Reading Beth’s story of her peanut butter confiscation (and her Nutella, which by the way, the combination of the two together make for some great sandwiches – see my chocolate blog), reminded me of my own security breach.

Now my story involves something that yes, I know I should not try to bring through security – a Swiss Army pocketknife. But it was an innocent mistake, really. The story goes as follows:

I was coming back from a fabulous adventure-filled trip in New Zealand, where I took my pocketknife with me, as it is one of the 10 essentials needed when hiking. Or as they say in New Zealand, tramping. On my way to New Zealand, I checked in my backpack with the pocketknife from Seattle, through Los Angeles, so that I could take the pocketknife on my trip. See, I was thinking and planning…

On my way back, I did the same. Or at least, I started to. I checked my backpack on the flight from New Zealand to Los Angeles, with the intention of checking it again for my flight from L.A. to Seattle. In L.A., however, we needed to get our checked luggage and take it with us through customs, as this was the first U.S. destination reached from New Zealand. Well, I did that, again, with the intention of checking my backpack for my connecting flight. But alas, the lines getting through customs were just way too long and way too slow. And time began running out. I was getting very close to needing to board the flight from L.A. to Seattle.

I got through customs with flying colors, and with a few minutes time to spare, I made my way to the ticket counter in L.A. where I intended to check in my backpack. But again, the lines were just way too long and way too slow. If I stood in these lines, I was afraid I would miss my flight.

By this time, I was so distracted with trying to make my connecting flight that I totally spaced and forgot about the pocketknife. I wasn’t even thinking of it. I decided at the last minute to just take my backpack with me on the plane as a carry-on, again forgetting that I had the pocketknife in the backpack.

And that was the innocent mistake!

I put my backpack through the security screening (which was fortunately a short line), and lo and behold, the x-ray machine spotted the pocketknife. The security guy asked if he could look through my backpack to find what the x-ray machine had spotted. As he asked me this and began to search, it dawned on me what he was looking for. A moment of panic struck me.

I began, very politely, to explain myself to the security guy – that I was hurrying to make my connecting flight after going through a long delay in customs, with no time to check the backpack, and that I had forgotten about the pocketknife.

Fortunately, he was kind to me and understood (he may have even laughed, but I can’t quite recall if he did or not). He did not scold me or throw me into jail or anything like that. Unfortunately, however, he took my pocketknife.

Well, about a month after I got back from New Zealand, and about $40 later, I bought a new pocketknife. But I have always wondered what the security staff does with items after they have been confiscated, such as my pocketknife, and even Beth’s peanut butter and Nutella.

Perhaps someone has been enjoying using my pocketknife on his or her own hiking experiences. And perhaps someone ate a wonderful peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.

Sweet Travels!

X-ray image of a backpack from Wikipedia

Just an hours’ long bus ride from Helsinki, Finland is the small, delightful, medieval town of Porvoo, the second oldest town in Finland. Meandering the cobblestoned streets of Porvoo’s Old Town, with its shops, galleries, museums, churches and restaurants, create a quaint and pleasant day trip from Helsinki. Porvoo’s infamous red ochre shore houses and sheds, that line its waterfront, make for some scenic photographs. It is even said somewhere that Porvoo is the most photographed town in Finland.

I started off my one day there enjoying the activities as others do when they visit – walking around the Old Town, browsing the shops and museums, and eating. But then I also did what I usually do when I travel – getting off the beaten path and wandering the side streets.

In the peacefulness of this environment, I became immediately aware of the colorfulness of Porvoo. Each home, with its wooden vertical- or horizontal-striped siding, was painted a different color. Reds, grays, blues, oranges, browns, pinks, rusts, yellows, peaches, golds, greens. I was strolling through a rainbow of homes!

I began to take photographs of the windows of these homes, each picture with a different paint color in the background. I became obsessed with trying to take a picture of each color that I could find, so that no two of my pictures had exactly the same color, although shades were allowed. By the time I was done with my photographic journey, I hoped that I had all colors of the town represented in my collection!

I really enjoyed my time of getting off the beaten path and entertaining myself with photographing the windows of Porvoo. I wonder if I made a poster of my photos if it would sell in the shops as a souvenir item?!

Oh, and perhaps I should mention, that one of the chocolate wrappers in my previous blog, “cioccolato, chocolat, schokolade,” is from Porvoo.

If you are interested in visiting Porvoo, here is a link for more information: Porvoo tourism

Sweet Travels!

All colorful photos taken by Debby (note that these are only a sampling of the many more photos that I took of the windows of Porvoo)

I’m a chocoholic. I’ll admit it. If I could eat chocolate with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I would. I’ve loved chocolate for as long as I can remember.

Italian and Greek chocolates

These days, I actually prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate. Tastes better to me, and apparently has some health benefits. Strangely, though, I’m not a fan of white chocolate.

Icelandic and New Zealand chocolates

I like certain combinations of chocolate…chocolate with banana, chocolate with raspberry. My ultimate favorite combo is chocolate with peanut butter!

Finnish and Latvian chocolates

Not only do I indulge in chocolate regularly at home, but I also make it a point to try chocolate in every country that I am traveling in. Chocolate that is locally made!

German and Lithuanian chocolates

I have found great chocolate in every country. Of course, there is the infamous Belgian and Swiss chocolates that I have sampled.

Belgian and Swiss chocolates

Gelato in Italy became an addiction! In Vienna, I ate a piece of the Sacher Torte in the café that it originated from.

Chocolate museums make for some fun and interesting facts about chocolate. Not to mention the free samples!

To prove that I have indulged, I usually keep the wrappers from the chocolates so that I can put them in my scrapbooks, which I share with you in this blog.

Ecuadorian and Russian chocolate (the Russian chocolate was given to me by one of my sisters who went – she knew I would like it!)

As I always say at the end of my blogs, and especially at the end of this one,

Sweet Travels!

All chocolates eaten by Debby

A scarf is a necessary item to carry around on a daily basis while traveling in Europe. Especially if you visit as many churches as I did. I must have walked into hundreds upon hundreds of not only churches and cathedrals, but also abbeys and basilicas and temples and synagogues and mosques (collectively referred to as “churches” throughout the remainder of this blog) during my five months in Europe. From some of the world’s largest cathedrals in the cities to the small local churches of the towns. The scarf was so that if I was wearing a tank top on a warm summer day, I could easily take the scarf out of my handbag and throw it over my shoulders before I entered into a church. Covering the shoulders in churches is a sign of respect.

churches in Florence, Italy and Tallinn, Estonia (and many other European cities) dominate the skyline

In every single one of the churches I went into, I was in awe. Each one was beautiful, original, and full of art, history, and spirit. The architecture, the stained glass, the mosaics, the sculptures, the tapestries and rugs, and the paintings in each of the churches made me feel as if I was walking into a unique museum. The artistic people behind these “museums” became my new heroes. The age of the churches in Europe tells a story of the importance of religion in people’s lives throughout the centuries. I am not a very religious person myself, but the aura of the churches spoke to me of a deep sense of spirituality.

the awesomeness of the art and architecuture of several “museums”

I was so moved by the spirituality and emotion of the churches, that I began to develop my own ritual each time I walked into a church. First, of course, I would make sure that my shoulders were covered. A few feet after I entered the door, I would stop for a moment and observe all the sights, sounds and feelings around me. I would glance around the building, at all the art. I would notice the people in the churches. I would feel the spirituality.

I would take a survey of what the people were doing. Was there a service going on, or some other event, such as a wedding or a funeral? If so, would I be welcome to listen for a few moments – even though I may not understand the language? Were there people praying? There always were, and I would observe the various locations of prayer, from sitting on benches to special chapels.

the intricate details of domes with paintings

Were there people singing or chanting? Some of the most beautiful sounds I heard while I was in Europe were in the churches. Hearing the melodic voices of another language, joyfully singing at the top of their lungs, or chanting the repeating rhythmic pattern of prayers usually put me into a trance. Were the church bells ringing? Many times, I happened to be at the right place at the right time, when the souls of church bells were being heard.

Was there music being played on an organ? To hear songs coming through the pipes of organs in an acoustic place such as a church is very enriching. Were there tourists around, sometimes led by a tour guide explaining the history and religious aspects of the church?

After my observations, I would decide what to do next. If the opportunity allowed me to listen to a service or to singing, I would find a seat and enjoy the fulfilling experience. Sometimes I would sit for a long time, in my own silence, just listening.

If there was no group activity going on, what I found interesting for myself, keeping in mind that I am not a very religious person, I would find myself wanting to sit down and do my own type of prayer.

My own prayer was more like a soliloquy of thankfulness. I would be grateful for the travels I had been doing, and for all the fabulous experiences that I had been having. I would be appreciative for my health, and for my family and friends. I would wish for all people to be healthy, happy and safe. I would hope for world peace.

And then I would sit for a while. Just sit. In silence.

During this silence, I would start to feel this sense of, how shall I say it, inner peace, inner strength, fulfillment, gratitude, calmness. It was not only a spiritual feeling, but a physical one as well. Hard to explain in words really. “A religious moment” I would call them as I wrote in my journal later. But for me, probably more spiritual. I actually began to get addicted to these feelings, and stopped into as many churches as I could during my travels.

After my prayers, I would wander around the church looking more closely at the architecture, and at the religious images contained in the various forms of art. All of this awe at the beauty of what I was looking at further added to the spiritual feelings that I was already experiencing.

statues of religious images

It wasn’t until about the fourth month into my five months of visiting churches, that at the entrance to one of the little chapels in the Cathedral of Siena, Italy, I saw a sign. A sign that struck me as to what I was doing during my church visits…rispetto, silenzio, preghiera…respect, silence, prayer…

But the sign was not only about what I was doing, it was a reminder to everyone, written in five languages, of what to do as one enters this little chapel. And what to do as one enters all places of prayer and worship.

And perhaps, this simple sign is a reminder that in everyday life, we should practice what was written on this sign as well…admire, appreciate and value others; have some quiet inner time; and hope for world health, happiness, safety and peace…

…perhaps carrying a scarf around on a daily basis would be a good reminder to do that…

Sweet Travels!

All photos by Debby

It’s not. It’s not. It’s not.

When Wanderlust and Lipstick Blogger, WanderMom, wrote of her adventures of taking her son to the King’s Cross railway station in London so that he could visit the infamous Platform 9¾, I thought to myself, “Hey, I’ve been there too, and I want to blog about it!”

I also thought, “Hey, kids aren’t the only Harry Potter fans around. Some of us adults are fans, too.”

Nearly five years ago, when I was on my five-month solo European journey, I experienced the same construction work going on at the railway station as WanderMom and her son did. I was also redirected to not the logical place that Platform 9¾ should have been located. But it didn’t matter where it was, really.

The point was that I, an adult Harry Potter fan, went to the place where the children of the wizardry world, especially Harry himself, and his friends Hermione and Ron, disappear from the Muggle world, through a brick wall, in order to catch the Hogwarts Express that takes them to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. How thrilling!

(I have always wondered if the woman in the photo with me, who had been standing there for quite some time, was waiting for the opportune moment to disappear through the brick wall herself…)

As I was traveling around Europe, which was around the time that the “Prisoner of Azkaban” movie was being released, this Harry Potter fan took several pictures of the movie poster from various countries, including Croatia, Italy and France.

Croatia

Italy

France

And, on July 19, 2004, I even went to a movie theater in London to see the movie!! Now is that a Harry Potter fan, or what!

“Why does it have to be follow the spiders! Why can’t it be follow the butterflies!” Ron Weasley

Sweet Travels!

All photos by Debby

The sunflower quest was a success! My quest to find some large and vast sunflower fields while I was in Europe came to reality. My quest to be surrounded by the beauty, solidness and strength of the sunflower was satisfied mostly in Italy.

I had opportunities to walk through fields that had hundreds upon thousands of sunflowers. It was breathtaking!

I stood in fields where the sunflowers were much taller than I was, and where the flower was larger than my head. It was almost overwhelming!

In one field all the sunflowers were so much taller than me that when I was deep in the field, I saw nothing but the flowers. I could not see the edge of the field, thus almost giving me a feeling as if I was lost and would not be able to find my way out.

I even bought a yellow skirt, and had my fingernails and toenails painted with sunflowers for one of my quests. (Well, ok, maybe I went a bit too far on that one…) Oh, and don’t forget about that tattoo on my ankle…

A few times just traveling on a train through the Italian countryside, I would spot a large yellow blur in the distance as we whizzed by a sunflower field. That certainly brightened my travels!

I learned the word for sunflower in Italian – “girasole.” And in the museums, I even had successful quests of admiring paintings of sunflowers by artists such as Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. My mouse pad is even one of Van Gogh’s paintings.

I suppose my love for sunflowers will continue, whether I am traveling and on sunflower quests, or whether I am at home collecting things that are decorated with sunflowers.

Oh, that sunflower t-shirt in my previous blog was purchased on one of the Greek islands during that same Europe trip.

“I am working with the enthusiasm of a man from Marseilles eating bouillabaisse, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to you because I am busy painting huge sunflowers.” – Vincent Van Gogh, letter to his brother Theo

Sweet Travels!

Photos by Debby or friends of Debby

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.” – Helen Keller

Call me strange, but I love sunflowers. I have a sunflower t-shirt…

My bathroom is decorated with a few sunflower items…

My boyfriend planted sunflowers in the yard just for me…

And I even have a sunflower tattoo on my ankle…

I once took a class to learn how to make mosaics and stained glass, and the projects I chose to create were – you guessed it – sunflowers.

And the list goes on of things I have collected that have sunflowers on them.

Whenever I see a sunflower as I am driving around, even if it is just a single lone flower, I point it out to whoever happens to be the lucky one in the car with me. If I am the only one in the car, well then, I point it out to myself.

I’m not sure when my obsession with sunflowers started. I do know though, that it was long before my 30th birthday. Because it was on my 30th birthday that I got my tattoo. At the time, my tattoo had three leaves on the stem to symbolize my thirty years. Then for my 40th birthday, I added a fourth leaf, for that decade. (I won’t mention when that was.) And perhaps some day, far, far away, I will add a fifth leaf.

I’m not exactly sure why I have an obsession with sunflowers. Perhaps it is because the flowers remind me of the bright sunshine and of being outdoors. Perhaps it is because yellow is certainly a cheerful and happy color. Or perhaps it is because the flowers stand so tall and proud.

I don’t eat sunflower seeds that often, but I have tried chocolate-covered sunflower seeds. Those are tasty. And my latest treat is sunflower seed butter, instead of peanut butter, and jelly sandwiches.

Even my friends and boyfriend know that I like sunflowers, and so I get birthday and other cards from them decorated with the flower.

(the top two cards have artwork by Georgia O’Keefe)

So, needless to say, when I was in Europe several years ago, on my five-month solo journey, I had a quest. A quest to find some large and vast sunflower fields. A quest so that in these fields I could stand and be surrounded by the beauty and solidness and strength of these flowers.

Stay tuned to see if my sunflower quest was a success…

Sweet Travels!

All Photos (and some artwork) by Debby

Awww! Isn’t that the cutest baby bird you ever saw? Of course, I say that about lots of birds that I see – the Penguin and the Blue-Footed Booby, to name a few. But this cute baby was actually about a foot and a half tall, maybe even two feet – larger than many adult birds. This is a Waved Albatross chick. And I was thrilled to encounter him!

He was standing just a few feet from a path that I, my fellow yacht passengers, and our guide were walking on in Espanola, one of the Galapagos Islands. You might be able to see in the photos that this baby’s fluffy feathers were starting to develop into wings, so that one day very soon, he will be able to take flight, and soar for hours upon hours in the skies above the Galapagos. You might also be able to notice that his bill is turning yellow, a distinctive feature of the Waved Albatross when they are adults.

After I took about a dozen pictures of this one particular baby chick, we continued down the path to a place where several pairs of adult Waved Albatross were lounging in the grass in the sun, many of them pruning their feathers. The yellow beaks are indeed quite noticeable.

After I took about another dozen pictures of one pair of adults in particular, we continued down the path to a cliff so that we could watch the amazing flying of these birds. The Waved Albatross are considered “medium-sized” albatross, as their wingspans “only” get to seven and a half feet (that’s still about two and a half feet taller than I am)! This is compared to the “large-sized” Royal Albatross that I saw in New Zealand, whose wingspan measures up to twelve feet in length. Watching either of these albatross in flight is indeed a wonderful, powerful sight!

After my time overlooking the seas below the cliffs, and watching the soaring albatross above, we walked back on the path, where we not only saw more baby chicks (very cute, huh?),

but also a large egg of an albatross,

as well as a chick with one of its parents, feeding.

And then the ultimate that I saw was a baby albatross, an adult albatross and a Blue-Footed Booby, all together, just lounging in the grass in the sun!!

Sweet Travels!

All photos by Debby

Very soon, I will be doing a lot more birding, as I head off to the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Here I hope to see the Galapagos Penguins (the only penguin to live on the Equator), the Waved Albatross (the only albatross to live in the tropics), and many other birds, including the Blue-footed Booby (an apparently clumsy seabird found most notably in the Galapagos)!

Well, I did it! I saw not only the three above-mentioned birds, but at least a dozen other species of birds while I was traveling in the Galapagos Islands. Success!!

If you have been reading my past six blogs, you have been looking at the wildlife that I encountered in the Galapagos. And, if you read the three blogs prior to that, you heard about the penguins and albatross that I observed in New Zealand and Australia, ending with what is written above in italics. Well, put that together, and I shall now describe the penguins and albatross that I witnessed in the Galapagos! Yippee!!

Needless to say, I was very excited the first time I saw a Galapagos Penguin. It was when I was snorkelling amongst the thousands of colorful fish in the clear blue warm waters. I was told that we might find some of these birds in the area, so I was definitely looking out for them. I swam down the side of some cliffs, keeping my eyes peeled for a penguin, while still watching the sealife below.

I traveled around a corner of the cliffs, and there one was lone penguin, standing on a small rock, much like a very tiny island in the water! My heart pounded at the sight of him. He just stood there, lounging on the rock in the sun, as I swam towards him. I got as close as I could, still keeping many feet away, as not only did I not want to scare him away, but I also wanted to respect his boundaries. I had a waterproof underwater camera with me, and took a few pictures, with a smile on my face, as he kept standing there posing for me.

After my time with this lone penguin, I continued to swim towards another area near the cliffs, where several more Galapagos Penguins were lounging on the rocks in the sun. Again, I swam up close, but gave them their distance, and took more pictures.

And then I just stayed there. I didn’t want to swim away. I just wanted to watch these creatures. No one else was around for these moments, and I felt so lucky, appreciative and in awe to be so close to these beautiful birds!

I was hoping that at least one of these pengiuns would dive into the water and swim near me, so I could watch this behavior underwater. But alas, they were quite content soaking up the warmth of the sun.

I finally swam away, quite content myself, of my time with these Galapagos Penguins.

I saw only a couple more penguins here and there from a distance during the rest of my entire Galapagos trip. So it was really those moments, with the lone penguin on his island, and my time with the few that were lounging on the rocks in the sun, that made memories for me which will last forever.

Please read my next blog for my time amongst the Waved Albatross of the Galapagos Islands.

Sweet Travels!

Photos by Debby

I interrupt my recent blogs about Blue-Footed Boobies, and all the other tame wildlife that I saw while I was in the Galapagos Islands, to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Albeit, a week into 2009, I wish this, but I wish it nonetheless.

May it be a year of world peace, prosperity, financial stability, happiness and love for all!

When I was in Quito, Ecuador I came across some graffiti spray painted on a wall in a small neighborhood. The writing caught my eye right away, and I was intrigued by what it said. “La salud, gratuita y digna.” With my very little Spanish, I quickly translated it in my mind as saying, “health, gratitude and dignity.” Even with my very rough translation, I liked it. I asked the Ecuadorian gentleman who was showing me around Quito that day of his translation. “Health, freedom and dignity,” he told me. I liked that even better!

I had actually come across this graffiti during the beginning of my travels, the day before I took off for the Galapagos Islands for over a week. For some reason at that time, although I found out its meaning, and although I was quite touched by what it said, I did not take any pictures. I started to regret that. But it was too late, as I was already looking at the Blue-Footed Boobies and baby Sea Lions and Land Iguanas. I thought about it all week: how could I, when I get back to Quito, get a picture of that wall, with the saying that apparently has some great meaning? I did not know its exact location, although I had a vague idea. And how could I describe it to anyone, in the very limited Spanish that I have?

Well, as luck, or something, would have it, when I was picked up at the airport in Quito, after flying back from the Galapagos Islands, the same gentleman that took me around Quito a week earlier was there to pick me up. Wow, is that serendipity or what? And not only did I have some remembrance as to where the graffiti was located, so did he! Because he spoke English and understood the intrigue I had with the words, he was very kind enough to take me back to the “heath, freedom and dignity” wall so that I could take a few pictures.

Since I got home, I actually searched a couple of online translation dictionaries to see what other meanings these Spanish words have. “Salud” is health! “Gratuita” is freedom, free, free entrance! And “digna” is dignity, dignified, worthy, deserving, pride, decent living, dignified life! It was the “decent living and dignified life” translations that became intriguing to me even more. And so with a bit more searching, I came across a quote in Spanish that uses the word “digna” in it. Translated, it says, “A democracy founded on basic dignities, one that respects human rights and establishes better living conditions for all.” Probably a political statement, but a good saying, nonetheless.

So with that, I wish everyone a Happy New Year, filled with excellent health, peaceful freedom, dignified human rights, and quality living conditions for all!

Sweet Travels!