Staying Safe – my own personal opinions

Since our ambassador to Libya was killed on 9/11, tensions all around our region have been high, especially in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia, with America being target #1.  I was still in Virginia when the trouble started and wondered whether I would be able to get back, which I did on 9/14.  Since then I have not left the apartment.  We were confined to our quarters over the weekend; and though we can go out now, and the embassy is open, no one is supposed to go anywhere alone for the time being.  In fact, the embassy has set up shuttle vans to take employees to and from work each day.  In our case, we are only a couple of blocks; and the walk takes 8 minutes.  Nevertheless, we can't walk the streets alone.  So for me, I am still confined to the apartment since there is no one else here during the day.  Fortunately for me, it’s nice here with my wonderful rooftop terrace, sea breeze, and sunshine.  (From here I can see the embassy and check for any smoke rising from it.)  I feel comfortable and safe. 

Tonight Baboo and I are going to walk to the Superette, a 7/11-type store where we buy our staples like cereal, milk, cheese, cleaning stuff.  I look forward to getting out, but I am still very nervous.  I am not worried about demonstrations.  They are usually pretty easy to avoid and I believe the government here in Algeria is strong and tough, pro-US, and can handle (read: suppress) any trouble.  This government, though rigid, has been in place for many many years and was not the subject of any Arab Spring uprisings and, in fact, was reelected this past spring.  So I think this is why they can handle and direct the police and provide security for us.  This is not the case in the other Arab countries where the governments are so new that they don’t have much control over anything yet.  They cannot protect themselves, much less all the foreign interests.  So what worries me is not the possibility of mobs, but instead the stealthy presence of terrorism and the ability of committed individuals to pick me up off the street.  Hopefully, this is not a serious threat and I won’t be worried about it for long.  But for now, the embassy is taking everything very seriously and making significant efforts to keep us safe.  I can certainly deal with any inconveniences.  Of course, our long-planned trip to the golf spa in Tunisia is on the chopping block.  Bummer.

Summer Vacation with the Grandkids

What a special treat for Gammy.  Our daughter and her husband brought me back to Virginia for 5 weeks of romping with the 3 little ones.

Starting with a special welcome committee, continuing with a big first-birthday bash for the twins, spending some special time with sibs, wine and gossip with good friends, staying at the shore in NJ for a week, but mostly just being with my precious ones.   (Have more photos but they are stuck on my cell phone.)

A special airport welcome.



Sibs

Sibs and In-Laws



A chocolate birthday!

Fun at the beach.

 

Wishing Baboo was here to share all this special

Gastronomy - and more - in Lyon

Here in Algeria, Friday and Saturday are weekend days.  And this year the Algerian National Day, July 5, fell on a Thursday.  Since July 4^th was a Wednesday, we enjoyed a rare 4-day weekend: Wednesday through Saturday off.   We hopped on a plane and headed to Lyon, France.  (One word of warning: the taxi ride from the airport to town cost 70€!)

Lyon, as seen on our first night

Baboo set us up in a gorgeous 5-star hotel overlooking the city.  The location was great, right in the center of the historic district.  It was high on a hill so each night we schlepped up 123 steps (the short cut) to the bottom of the hill on which our hotel sat.  The hotel was fantastic with a beautiful pool area and terrace restaurant.  http://www.villaflorentine.com/index.php?l=en  Though we didn’t take advantage of the pool (too much sightseeing to do), we did enjoy the terrace once for breakfast and once for a fantastic gourmet dinner.  If you don’t know, Lyon is considered the gastronomic capital of France, which many believe is the gastronomic capital of the world.  So we were in a foodie’s paradise.

Here we are with Pierre Orsi

When we first arrived, we tried to make dinner reservations at our hotel’s restaurant, Les Terraces.  Somehow there was a little mix up with the reservation and to make up for it, our hotel manager got us a reservation at the restaurant of Pierre Orsi, a colleague of Paul Bocuse.  He drove us there in the hotel’s jaguar and he introduced us to the staff and to Pierre Orsi.  We had an incredible meal.  And we still had dinner at Les Terraces to look forward to later in the weekend. http://www.pierreorsi.com/  

We took advantage of Lyon's “City Card,” which gave us several walking tours, a self-guided audio tour of the old town, full access to the transportation systems, entry into several museums, and even a boat ride along both the Saône and Rhône rivers.  It was a great deal for us because we did all those things and more during our short time in Lyon.  (We are competitive tourists.)  Of course, we started with our usual trip around town in the hop-on-hop-off tour bus that gave us a good overview and orientation. 

And when we got tired, we picked up some fresh bread, sausage, cheese, and wine and relaxed in our room to gear up for our evenings.

Snacks in our room

Cathédral St-Jean

We attended a concert in the cathedral of St. John.  For two people who are not religious, it might be surprising how much time we spend in churches when we travel.  But that’s where most of the history, the art, some of the most interesting architecture, and often the most beautiful music are.  You just cannot beat the acoustics of a gothic cathedral.  (I have a small sample of the concert; but by mistake, I shot it at a 90° angle and am unable to rotate it.  And, of course, loading a video into these blogs is impossible anyway.)

Besides the wonderful gourmet restaurants, we also enjoyed several of the local “bouchons,” which are basically little bistros that serve Lyonnais fare.  For example, Baboo had a very nice sirloin fondue while I had a veggie crêpe.

L'Atelier de Soierie

Lyon is also the center of France’s silk industry.  Try as we might, we didn’t find a single silk tie that Baboo liked.  We did take a guided tour in French of one of the earliest silk studios.  It was very interesting even if I only understood 10%.  (It was fascinating watching the antique weaving machines.)  Baboo, of course, understood most of it.

It’s so hard to decide what to include here because we really did so much.  The architecture, the art, the shops, the food … everything was wonderful.  I will post a selection of photos on my Facebook page but fair warning: we took hundreds.  So many other things of interest such as these buildings, whose sides – and sometimes entire facades – are painted in life-like murals.

Not a store front but a mural of one

As always, Baboo put together a fantastic trip.  We both had a ball because we are perfect travel partners. 

La Fountaine Bartholdi
La Place des Terreaux

A few days of R&R in Provence

La Rotonde Fountain
Aix-en-Provence

In June I had the great good fortune to be invited to southern France with one of Baboo’s colleagues, who wanted to take a quick trip over and was looking for company.  Lucky me!   I had never been to the south of France and it did not take me long to fall in love with it.  We flew to Marseille (just an hour and a half away) and traveled on to the small city of Aix-en-Provence.

La Fountaine des Quatre Dauphins

 

It's an absolutely beautiful place with many fountains , loads of cafes and restaurants, wonderful markets, art, and interesting history. 



The lobby at L'hotel des Augustins

Our hotel

Our hotel was located in the center of town close by everything.  In ancient times, it had been a convent and still retained some if it’s medieval features. We loved it.

Paul Cezanne's family home

We visited the family home and the studio of Paul Cezanne and took a stroll to view Mont Sainte Victoire, which was the subject of many of his works.  

Cezanne's studio



Mont Sainte Victoire as seen by us

As seen by Cezanne

St Jean de Malte

Cathédrale Saint Sauveur

We toured the town’s very nice art museum, Le Musée Granet, and visited some of the churches.   Of course, stopping for a refreshing glass of Provençal rosé was a regular part of our days.  (I didn't like pastis, the local favorite.)

Pastis and rosé

Our very favorite pastime was just strolling through town and browsing through the cute little shops and the fabulous open-air markets.

Peppers

Olives

Cheese

Tapenades



Spices and Herbs

And as an extra special treat, my friend’s nephew and his fiancée, who live in Aix, in addition to shuttling us from and to the airport in Marseille, invited us to their place for a wonderful lunch and an afternoon at a local beach.  It was a true pleasure to meet and spend time with them.  They treated us like royalty.

La plage de la Sainte Croix

 

We also enjoyed a couple of street concerts.  It was such fun to join the locals and enjoy the music and la joie de la vie.

Multi-generational dancing in the streets



Our last night on Cours Mirabeau



Such a delightful few days that we were hoping we would miss our flight back. For sure I will have to take Baboo there one day.





À votre santé



Posting Photos on this Blog

I’m not sure if it’s because of our Algerian ISP or this blog editor, but it is very difficult to upload photos into the blog.  Videos are totally out of the question.  It sometimes takes hours of loading and reloading to get just a few photos uploaded.  So aas soon as I'm finished with the upcoming blog about my trip to Aix-en-Provence, I’m only going to put a few photos on each blog entry and I’ll direct you to our facebook pages if you want to see more.

Adventures at the Butcher

I tried two chicken vendors last week.  Seems poultry butchers have separate shops than other-meat butchers.  My mission was boneless chicken breasts.  Before I went, I wrote this down in French so I could simply show it to the butcher.  Both butchers had them.  The first simply cut up the whole chicken I picked out, the second butcher had a pile of boneless breasts on the counter.  Both butchers were friendly and anxious to help me. 

But I have to say the lack of sanitation is unnerving.  Here’s how it goes.  I indicate what I want.  The butcher picks up a chicken and takes it to the big butcher block where the other butchers are working and tossing chicken and turkey parts about.  He grabs a knife from the rack, cuts up and debones the chicken, puts the knife back in the rack.  Then he slaps the chicken parts on the scale just vacated by the meat purchased by the customer next to me.  Then he wraps up the chicken in paper, stuffs it in a plastic bag, and hands it to me.   I give him some money, he takes it to the cash register and fumbles about getting change and hands me my change.

Did I once mention plastic paper or gloves, wiping anything off, even paper towels?  No.  I was so unnerved that I rinsed my money in bleach when I got home.  I also gave all the chicken parts a quick rinse in water with a tad of bleach.  I hope I didn’t ruin the chicken, but I just had to do it.  I was too freaked out by the slapping around of chicken parts with not the slightest hint of a wipe down of any equipment, hands, or even money.

I have since cooked some of this chicken and we are still alive.  I guess the solution is to cook it thoroughly. 

Over the weekend we found a real mall (more on that another day) with a real supermarket called UNO.  Though nothing like a Safeway, the butcher at this store did have cleaner equipment.  Here we bought more chicken and some beef.  We'll report on how the beef is later.

Tipaza and The Casbah

Over Memorial Day weekend I went on two embassy-sponsored tours. 

Tipaza, a town about an hour to the west of Algiers, was one of many settlements constructed along the Mediterranean coast by early travelers, perhaps Phoenicians, on their sea journeys west from Carthage.  Tipaza reached its peak of wealth and influence around 200 AD under Roman rule.

Roman Ruins at Tipaza

Many of the original Roman tile floors remain in situ
and unprotected.  Visitors scramble all over the entire site.

Today Tipaza is a seaside archeological site.  The site is beautifully located above the sea and the ruins are remarkably extensive.  Several especially well-preserved segments, such as the tiled floor of the judicial building, were removed for museum preservation during archeological excavation; but today most of the ancient city is accessible and available for all to explore.  There are still several tile floors and wall paintings in situ and nothing is off limits.  We spent several hours in the morning with our tour guide exploring the Roman town.  Then we enjoyed a lunch of fresh fish by the sea.  After lunch we visited the “Dome of the Christian Lady” so named because of the cross symbols carved on the edifices, even though the carvings were done at the time of construction, prior to the arrival of Christianity.  It is an enormous pyramid-type dome sitting on top of a hill, which overlooks one of Algeria’s most beautiful and fertile valleys, nicknamed the “breadbasket of Europe” during the French period.

Select your lunch

Pyramid Dome of The Christian Lady

Breadbasket of Europe

During our drive along the coast, we discussed the enormous potential for tourism Algeria offers.  Our guide, an historian by profession, is passionate that now is the perfect time for Algeria to invest and to attract European tourists who love to be by the sea but are a bit nervous about going to Tunisia or Egypt.  And the resources here would likely appeal to so many: the history, the archeology, and of course the extensive Mediterranean coastline.  Our guide tells us that he and his colleagues cannot seem to raise the government’s interest in investing in the infrastructure to make Algeria a world-class tourist destination.   

The Casbah

Going again the next day with our guide, a small group of us explored the maze of the ancient city, the Casbah, for several hours on Sunday morning.  (Though it’s inside – and truly the center – of the city, it is off-limits for us without special arrangements.)  Built before the 18^th century, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site listed as a “unique urban environment,” and unique it is.  Still occupied by Algerian families, the buildings are mostly interconnected step-like structures rising up the steep hillside from the sea front.  When constructed, no one house (each 4 or 5 stories tall) was allowed to block another’s view.  And the tiny alleys and hallways connecting everything allow for excellent shelter – from the sun and from adversaries, thus its reputation as a place where anyone can hide out for years.  Such was the case during the Algerian fight for independence when the freedom fighters slipped into the Casbah and out of the grasp of the French.  Our guide (this is my third tour with him) took us all through the twists and turns, ups and downs, of the alleyways and inside several of the buildings.  One of the “rules” during the early days of the Casbah was that no one could show his standing or wealth on the exterior of his dwelling, so all the homes looked then and look now, pretty much the same on the outside.  But inside some are actually palatial villas covered with Dutch tiles, marble fountains, and lush gardens.  We were treated to a wonderful lunch on the terrace of one of the residents.  He and his family love cooking for visitors and so it was quite a spread, very traditional with all of us sitting on big cushions and sipping mint tea.  The lunch lasted a couple of hours, and we all agreed a nap in the shade of the terrace would have been perfect.  But our day in the Casbah was done after that.