc.

We watched the changing of the guard, along with several groups of school children. After that, we went to see a fashion show, sponsored by a jewelry company.

We went to several tea houses during our stay. Having tea (and goodies!) is a favourite way to entertain in Taiwan.

The wedding ceremony was held first at Meini's parents' place, where they exchanged rings and performed traditional toasts. Then we went to the wedding restaurant to have dinner with about two hundred guests. Meini wore three different dresses, all created by her cousin Maggie, a fashion designer. The dresses were traditional red and gold, with blue and green accents to match the Carmichael tartan (also "traditional dress"), which has red and gold accents.

On Monday, we went to the National Palace Museum, just outside Taipei. It has thousands of beautiful pieces, including the famous Jadeite Cabbage. We also visited a Buddhist Temple in Keelung.

A week after arriving in Taiwan, we were back in Sidney, B.C., for the Canadian celebration, to which all of Brian's friends and family were invited.

Canada 2003

In 2003, our family took a cross-Canada road trip, using a friend's tent trailer. We started from Calgary and went East.

Our first stops were in Alberta, and then we crossed over into Saskatchewan, where we went through one of the Moose Jaw tunnels, then went on to Regina. We toured the RCMP training academy and stayed for the Sergeant Major's Parade, which included a class of new graduates, in their red serge uniforms.

We next went to Manitoba, where we toured the Canadian Mint and the Costume Museum of Canada. Across the border into Ontario, we went through Kenora, where Wayne was born; Ignace; Kakabeka Falls; Wawa; Sudbury; and North Bay, where the home of the Dionne Quintuplets is now located. Our next stop was Kars, Ontario, to visit family. They took us to Ottawa, where we toured the Parliament buildings and were taught how to do Chinese brush painting.

We then continued on to Toronto, staying at a campground in Milton. In Toronto, we went to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Bata Shoe Museum, and Casa Loma. We also took a day trip to Niagara Falls and its beautiful gardens.

There we turned back towards the West, going through the lakes area. We stopped at the Panorama Amethyst Mine, where we could buy anything we found in the tailings for $2/pound. In Upsala, we found out why their mascot was a giant mosquito – lovely lake, though.

We returned via Portage la Prairie, Moose Jaw and Swift Current.

Iceland and Europe 2010

Iceland

In 2010, my sister Heather and I decided to visit Iceland, something we'd been wanting to do for some time. We also decided that since we were already on the other side of the world, we would also visit my mother's family's ancestral home in Northumberland, and our niece in Germany. We stayed in Reykjavik, in a Guesthouse downtown. Our first excursion was whale-watching in Faxafloi Bay, where we saw minke whales and a few puffins. After that, we rented a car and drove to Hofsos, on the Northwestern side of the island, to visit the Icelandic Immigration Centre, from which our family had left to emigrate to Canada.

Near Hofsos, we found Tumabrekka, a farm where our ancestors had lived at one time. It's now owned by a young woman who raises the short, lovely Icelandic horses, but the name is still the same. While in the area, we traveled up the coast to Siglufjordur, a small fishing village with a marvelous restaurant and art gallery. It's accessible only by a kilometre-long one-way tunnel. We had to drive into small recesses to let oncoming traffic go past. On our short trip, we also visited the Textile Museum in Blonduos, and an extinct volcano.

After we returned, we took a day-long bus trip to Jokullsarlon, a glacier lagoon. We visited two beautiful waterfalls on the way, Skogafoss and Selfoss. Jokullsarlon is near Eyjafjallajokull (ayah-feeyatla-yokootl), the volcano that had just erupted in the spring, causing so much trouble for the airlines, because of the wet, sticky ash. We also spent some time in the famous Blue Lagoon, a natural hot spring near Keflavik Airport. Because Iceland is located on the line between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, it has plenty of geothermal activity.

We took a Golden Circle trip, so called because of Gulfoss (Gold fall), a waterfall near Reykjavik, the capital city. The bus driver, Ragnar, took us to a geothermal plant, where they pump superheated water from the ground, clean up the minerals, and sent it to the cities and towns. It is the cleanest water in the world, but showers smell a bit sulphuric. On the trip, we also saw Geysir, from which all geysers are named, and the bubbling, boiling hot pots nearby. Included was a stop at a huge, 3000-year old "explosion crater" called Kerid, created when a bubble of steam exploded.

Our last stop was at Tingvellar, where the Alting was held. This was where all the Icelandic tribes gathered to meet, mingle and decided on the laws of the land, at the Logberg (Law Rock). The Icelandic flag has been raised at the spot where they think the meetings were held.

Northumberland

After leaving Iceland, we went to Edinburgh, and from there to Northumberland, where my mother's family used to live. They were said to have lived in a small fort called Westhall, in Belford. The fort used to be Belford Manor, but is now a farm owned by Mrs. M. Riddell. She allowed us to tour her home and take pictures. She also showed me a ledger that had been written by my great-grandfather, James Weightman, who had been a butcher and had owned an abattoir (butcher house) in town. I knew about Westhall from a photograph that used to hang in my mother's sewing room, but I didn't know exactly where it was. But when I searched for Westhall, Northumberland, I found it! And it was exactly like the photograph, so I knew I had the right place.

Twenty minutes down the A-1 from Belford is a place called Alnwyck Castle. It is the family home of ther Percys, the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. But it is also famous for being the filming site of several movies, most notably Harry Potter. We arrived just in time for a tour of the castle, during which I thoroughly embarassed myself by knowing all the answers to the guide's questions about Harry Potter. This picture shows the place where Harry and his class received their first broomstick flying lesson. The castle is also home to several archaeological collections and a most impressive garden.

Germany

After one more day in Edinburgh, during which we located the birthplaces of Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson, and saw residences where Sir J.M. Barrie had lived, we hopped the channel to Germany. Our niece lives in Hamburg, and we took an overnight trip to Berlin to visit the remains of the Berlin Wall, enjoy a river tour and do some shopping.

Heather was staying on in Hamburg for a few days, but I left after that, on a long, 20-hour journey home that involved 5 countries and 4 airplanes. But I and my luggage arrived intact.