http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Sojourns/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Sojourns en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:03:43 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:03:43 +0000 A week in the beautiful Island of Phuket a southwest arm of Thailand was unexpectedly extended when the Bangkok airport closed on the 26th of November due to political protests. This was our first stay at the Banyan Tree resort and their professionalism and hospitality throughout our stay including their assistance when we were stranded there were outstanding. Thai people are friendly in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-403518.html As Time magazine reported about New Year's Eve of 2007 Year's Eve got off to an unexpected bang in the Thai capital Bangkok when a series of bombs detonated across town killing at least three people and injuring dozens including several foreign tourists. Our plans were to explore the city of Bangkok as soon as we arrived that New Year's Eve. We had a map in our hands marking out sites we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-403496.html St. Peter's Basilica is an unassuming name for what seems to surpass all churches in the world. And well it should be as it is situated in Vatican City the residence of the Pope and the Holy See. However it is not a cathedral.Our plans to visit the Basilica were foiled when we arrived on Saturday June 9th and were turned away being told that President Bush was inside speaking with the Pope http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Vatican-City/Vatican-City/blog-403237.html The royal jewels of the Pahlavi and Qajar dynasties are held in The Treasury of National Jewels in Tehran. It is highly secured and no photography is permitted but purchased and public domain photos are included here in order to share a rare view of these breathtaking pieces.The videoadd feature refused to upload a montage I created of the jewels and crowns through their history of being worn http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/North/Tehran/blog-403000.html Still Shots of the Alborz Mountains The still shots you are seeing were taken from vantage points that were in no way still. Some of them were through the front windshield zoomed in to crop out the steering wheel. A breathtaking snapshot of grahamcracker folds of earth jutting out into an intense blue sky is the result of an illusion created by the blue strip on the windshield. When at one po http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/North/blog-357543.html Underneath Day's azure eyesOcean's nursling Venice liesA peopled labyrinth of wallsAmphitrite's destined halls. Shelley Percy ByssheWe stayed at the Hotel Danieli the oldest in the city the first photo you are looking at is the view from the first floor. It was built in the 1400s and is near to a now defunct prison where we were told Casanova had escaped from. Filled with red carpets http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-281783.html We are the flute our music is all ThineWe are the mountains echoing only TheeAnd movest to defeat or victoryLions emblazoned high on flags unfurledThey wind invisible sweeps us through the world.Rumi The Unseen PowerHidden from the West behind a curtain of contemporary politics lies a land of indescibable beauty. To draw back that curtain is to enter into a palace of splendor where chival http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/North/Tehran/blog-281782.html Mauritius is an island off the coast of Madagascar of which Mark Twain has said you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven and that heaven was copied after Mauritius. It lives up to it's illustrious reputation. We chose to stay twice at the Hilton Spa Resort and our stays there were pure magic. Torch Lighting CeremonyWe arrived in the afternoon and a gong was run http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Mauritius/Flic-en-Flac/blog-281588.html Cairo or Al Qahirah as I learned it in it's native tongue was a unexpected juxtaposition of soaring wonderment and the sadness of decay. While I have heard tales of the depths of emotion evoked by visiting the Pyramids and have long wanted to experience it I was not prepared for the depth of poverty and magnitude of uncleanliness beseiging this momentous place. A place that feels to be the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-281538.html In Thailand particularly at the resort where we stayed fruit carving was a fine art form. Here is a true Land of Smiles welcome carved expertly into a watermelon. The red immense beauty with apparent scales pure white on the inside and melting in the mouth is the dragonfruit a rare delight to be enjoyed at every possible opportunity. The same goes for the rose apple pure paradise.We http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Samui/blog-281460.html Somewhere along the line during our stay in Paris the faint memory was recalled that lead vocalist of The Doors Jim Morrison had died and been buried in Paris. Images were evoked in my mind of the carved bust adorning his grave surrounded by a constant stream of flowers. I soon learned that the cemetery where he was buried in Paris PereLachaise is also the resting place of Frederic Chopin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-154780.html After leaving the suffocating heat of the desert city and strings of demanding workdays behind as Joni Mitchell so aptly put it ldquoI was a free man in Paris I felt unfettered and alive.rdquo I woke up to the last birthday of my thirties to find a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from my beloved with a card that read ldquoHappy Birthday in Paris.rdquo My black abaya and scarf were tuc http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/blog-154751.html Desert GardenRiyadh Saudi Arabia means gardens in Arabic and is where we call home. This is apropos as we adore our villa garden with koi pond and flowering trees. We even grow roses and vegetables though it waxes above 120 degrees fahrenheit. The city is punctuated by astounding architechure including the Kingdom Tower with a trangular cutout shape at the top. Each person has a diff http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Riyadh/blog-154802.html