June 18, 2013

3 Things I Actually Miss About Abu Dhabi

Time and distance.

You never know what you’ll actually miss after leaving a place. Last year I made a few predictions when I wrote “5 Things I Will Miss About Abu Dhabi” and “5 Things I Will NOT Miss About Abu Dhabi.” Since it’s been over a year now, I thought it would be fun to think over and share what it is that I actually miss. Taking a quick little trip there last month helped to straighten everything out in my mind.

The Top 3 Things I Actually Miss About Abu Dhabi:

Celebrating Molly’s marriage (missing Hannah and Sarah)

1. My friends. I know. In the original post I didn’t include friends and colleagues because I already knew that I would miss them a lot. Well, it turns out… I miss them tremendously! There’s no way they couldn’t be included on this list. Spending time with friends during my quick visit back just solidified how much I love them. Like I said before, it felt like I had only been gone for a few weeks. We’ve all bonded through our shared experience in the UAE in a way that’s hard to explain.(Soldiers in the trenches feels a bit too hyperbolic.) I’m so glad I had great friendships to help me get through the difficult times and celebrate the great times.

One of the only photos of my bed, outtake from our Christmas 2010 video

2. Clean sheets. I probably bring this up several times a week. There’s nothing like coming home from a stressful day at work or a long trip to find your bed perfectly made with a fresh set of clean white sheets. I was seriously spoiled. Living in a hotel apartment might be the greatest thing ever simply for this reason. Amazing. It’s really not the same feeling when you wash and change your own bedding…

Photo by my sister, example of a bodega style shop

3. The food. That’s pretty general but by “food” I mean:

1. The extensive and cheap grocery stores
2. The bodegas on every corner
3. All of my beloved novelty snacks (Square Crisps!!)
4. Saj 2 Go, Forty Fruity, and other regional eateries
5. Meals prepared in Emirati homes

In short, I’m pretty content with not living in Abu Dhabi anymore but I’m also grateful for my three year experience there. I’m glad I hit the green light on that adventure.

xo, jill

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June 15, 2013

The Grotto on the Great Ocean Road

Peaceful.

The Grotto is another little spot I enjoyed along the Great Ocean Road. A sinkhole and waves have created a peaceful little open cave that’s popular with visitors.

If only you could take a little swim in that pool.

xo, jill

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June 14, 2013

From the Hip Friday

Beach bums.

***First, a word about From the Hip Friday. I’ve been going back and forth for several months over whether or not I should lay this weekly feature to rest. But… the reality is that I really love seeing everyone’s less than perfect photos. It’s not often you get to see blurry, out of focus, or blindly composed photos on a travel blog, right? There’s just something that really appeals to me in many of these photographs. So with all that being said, I’ve reached a compromise. From the Hip Friday will now run every other week (opposite of Big Thing Thursday). And like always, if you have a photo you shot from the hip (meaning without using the viewfinder), please share it here!***

Today’s photo from the hip comes from Mike. He snapped it while visiting the beach in Jurmala, Latvia. During the Soviet Era, when high level Communist Party officials needed a little beach holiday they came here. The beach is 33km long and covered in white quartz sand. I can see the appeal! Who knows what Mike’s intended subject was here, but I’m sure it definitely wasn’t the beautiful women. Right?


Thanks, Mike!

xo, jill

From the Hip Friday features photos taken without the use of a viewfinder. If you have a photograph that was taken from the hip you’d like to share here, please contact me!

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June 13, 2013

The view from here.

“I seen a rainbow yesterday…”

A few days ago, I was sitting on my bed when I looked out the window at just the right moment. I grabbed my camera and then rushed downstairs to tell Mike and our roommate to look outside. We headed out the back gate (no shoes despite the wet ground) and joined the other onlookers.

From the balcony

From the street

It doesn’t come across in the photos, but the top of the rainbow was incredibly wide. At least the widest I’d ever seen. That added to the faint more dispersed rainbow nearby, and the colors reflecting in the rock pools made for one incredible view.

And speaking of views… there’s a new look going on over here. It was a quick process taking about oh six months! That’s what happens when you hate what you got but don’t know what you want. Thank you to my talented friend Julia for designing my new header, favicon, and social media icons. I’ve also freshened up my “Places” page so maybe take a little peek at that. There are a couple of tiny things I’d still like to change so anyone who has some CSS skills and wants to work out a trade*, let me know.

Since I was already making changes I decided to take this opportunity to abandon Blogger in favor of WordPress. That was a bit of a process and there may be a few kinks here and there to work out. For example, you might not even be able to see the changes yet! It should all be coming together over the next few days but if you find a broken link or something, please let me know. I highly recommend using Sharon Hujik’s easy to follow ebook for anyone who might be making the switch.

To finish, here’s my favorite Newcastle view.

Just for good measure.

xo, jill

*I can make some stuff.

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June 12, 2013

The Arch & London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road

Rumor has it.

Here’s a tip: If/when you drive the Great Ocean Road… hit the attractions in order. Otherwise, you’ll be staring at very similar photos with a confused look on your face while you simultaneously consult maps to figure out which rocks go where. Really.

I had fun screaming, “What!? I was supposed to be driving on the left?!”

Instead of doing things the easy way, Mike and I skipped a few spots and went back to catch them the next day. Now that it’s ahem… four months later, it makes things difficult.

But here we are. The next rock formations we stopped to see were The Arch (self explanatory) and London Bridge.

The Arch.

Actually, we were about 23 years too late to visit London Bridge. In 1990 half of the bridge decided that a few million years of standing was long enough. It collapsed into the sea and left a sightseeing couple stranded on the other half, surrounded by ocean. The pair had to wait a few hours to be rescued via helicopter. (Seriously, that’s an amazing vacation story!) We were told a rumor that the couple were actually engaged in an affair and were outed on the national news. I even think we were told the couple was in the nude (honestly, I could have added that in myself because seriously?). A little google search took me to this Australian myth-busting website that lists the rumor as “Undecided.” How interesting…

(Being stranded on this island feels very Island of the Blue Dolphins to me.) 
 
Before the fall.

Supposedly London Bridge is now referred to as London Arch… but I don’t think that’s in everyday use. Everything I saw still referred to it as a bridge.

xo, jill

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June 10, 2013

Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road

The main event.

Perhaps the most famous attraction along the Great Ocean Road is the Twelve Apostles. These gorgeous limestone stacks are what most people are hoping to see. They are what made me think, “Ok! Now this is the Great Ocean Road!”

Originally, these stacks were referred to as the Sow and Piglets. However, in 1922 someone got the idea that calling the stacks The Apostles would be a bigger tourism draw. At some point later on they became known as the Twelve Apostles.

Are you trying to count twelve? Let me stop you! There were only nine stacks to begin with and erosion has brought the current total down to eight. In fact, the stacks are eroding at about 2cm per year. But don’t worry. Continued erosion on the headlands will one day create new stacks for our (grandchildren’s grandchildren’s etc.) viewing pleasure. There’s nothing like geology to make you realize just how old the earth really is.

We enjoyed the view and took photographs until it was time to visit other formations further down the road.

xo, jill

PS Now to see some amazing photos of the Twelve Apostles at sunset, visit Kristina’s blog here. (Really, do it!) 

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