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The Majorelle Blue

Pierre Bergé Museum for Berber Arts Long before my trip to Marrakech, I had decided that one of the top places I would visit in the city would be the Jardin Majorelle. And I nearly missed it. I took too long to make the online reservation that the only available spot left was the day before my flight back home. I got caught in sightseeing around the city and taking a day trip to Essaouira. Lesson learned but it exacted a toll! I missed both the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts and the YSL Museum because the timed visit to the garden was at 2 p.m. and the museum closes at 6:30 p.m. If you’re planning to visit all three places, plan well ahead and get a time slot in the morning so you have enough time to enjoy the garden and museums. You can pay for entrance fees to all three or pay for just one or two of the three. Since I was starting at 2 p.m., I got just the ticket for the garden. I hope I’ll be able to visit Marrakech again so I can see the extensive collections of the museums....
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The Frescoes of the Church of the Nativity in Arbanasi

Church of the Nativity, Arbanasi I thought Rila Monastery near Sofia, Bulgaria was amazing! Until I saw the Christian Orthodox Church of the Nativity  in Arbanasi, three hours by car north of Sofia. Nothing about this stone church hints at the treasure within. Walls with vaulted ceilings are covered in frescoes of biblical scenes which date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. (By contrast, the frescoes at Rila Monastery are from the mid 19th century.) The Nativity Church frescoes were cleaned of soot during its restoration in the 1970s. I saw some taped sections of the murals where the walls are cracked. Overall, these frescoes are well preserved after centuries of existence. The original church was constructed and completed in 1597. It had one main section that is the naos which was designated as the men’s gallery. When the church was expanded in the 1620s, they added the narthex which became the women’s gallery and a chapel dedicated to St. John the Forerunner. The chapel is lin...
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The Faces of Marrakech through the palette of Elalaoui

Marchand de Tapis, oil on canvas “A visit to Marrakech was a great shock to me. This city taught me color.” Yves Saint Laurent It was inspiring to see the paintings of Abdallah Alaoui in March at the Secret Garden in Marrakech. It gave me this idea to show the daily life and people of Marrakech through the rich color palette of its resident artist. The painter who signs his canvases as Elalaoui, is a professor of industrial drawing. His early foray into art started with pencil and ink drawings before moving on to line art and sketching. Elalaoui added color to his works in 1986 and in 1988, he discovered oil painting. Much later, he learned the pastel technique. The paintings I have posted here are part of his figurative realism portfolio. They are vibrant representations of everyday scenes in Marrakech.  Vendeuse des citrons, 2016, oil on canvas Life seems intense when you are navigating the Medina and bright colors jump at you from the stalls selling carpets, pottery, leather goo...
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Transnistria - the country that isn’t

Nuvo Restaurant and Club We arrived early on a grey morning in Tiraspol after a short ride from Chișinău. It was the first week of March and quite chilly. We were lucky to have found a parking spot in front of Catherine’s Park, an easy walk to the Memorial to Glory where quite a few people were gathered in celebration. We excitedly walked over to observe the festivities and stood on the sidewalk where other people were standing as well. Just then we were approached by uniformed men who asked us to move. We walked towards Catherine's Park where we continued to watch the celebration. Again, we were asked to move away. I felt they didn't want us there at all so I decided to leave and go to the Nuvo at the park to warm up with a cup of tea. We could still watch the festivities from the comfort of the café without stressing out about being asked to go away. Nuvo Restaurant and Club The Nuvo is a beautiful restaurant and that early in the morning, it was nearly empty. We sat and enjo...
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Unexpectedly Honolulu

  Waikiki and Diamond Head Aloha! Sometimes there are hidden treasures in adverse situations. We just have to move past the inconveniences and sacrifices we have taken. This is how I unexpectedly found myself in Honolulu. After missed flights in Tokyo (I was flying on standby), I finally got a seat to return to the US and my flight home was through Honolulu. I was relieved when I finally got a seat on a flight home through Honolulu.  It wasn’t ideal in terms of finding a flight to the mainland as a standby as this is quite a popular destination. Secondly, the hotels are expensive, at least to me. But I found I could use my IHG points to lower the cost of a hotel room on Kuhio, near Waikiki. So I decided to stay overnight and get a good rest after the stress of the last couple of days.  Food Truck Station on Kalakaua After a long and refreshing nap, I walked to the food truck park that a hotel employee had recommended to me earlier. It wasn’t easy to decide what to eat ...
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