Skald....oh yes...lol...you are perfectly right...
i am only curious why Bulgaria of all the countries......i know its a beautiful country....but do you have special reasons?
Secret.....i know...i am sorry..everything is more complicated for your family now.....where on the Jersey shore? There are nice beaches there?
Oh, i will tell you everything...dont worry...lol...
My mom called me and she is the one already in panic mode..lol....she is talking about refurnishing my old room where usually me and my daughter sleep when we visit...i told her that she is crazy about polka dots now so she is freaking out because she has to find polka dots stuff for her
she is already filling up the freezer with.....FOOD....i have to go in strict diet until i wil leave.....i always come back 3 pounds heavier ...lol...
Eilan....thats a great plan...i highly suggest you the soccer camp...my daughter is in a soccer team since she was 6......she had been at a lot of summer soccer camps....there is a semi professional Dallas team that hold these camps for different level of ages and skills.....she had improved anytime she went there...
and the reading groups are also great....:-)
I was telling to one of my friends last day that i maybe did too much with her before she was really able to appreciate it....lol...sometimes i tell her "Do you remember when we went there or you did that?" and she doesnt...she has to look at the pictures to have some vague recollection....if i knew it....lol....
Tin.....wow.. that's a helluva of a long roadtrip....lol...
It woudl be nice though....i never been at Yellowstone but many friends have told me its a rare beauty...
It will cost you an eye with the actual price od teh gas...lets hope tehywil go down in tiem for your trip...;-)
CW......i understand you.....i have been saving money for this trip by two years.....i hope you will have very soon the vacation you deserve......:-).
Gingerbread, what a sweet trip to Italy this will be for you and your
daughter. I usually go to Jersey at some point in the summer, but
they are all coming here. So, I'll proably go there in the Fall. All else
will be local stuff, travel within 300 miles of here. Have a great summer
and a fantastic trip Gingerbread.
Mobil......but you should go to Jersey....you know you should go to Jersey...*wink*....ok, ok, i stop here...lol....
Travel within 300 miles is local stuff for you? .....lol...i still have to get used to the American concept of distance....:->
thank you so much, my friend.....
Pollie...what are you doing up s late or...so early? Its 4 in the morning London time, isn'it? Are you ok?
I will leave the 26 of this month....wow....it seemed so far away when i purchased the tickets 2 months ago...and now...its here!
I promise you to sent you a little something from Italy....{hug}
I wish you to visit France...i did the jump over the canal from Dover to Calais when i was in vacation there... many years ago....great places...
I have visited Brighton too on the English coast....i remember i have seen there a reproduction of the Taj Mahal....really great...
Secret.....that would be a great place for me, for example...as long as there is a beach and the ocean i am fine...lazy beach life...the best.....LOL...
it sound a place with lots of stuff to do..
Is the water cold in the summer? A friend of mine went to California and she got so pissed off because the water was so icy she had to put on a long legs surfer thing to swim....lol...
My old home and my mom's are right across the ocean as well.... :-)
Pollie...i am sorry ...hope you can get some sleep before its completely daylight....glad you are having a nice day.. ..we are going to have rain until Monday....but luckily Wednesday is sunny....my daughter is having her b-day party.....now it started to rain very heavy ....
wow...you are very close to Dover....they are very impressive seen by the sea.....i mean the notorius white rocks of Dover......yes, Tigger will love the beaches....:-)
Secret....yes, still cool but you are right...imagine what a refreshing dip when its humid outside...:-)
Sweet....already back to school??? my daughter's last day of school has been only one week ago and she will be back August 27th....a long, long summer ahead for her.......thank you .. :-)
Rmuxa......you are right.......just decide when the mood strikes....its a good plan...;-)
Beyond...oh, i bet that the show is going to be stunning as all the other ones....i am never tired of Cirque du Soleil........and about Italy, if you change your mind let me know......you can come with me....lol....
Mommy........nice....specially the swimming thing...i love water too....but i am not crazy about the waterparks.... my daughter loves them though so i will have to suck it in and go wit her....lol...
Quietone.....oh, what a beautiful places....S.Thomas was the destination of the fantasy cruise i was planning for my wedding anniversary before it turned out in a.... divorce anniversary.....guess it wasnt written in the stars.....lol.....thank you...:-)
Picker......family time is great! Beach time too....together they make a wonderfuk plan for the summer....
Maryland must be very nice...i saw some pictures....thank you for the wishes that i send back for you and your family....:-)
Softy....hello...nice to meet you.....:-)
Colorado mountains are gorgeous.....i have been drivign thru the state years ago...really stunning....and good luck with your school....what are you studying for?
Blast....tourists in town? Hey, you can always pretend to be one of them.....visit the city as you never have seen it before...ask directions to the locals...lol..
good luck with your course and your job....:-)
HH......oh, thank you so much.... I wish you smooth and easy work days then....:-)
Gentle...oh, would you share some of your pixs with us? Your country is so beautiful....and i am very interested in knowing what kind of food you have....
Thanks for the wishes.....and since you are entering the the rainy season i hope you have a strong umbrella...lol......
will do ginger... as soon as i get em emailed at me! we went to the northern portion of the country famous for its centuries-old spanish colonial houses, pristine beaches and a lighthouse with the lighhouse keeper's place looking like a monastery from long ago. and the food, ahh. divine. we got a taste of bagnet... its sun-dried, fried pork cuts thats cisp on the outside and tender on the inside. goes well served on top of steaming rice, with onions, tomatoes and fish paste concoction making up your condiments.
Gentle.....that is really great....you named many of my favs: pristine beaches, lighthouses, old spanish colonial houses, monastery......
and pork...i love pork!.......you made me drool.....lol....
SW.......and when i am back you will have to post some of your efforts, deal?..:-)
Trinov....the sea of Galilee would be enough for me as a great vacation, if you ask me...;-)
I am curious about those fever you got ....can you tell me more?
I am always the one taking pictures around....so i will do it again...i will try to post some pixs here during or after my trip.
If you want to see some other pixs from my vacations click on my post: here. Hope you like them...:-)
Hi, Well a lot of the beachfront here is taken over by hotels and even the free beaches
get taken over by illegal groups extorting money, and some how the police can't keep
track of them. hmmm
Also, we need a 'separate swim' beach because we are religious and that means taking a ride
to the other side of the lake, or going in some cove by ourselves without a lifeguard, which can be
dangerous in sweet water if you have a muscle cramp.
So we mainly take walks in the evening on the 'jogging run' by the shore.
As to the fever, as we were walking around the ruins of this city, called Korazin,
which two thousand to a thousand years ago was a big city, and during the middle
ages was a town, and in modern times up to the 1900's a small village, all of a sudden
we felt very hot. We just thought it was hot because we had come down from
Tzfat which is in the clouds, and Korazin is half way between Tzfat and Tiberias.
When we got home we found that we have a high fever, and this lasted two weeks and
after that we were tired for quite a while. It just seemed pretty strange to suddenly get sick
like that, and we usually don't get a fever.Since then we have lost the desire to go ruin and
castle hunting, even though there are lots of Crusader forts etc very close to here, not
to count all the ancient mosaic floors and remains of glass making factories, etc. Instead
I've been just reading about all those trips, and drinking lots of cold juices.
Trinov....the story behind the horse ride mask its an ancient reference to bloody clan fights in Sardegna. The riders used to wear the mask on their back so that the enemies would have been confused during the battles......really interesting...
There are even more fascinating rituals remembered during the Carnival in another region of Sardegna. The so called Mammuthones. Each years still now 12 masked figures parade in the middle of the city of Maoiada... they represents the 12 months of the year. Each one of them wear a wooden mask looking as an old woman, they have a scarf aroun the mask and carry heavy wooden and metal bells that they make sound any time they jump. Each three steps the twelve men jump. Until the end of the parade. The ritual is old of 3500 years. It said to be the rest of a dionisiac ritual in honor of Dionysus and the fertlity gods. The woman beign rapresented by the mask and the long dress. Others say that they could also be a vestigia of the killing of the old people in those villages when hard times requested their sacrifices.. Here a picture of them.
About the legend of the princess and the bridge i dont recall anything.....but if i happen to stumble in something i will let you know...Italy is very rich of legends and arcais stories...
Your fever is indeed really weird.....is it possible there are some electromagnetic fields underneath those ruins? I am deeply fascinated by the Crusades period too....i bet you have read 'The Da Vinci Code"....what do you think?...
Dear Ginger soul,
Thank you for the answers to my questions. My husband sort of guessed that the masks were used that way. The ritual dances also are very interesting. I saw a too short travelogue of Europe which gave half minute showings of various interesting local dances, and that is the type of thing that always fascinates me.I like to know the why behind the dance or the custom
As to the DaVinciCode, I read the non fiction book that gave the background to the theory. It's called Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leight and Henry Lincoln. It is a well researched book on about 80% of the subjects it touches on.
I came across the whole theory about 33 years ago on a visit to New York (in the Shakespere Book Store in upper Manhattan), and at that point I didn't give it credence, but in the 1980's , after coming across things in my research project, I said :I've got to see that book again, and I don't remember the title or the author. And two weeks later, my correspondent/fellow traveler in Ireland, without us speaking a word or writing a letter, sent me some chapters of Holy Blood Holy Grail which were on that same topic! Another friend sent me the book two years ago.
This is a possible theory, and it may also be connected with another theory my Irish friend and I were wondering about: why the Templers were set up to be murdered, what did they know that the Catholic Church didn't want them telling? This is the Priory of Zion (or the Prieure de Sion) theory and it may have something to do with the Templers being familiar with the Spice Road and the original pre Pauline Christians, some of whom go to pray at a grave called the Rosamonde, (Raza/ Rosa in Hebrew is secret) or Secret of the World. This grave is in Srinagar, in Kashmir. Some of those pre Pauline Christians believe that this is the grave of Jesus, (the St Thomas Christians were once Jews converted by St. Thomas when he was in India) you might be interested in checking out their history).
In a book translated from the German, that is found in the library of The Union Theological Seminary (I was very surprised to find this book there) called Jesus Died in Kashmir which had a picture of a reporter from that area who claimed that he had a family chart that dated back to Jesus. All these stories, including references in history of that region that the young Jesus traveled this area previously before he came back to Judaia , could be very interesting or very frightening depending on how you take them.
I read last fall that many people in Italy were wondering about this theory and that the Church was having a hard time giving answers.
As to the fever, I can't be sure it wasn't just a flu, but from that time on I have no desire to go walking around ruins anymore. Maybe it was because we were the only ones there at the time, and something, magnetic, or ghostly, found us a good target. Maybe we shouldn't have sat down at this big picnic bench that was under this enormous old tree. I don't know, but its been three years and we haven't gone anywhere.
(My husband is laughing, he says we could have been sick before we got there, but I am convinced it was from there)
GS, I am so glad you are going to Italy! I can't wait for you to tell us all about it and maybe post a few pics? :)
We have a lot of family events happening this summer. My son is going to art camp, my sister is getting married, my brother is expecting his second child, my father is getting married...I don't think we have a free weekend! LOL but summers like this are usually the most enjoyable! :)
Dear Trinov,
soon after The Da Vinci Code i went rigth to read Holy Blood, Holy Grail. I found it so much more interesting and fascinating to read. I completely and without second thoughts embraced that theory .....i mean...why not?
Being an agnostic, as i told you, it has been extremely easy for me opening up to such ideas...not so new for me, by the way...Before The Danci Code stirred up souch unnecessary storm, 3 years earlier a dear friend of mine very involved in his spiritual quest and enlightment, gave me as a gift "The Dead Sea Scrolls Books" or Vangeli Gnostici. Did you read them? I am sure you already did.
There are 4 books of Tommaso, of The Truth, Filippo and the more controversial of all, the book of Maria.
Both works,.Holy Blood and Vangeli Gnostici, are revolutionary in the meaning that they put the woman (Maria Maddalena) at the center of what up to them has always been strictly a matter of men. Religion has been always used as powerful weapon of suppression against women.
Yes, the Pope and the Vatican were not happy at all when Da Vinci Code exploded..... The thesis revolutionizes all the basic dogma of Catholic Church...
Thanks you for you extensive answer and for giving me such interestnig links.
About the fever....i think probably your husband is right...lol...you two migth have something in incubation well before going to the ruins...but who knows?....:-)
Mirror-Moms....girl, let me give you a big hug first {{{hugs}}...there...sorry i didn't connect you with the new name...
your summer seems pretty full ...i mean, it doesn happen every day to have your dad and your sister getting married at the same time.....lots of stuff going on..hope you enjoy it!
Hello to you.....nice to meet you.... :-)
Czech Republic is a beautiful country and Prague is one of my dream cities to visit....is Ostrava close to it?
Thank you for stopping by....i am curious..i have noticed your username...are you really making money using agloco?
Hi, I might have seen the Tommaso, that sounds familiar, but the others I haven't read. I've read more of general gnostic works, from somebody's historical review of them, and the impression I got was that some of them were influenced by Manecheism, and that the Albagensian heresy was a product of the two philosophies.
But I tried to stay away from gnostic writings as I found them disturbing from the one book I did read, and from the reviews -which might have given a wrong impression. They seemed to say, from what I understood of them, that the world was ruled by both good and evil.And that is a distortion, that does not show that the Creater is in charge of the world. This equality of good and evil,in the Albagensians, andd in the Jewish equivalent of them, the Sabateans and the Frankists, led to some really evil things.
However, the books that you mentioned that I didn't read might have had a different point of view. On the topic of women, there have been many periods of history when religion was used as a way of destroying women as women, not only women's powers, especially all the witchhunts, which went after women who were herbalists and healers, and any woman who had an independent brain. (a real witch, as Rowlings so wonderfully pointed out in one of her books, could have escaped them, a lady who helped her neighbors with some herbs was the one they caught and murdered.)
Italy, how exciting!
I am going to Atlanta to visit my cousins over Fourth of July, then heading over to New Orleans for a friend's wedding on the sixth of July!
Trinov....i agree with you ...a real witch would have never been captured...the target of the witchhunts have been the healing women who dared to help the women in situations like abortions or sexual diseases or birthcontrol methods that were prohibited by the law and the religion of those times...
thank you for your extensive answer about the Gnostic .......i dont have the time now but i will come back later on this topic...
Still......that is a nice schedule....have fun!....:-)