Vacation 2011 Day 5 Marrakesh

Up with the dawn on the roof of Hotel Ali to watch Marrakesh wake up. The restaurant with arched windows in the left of the photo was blown up by a bomb a week after we left Marrakesh.

Headed off to explore. In the old town you cannot go far without seeing storks and their nests on the high points of the city wall. Must be mating season.

And then to the ruins of the El Badi Palace. Built in the sixteenth Century it was reportedly magnificent with masses of marble and gold. Most of the palace was "recycled" by a later ruler to build his palace in Meknes.

Then we headed off to find the Saadian Tombs.... down the maze of alleys that is Marrakesh

The alleys got narrower....

Marrakesh grows out of the desert, and the color of the desert permeates everything.

The Saadian Tombs were built in the seventeenth century to entomb members of the Saadi family. The entrances to the tombs were sealed off and not discovered until 1917. Thanks to the remarkable decoration, in cedar, stucco, and marble, the tombs are a major attraction for tourists....

Vacation 2011 Day 4 The Shard

After Canary Wharf I still had a bit of time before my flight and as the weather was OK, which in England means it wasnt raining, I headed over to Tower Bridge to check out The Shard.

When completed it will be the tallest building in the EU at 310 meters. It was designed by Renzo Piano who also designed Kansai Airport.

Nearby is the More London complex of buildings designed by Norman Foster, including of course....

London City Hall, described by Ken Livingston as a testicle.

There is of course lots of more traditional brick architecture still left in the area......

... and then a few hours later, I was enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of Marrakesh!!

Vacation 2011 Day 4 Canary Wharf

For my last day in London I headed out to Canary Wharf. For a long time I had been wanting to photograph the Tube station there. It was a Saturday so not many people about.

Built on top of what was once dockland, Canary Wharf is home to the offices of gangsters and robber barons nowadays known as banks, insurance companies, and other "financial service companies".

Paying themselves huge sums of money for the privilege of gambling with other peoples money, if their gambles dont pay off they suck the public purse dry.

In keeping with their own high opinion of themselves they build huge palaces of steel and glass.

One security guard tried to tell me I couldnt photograph "his" building, which was simply not true. I checked the law beforehand and when I explained that to him he said if he called the police they would take my camera.

Vacation 2011 Day 3 Slough

The second day of my vacation was a long one spent mostly in airports and on planes. It was made longer by the fact that BA aircrew wouldnt fly into Narita because of radiation worries and so we had to divert to Korea to change crews.

Day three found me in Slough!!!.... not a place I had ever been to before, and nothing particularly noteworthy about the place except its where the comedy series " The Office" is set. I headed south along footpaths towards the Thames. Brick building are appealing after so long in Japan....

I walked along the Thames a few miles into Eton, home of the famous school that has "educated" the ruling classes of Britain for centuries.

Dont have much interest except again there was a lot of nice brick architecture.

After Eton I crossed the river to Windsor and visited the castle, somewhere else I have never been before. Ridiculouslu expensive and packed with tourists from all corners of the globe, I was disappointed not to be invited in for tea, but guess the queen was not home that day.

Built by William the Conqueror, though much added to since then, it is the longest continuously inhabited castle in Europe.

I felt absolutely no compulsion whatsoever to stand next to the guard and make peace signs with both my hands. Obviously not been in japan long enough.

The Long Walk, 2.65 miles, runs from the castle out into Windsor Great Park, most of which is now public.

Took the train back to Slough. The new bus station looks to be an interesting building when its finished. Apparently Slough is getting a facelift.

Vacation 2011 Day1: Sumiyoshi Shrine

The last part of my first day of vacation I was in Hakata and I visited the Sumiyoshi Shrine there.

The head Sumiyoshi Shrine is in Osaka, but the one in Hakata is believed to be the original one.

The main kami are Sokotsutsuo-no-kami, Nakatsutsuo-no-kami and Uwatsutsuo-no-kami, which are kami connected with navigation and safe travel by sea. the mythical "Empress" Jingu is also now enshrined here as the myths say she received oracles from the Sumiyoshi Kami before her mythical "conquest" of Korea.

I recently read that the 3 kami were originally aspects of the undersea Dragon King, a kami long associated with distant lands.

Travellers and emissaries going from Yamato to Korea and China would first stop at the Sumiyoshi Taisha in Naniwa (Osaka) and then visit other Sumiyoshi Shrines along the Inland Sea until finally leaving from Hakata.

Its a nice oasis of green in an otherwise built-up area and has some fine Zuijin and komainu.

There is a secondary shrine to Amaterasu in the grounds, and an Ebisu shrine in front.

As a major shrine it is able to employ Miko.

Behind the main hall are 2 Inari shrines.

Winding down

My vacation is winding down and I will be back in Japan shortly when I will resume posts on Japan.... till then a couple more pics from Morocco.

Lahcen, Berber, muleteer, patriarch, companion and guide for 10 days across the Jebel Sahro.

Full moon in Essouira .

Things missed while sleeping

6:33am April 6th. Jebel Sahro


6:36am April 7th. Jebel Sahro


6:28am April 8th. Jebel Sahro


6:30am April 11th. Jebel Sahro


6:19am April 16th. Marrakesh


6:27am April 17th. Essouira

Vacation 2010 Day 16: Exeter

My final stop on my 2010 vacation was in Exeter, a place I lived for a couple of years, but havent been back to since.

The town was the westernmost outpost of the Romans in the SW, and parts of the Roman wall still remain. The Cathedral was built in the early 12th Century.

Actually this was the first time I had been in the cathedral.

Traces of medieval buildings still abound, and the town is not such a bad place to live.

After the Cathedral I wandered down to the River Exe and the canal basin next to it before walking to the train station.

So thats it for my 2010 vacation. Right now I am on my 2011 vacation so will start posting on that in a few weeks when I return from the deserts of Morocco.

Vacation 2010 Day 16: Dartmoor

For the last proper day of my vacation one of my nephews was kind enough to drive me to Exeter via Dartmoor. The lower slopes of Dartmoor are steep, wooded valleys with fast flowing streams.

We stopped in one of the many picturesque villages and found a tea room

and then explored the local churchyard.

Up on top of the moor we stopped by one of the many exposed Tors..... not sure which one it was

I like Dartmoor.... lots of open space and mostly treeless so one can see for miles. It is Britain though so its very wet.

This is probably a neolithic structure of some kind..... lots of stone circles, ley lines etc up on the moors.....