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Joy Was Her Middle Name

October 16, 2026

Joy was her middle name. Karla Joy Castle. (Née Kessell.)

The day before Karla passed, while a few of the family were talking to her, and Karla was signing some documents, my sister-in-law noticed her middle name, and asked if there was a reason it was given to her. In response, Karla told us this story, which I didn’t remember hearing before.

When Karla’s mother found out that she was pregnant with her, she was not very happy. Karla was a surprise baby. Her parents hadn’t planned on having anymore children, and the other children were well on their way to being grown, their current youngest being 9 years old. A neighbor tried to cheer her up by saying, “Don’t worry, this baby will be a joy to you.” So she was given that as a middle name.

And to those of us who knew Karla, she very typically did bring joy. She was generally a fairly quiet person, but when someone needed help, she was quick to speak up and to act.

Instances of Karla bringing joy into people’s lives are numerous. In one case, when Karla was in fifth grade and she and several other students were gathering for an activity, Karla made a point of asking Lonnie, a fellow student who wasn’t always included, to join them. This was the start of a great friendship between them that lasted the rest of Karla’s life.

When Karla and I married, and I joined her in Portland, OR, I found that she was very well respected at the college she worked at by faculty and students for being helpful, competent, and pleasant. A professor recalled, “Karla was willing to do/try anything new that contributed to the students’ love of learning. She was a wonderful colleague.” I benefitted from her good reputation; her friends presumed that if Karla had chosen me, then I must be OK.

In the first summer after our marriage, when we were visiting family, Karla was sitting with my daughter, Rachel, and having fun helping her cut out paper dolls. After a while Rachel looked up at me and said, “Daddy, are you finally having a happy marriage?” I smiled and said, ‘Yes, I am.” To which Rachel replied, “Good, because I really love Karla.”

Her good professional reputation endured when Karla worked in the library at an international school in Shanghai, and had local assistants, she put great effort and enthusiasm into training them as much as she could, After working for Karla for a while, one of her assistants exclaimed to her, ”You’re always helping people! You’re always teaching!”

Karla engendered joy with her sense of humor as well. The hours of laughter we had together were many. And when at a gathering, most friends knew that the best seat in the house was next to Karla, where she would joyfully exchange hilarious, often snarky comments with her neighbor. As one dear friend said, “She was wickedly funny. I loved sitting next to her when we went out for dinner as we always giggled so much.”

I, of course, was the recipient of the most joy, because of Karla. Living with Karla was always fun and adventurous. She was always a stalwart, enthusiastic companion during our life and travels around the world. Her enduring love for me was evident, even when I made mistakes.

Indeed, both literally and figuratively, Joy was her middle name.

Posted in Dubai, Joy | Leave a Comment »

Brave

October 6, 2026

In her last days, Karla told me something very sweet. She said that I made her brave. She said that she could be brave during the day at work, because she had me to come home to in the evening. That was quite kind of her, but I don’t feel that I can take credit for her bravery. She exhibited bravery long before I entered her life.

By the time I met her, Karla had left the small town in Oregon that she grew up in to go to college, ending up at Columbia Christian College in Portland, OR, where we eventually met. At CCC she elected to major in Biblical Studies. At that time the Biblical Studies program was primarily meant to prepare young men to preach the Gospel and to enter the ministry. There were no female preachers allowed to preach or be ministers in our denomination back then. So if a woman entered the Biblical Studies program, it was assumed that she was intending to become a preacher’s wife. It was joked that she was pursuing an “MRS” degree. But Karla chose Biblical Studies just because she was interested in studying the Bible deeply. So she abhorred being asked why she was in the Biblical Studies program, because of the assumption. But she continued, despite the annoyance, despite the befuddlement of others.

In fact, in one case, there was a visiting preacher in one of her classes. Before he started his lesson, he looked directly at Karla, and said, “What are you doing here?”. But the harassment did not deter her. Rather, she excelled in the program. When I came to CCC, and got to know some of her classmates, it was clear that Karla impressed them. One said, “Oh, Karla’s really sharp. She’s an ace at New Testament Greek!” Some of the Classmates even sought her advice when working on their N.T. Greek homework. When, years later, I brought up their awe at her ability she said, “Yeah, Greek was interesting, but I liked Old Testament Hebrew much more.” Despite her prowess, Greek wasn’t even her ‘thing’.

Karla’s bravery continued after college. For a time she returned home to help take care of her father when he contracted cancer. She pursued and earned a Master’s Degree in Library Science. And she continued living life in her own way. This eventually helped us get reacquainted, and then married. We reconnected in mid 2000, and at first were just trading emails for a few months. But later in the year, a close relative passed away, so my entire family went up for the funeral in Idaho, my brothers riding along with me in my car. On the way back, I decided to visit Karla in Portland, OR. Only one of my brothers cared to join me on this side trip, but we had a very nice time with Karla, sharing a few meals, as well as other fun activities. We went to see the X-men movie that was in theaters at the time, because we both enjoyed it very much, to the point that we each had seen it several times, and had bonded over it in our emails. On the evening that we left, we had dinner and a pleasant conversation with Karla. She said she was thinking at the time that this was a nice bookend to our relationship. Until I ruined everything when I said these words, “I’d like to see more of you.” Instead of putting a cap on our relationship, this accelerated it. This caused her to think, “Well, maybe…” and she started considering me seriously as a partner. And then she took action

She declared to herself that 2001 would be “The Year of Bravery”. She would take on things that scared her. One was to take belly dancing lessons. Another was to pursue me. In that cause she came down to California to visit me and meet my family. She hit it off very well with my parents, and my brothers. A fact that brought much happiness to our relationship, then and for decades to come. During her visits she even went on job interviews in the interest of moving down to California to be with me. But at that time the Dot Com bubble burst. I was even laid off from two different tech jobs within two weeks. But unlike many people in the tech industry, including my much more qualified brother, I had some job leads. But, fortuitously, all of these job leads ended up being in Portland. So instead of her moving to California, I moved to Oregon. Once I arrived, we were married in just a few days. Very, very brave of her.

So while I will take credit for encouraging her, I will certainly not take credit for her bravery. That fully belonged to her. She learned to live life with bravery, and that contributed enormously to our life together.

It feels a bit awkward and grim to bring this up, but it must be said. Karla’s bravery did not abandon her when the spectre of cancer and mortality presented itself. She faced the many tests and treatments with her hallmark courage, determination, and humor. And here I might be willing to accept a tiny bit of credit in supporting her, since during the final years I helped her get to a multitude of doctor appointments, and camped out in many hospital rooms with her for days and even weeks. But the real truth is that she made it easy to be her caretaker, enduring the trying situations with patience, grace, and thankfulness.

Karla remained so until the very end. In spite of the awfulness of the situation and being bedridden, our last weeks together were some of the sweetest we ever had. She left me feeling grateful that I’d been given the privilege of being her primary caregiver during that time. Grateful that she had come into and changed my life so beautifully, despite our time together being much shorter than we wished.

Being a part of her life was and is inspiring. As Karla’s best friend Lonnie has said, “She took the lemons in life and made her own kind of lemonade.” Indeed.

The face of bravery.

Posted in Dubai | Tagged bravery, cancer, family | Leave a Comment »

The Evidence Was Always There

August 18, 2026

_{Another remembrance about my wonderful late wife, Karla Castle.}

During Karla’s last stay in the hospital, we were talking, and the idea popped into my head of asking her if she would marry me all over again if she had the opportunity. I did not do so because I thought I might not like the answer.

I didn’t want to hear a less than wholeheartedly positive response. I was afraid she might equivocate. I was hardly a perfect husband and had caused plenty of problems over the years. I imagined that she might say something like, “Well, we’ve had some fun, but I wouldn’t want to have to relive some of your foolishness.” So I didn’t ask the question. I said a few sweet nothings and left it at that, rather than risk hearing an unwelcome answer.

But I was wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

In her last weeks, Karla’s main concern seemed to be letting people know how much she loved and appreciated them. And a few days before she passed, while reflecting on her life she spontaneously told me that if she could go back and relive her life, and retain the knowledge she had gained over the years, she would not wait for us to meet in college as we did in 1983.

Instead, as soon as she was an adult and could strike out on her own, she would come down to California and find me and start our life together much sooner. In effect, she wouldn’t just marry me all over again, but she would share life with me for nearly twice as long. (We had dated a little in college, then I dropped out and left, and didn’t manage to stay in touch with her. It wasn’t until 16 years later that we got back in touch with each other through a mutual friend, then got married. She wished to reclaim those years, if it had been possible.)

I was flabbergasted. I didn’t expect any such thing. I knew that she loved me, but that much? So desperately that she would totally change the course of our lives if she could, just to spend more time with me? It’s the best compliment I have ever been given. More accurately, it’s the best compliment that I could EVER get. I will never achieve anything greater than earning the love and respect of this outstanding woman. Overwhelmingly amazing.

And this was not just an emotional declaration on her death bed. Shortly after she passed, I found a journal from a couple of years before, where she went into this idea in greater detail, explaining the major changes she would make to her life, if she could. So I don’t just have to take her passing word about this. I have hard copy. I have physical proof that she had spent a great deal of time and thought considering this.

I should have known, of course. The clues are obvious, in retrospect. Even though Karla was usually pretty stoic and didn’t say a lot of lovey-dovey things- she always said that I was the more romantic one- she did let me know in her own way that she loved me dearly. Nevermind the many years we spent together happily. In that conversation in the hospital she said things that were obvious indicators.

During that discussion I said, “Thank you for being my wife.” She replied, “Thank you for being my lobster.” (It’s a reference to a bit from the TV show Friends, look it up, or see my previous post, “Soul Mates”.) Later, I said, “I wish I could trade places with you.” She said, “NO. You are not allowed to die before me. I wouldn’t want to live without you.”

So that’s how dense I am. It was always right in front of me. Now, when I think back on those happy years, it’s obvious. She didn’t usually say much more than, “I love you.”, But replaying those moments in my head, I can now recognize the passion behind them even more. She didn’t just say that she loved me, but she often said it in a cute or silly way, or otherwise put some emphasis behind it

And as the years went by, her patience and acceptance just grew greater and more evident. At one point, later in our marriage, we were discussing a financial difficulty that came up. (Probably caused by me.) After working the problem over for a little while she said, “Oh well, It’s only money. We’ll work it out.” I was surprised. I immediately thought, “Who is this woman that has replaced my wife? The pod people have obviously been here and replaced her with a doppelganger that looks like her, but she’s saying the wrong things!” There were even times where I thought, “She’s being pretty cool about this. She could rightfully be more angry at me about it.” But she very evidently had decided to value me over whatever the difficulty was, and give just enough importance to problems that was required to resolve them.

I could go on and on. (And probably will in future posts.) On her phone, I found an informal will and testament she had typed into the notes app. Within it she charged me with NOT hoarding all her former belongings, and ended her instructions with this: “Always remember that I love you deeply.”

About a year and a half before she passed, I was thinking about her, and my love for her, and I decided that I should do more. Romantic feelings can ebb and wane in a marriage, naturally, so I decided that in addition to my everpresent practical love for her, I should just be more IN LOVE with her. I should adore her even more, and cultivate those romantic feelings. Tough duty, eh?

It was worth it. We were closer than ever during those months, and had many beautiful, sweet times together.

But now I feel like I was just catching up to her. In those sweet days that I took care of her at the end, I came to understand, and she made it clearer than ever before, how much she loved and appreciated me. I think it would take me a lifetime of work to show my appreciation of her enough. My love wasn’t even in the same league with hers. even though I tried.

How precious to be loved like that. I have had a relationship that few ever get. Her presence in my life was a tremendous blessing, and buoys me as I continue on without her.

_{One of my very favorite pictures of Karla and myself. Just our hands, lightly clasped. It was a lovely evening together and with friends in a tea lounge in Dubai. I think to was taken by Devina Devecha, but Aasiya Jagadeesh took a very similar picture at about the same time, and I might have got the two images mixed up. I’m contacting both of these wonderful ladies and trying to resolve this conundrum. Will update when the mystery is solved, but thank you both for capturing this tender, happy moment.}

Did you know Karla? Were you a friend, or co-worker, or family member? If you were, and have a story or anecdote about her or time spent together, I would like to hear it! Please contact me by email or social media, or leave a comment on this blog.

Posted in Dubai | Tagged family, In memoriam, in-memorial, life, love, Memories, Togetherness | Leave a Comment »

Soul Mates

August 12, 2026

I’ve written a few remembrances of my late wife, Karla. Here’s the first:

I have long eschewed the term “soul mates”. It just tends to be overused. And too often by that acquaintance you have who declares that their latest new love is their ‘soul mate’, only to break up with that person in a few weeks.

The expression seems like a lofty one to me, which few are likely to achieve. (It really must be so, for it to carry much meaning.) A truly deep meaningful relationship, built on uncommon compatibility and forged with determination and acceptance. Seems like high praise that one should not confer upon oneself or one’s relationship in a frivolous manner. So I was never so bold as to claim it, despite being in a very compatible and happy relationship.

But I’m being hypocritical, really. Because Karla and I regularly used another term, which means basically the same thing. That term is “lobster”. ( It’s a reference from the TV show “Friends”. Look it up.) We were just right for each other. We were meant to be together. And we grew closer together with all the trials and travel we experienced. Our abodes have long been festooned with lobster themed paraphernalia, as a frequent reminder of our close relationship.

So, what made me reconsider the appellation of “soul mates”? Of course I have done a lot of reflection since Karla passed. But then a dear friend commented on one of my posts online, and mentioned that we were soul mates. I guess the outside affirmation made me reconsider the application of the phrase.

Others certainly considered our relationship to be something special. And it was absolutely a pleasure to be in it, and consistently remained so for years. When we were early in our relationship, before we got married, my father observed us laughing and talking together for a while, then said to my mother, “Oh, they’re going to be fine together. They have the same evil brain!” Our commonality made it easy to be partners, and gave us much to build on when it was just she and I against the world.

O.K., I’ll claim it. Karla and I were meant for each other. We were each other’s ‘lobster’. We were soul mates.

Posted in Dubai | Tagged in-memoriam, lobsters, love, marriage, relationships, soul-mates, writing | Leave a Comment »

The End of the Road

June 20, 2026

It was true before and its even true-r now. Our “Travel Channel” days were over years ago. But now, except for me, our little traveling family is gone. Karla succumbed to cancer on October 26th, 2025. A few weeks after she last posted on this blog, she started to become very sick, and did not recover. The cancer had re-emerged and she was not strong enough for the treatments that only had a limited chance of success anyway. Our cats have passed as well. Oliver the Loud passed about three weeks before Karla, and Big Eyed Bert passed in March of this year. Both cats were 16 years old, and had been showing sign of age for several years.

Now I alone survive. (My daughter lives with me, so I am not by myself.) At the end of January, 2026, I had a stroke that affected my left side. I was unable to walk or use my left arm for several weeks. Thankfully my memory and cognition were not affected. With physical therapy and exercise, I have relearned how to walk, and regained use of my arm. Recovery is still in progress, but has developed enough that I have been able to return to work, with some accommodations. If I achieve full recovery, it will likely take many more months, but my recovery, so far, has been rapid, and my physical therapists have been tremendously helpful and positive. I am largely independent again.

Given all this, it will be a while before I travel again, if at all. I am ‘homesick’ for the rest of the world, but I will likely have to be content with the multitude of wonderful memories from around the globe, made with Karla. I have had an amazing life; more than most people experience, so I find no reason to complain.

Karla was a wonderful companion and partner, and she only became more so at the end. Her main concern seemed to be making sure that everyone knew that she appreciated and loved them, all our friends and family, not the least of which was me. She expressed very sweet and deep feelings for me. Spending time with her and taking care of her was a delight. I am very glad that I was privileged enough to do so. Our last days together were some of our best and happiest, despite the situation.

Going forward is a difficult transition. I hope to be of use to the community, and there are many possibilities now that I am single again that I had put off to care for Karla. I have plenty to live for, and my family is very supportive. I am living in Silicon Valley, San Jose, CA to be exact, which is even more expensive than Dubai or Shanghai, if you can imagine, and not overly attractive. (And, oddly, this ‘metropolis’ doesn’t even have the sort of skyscrapers and architecture that dominate those cities.) I call it “Asphalt Valley”. What used to be a lovely, natural bayside valley, then was covered with orchards after the settlers came, Has been thoroughly paved over and covered in concrete. Fortunately, many natural areas still exist just a short drive beyond the city limits.

I have been writing a few short remembrances of Karla, which I will likely post here, as well as read in a memorial video that I am planning, with input from those that loved her.

Karla and I lamented towards the end that one of the few drawbacks of having so many friends around the world is that most are unable to be nearby at such times as this. Many have asked about a memorial service for Karla, which we may have locally, but an online remembrance video will be important, to include as many people as possible. Please excuse me for taking so long on these matters. Between greif over Karla’s death and my stroke, it has been a difficult time for getting things done.

I’m thinking about changing the name of the blog to reflect my ongoing situation, but for now it will remain the same in honor of the travel experiences Karla wrote so much about over the years. Perhaps at some point I will rename it “Back from the World” or something.

Paul/ DaddyBird

“Asphalt Valley”

Posted in Dubai | Tagged California, life, San Jose, travel, update, USA | Leave a Comment »

Definitely My Cup of Tea

May 1, 2013

Posted by DaddyBird

My First Box of Dilmah Tea

Recently, I had the privilege of meeting the founder of Dilmah Tea, Merrill J. Fernando, and his son Dilhan Fernando. For me, as a lover of tea in general, and a daily drinker of Dilmah tea, this was rather like getting to meet Steve Jobs.

My affection for tea by Dilmah started just a few years ago. Having grown up in the USA where good tea is generally difficult and/or expensive to obtain, after we moved to the UAE in 2008 I relished living where really good tea is a staple of everyday life. A visit to the average grocery store in the region reveals a coffee & tea aisle that usually has more tea than coffee, and even the cheapest and most humble brands tend to be very, very good. So, as the Mrs. can attest, I’ve taken great joy in randomly trying out various teas from the multitude available here. I am rarely disappointed. Although the flavor and character can vary quite greatly, the average quality of packaged teas is quite high. Moving to the Eastern Hemisphere has been quite beneficial to my tea-swilling.

On a work day about four years ago, I ventured from the office I was working in at the time to a nearby market and, as I always do no matter what items I may have entered the store for, I quickly perused the tea aisle. The packets of Dilmah “Ceylon Gold” tea caught my eye, as it was a label that I hadn’t seen before. A new discovery is always welcome, so I cheerfully purchased a box of 50 tea bags, headed back to the office, and immediately turned on the kettle on to try my new discovery. The aroma of the tea as it steeped was very promising, and after a few minutes I had a revelation: this was the best tea that I had ever tasted. It was hearty and complex, with satisfying flavor from beginning to end of a sip. I was, by then, used to finding satisfaction in teas from Ceylon, but Dilmah Ceylon Gold topped everything I had tried up until then.

Naturally after that first cup, I kept an eye out for Dilmah Tea while shopping, although it wasn’t so common in grocery stores. I was interested to find that while my introduction to the brand had been with a box of inexpensive, fairly basic tea, Dilmah was more frequently to be found at finer hotels and restaurants. Dilmah produces a wide variety of teas of many grades and styles, which are rightfully considered to be among the best available, so I think it only fitting when I find it served at upmarket venues, and I’m glad for their growing success in this area.

But my tea tastes are rather basic. More delicate and “refined” teas are enjoyable, but for my main cup I prefer something hearty, a tea with plenty of strength and character. So while I enjoy trying Dilmah’s more high-end offerings, such as their Single Estate teas and herb infused tea, the Dilmah Premium Ceylon, which seems to be their standard offering that is on grocery shelves these days, stands out to me as the best choice for my daily cup.

After getting hooked on the tea, it was both surprising and rewarding to find that Dilmah is no ordinary company. Dilmah was founded by Merrill J. Fernando, a native of Sri Lanka, not just as a business concern, but to fulfill Mr. Fernando’s passion for quality, honestly produced tea as well as for compassion to his fellow man. When he entered the tea business in 1950, Mr. Fernando was chagrined to find that a great deal of the business had little to do with the production and origin of the tea, and was much more concentrated on the blending, packaging, branding and marketing done by the major corporations. Likewise, the profits reaped from these endeavors went mainly to the traders and distributors, with only a tiny fraction going back to the farmers, pickers and packers who spent great effort on a daily basis to produce the fine tea that was simply a commodity to the the outside world.

And so, Mr. Fernando worked hard for many years to become successful in the tea industry, until in 1988 he was able to establish Dilmah- named after his sons Dilhan and Malik- a company dedicated to honestly growing, preparing and distributing single origin, 100% Ceylon tea. Just as important to Fernando as producing honest tea was to do so ethically, sharing the profits with those that worked so hard to grow and pack the tea. The fulfillment of this obligation eventually led to the creation in 1999 of the MJF Charitable Foundation, to oversee the many projects he had created to benefit Dilmah’s employees, as well as the general populace of Sri Lanka.

Learning of the company’s background, I found Dilmah tea to be something that I could not only enjoy, but could also feel good about drinking. So when our friend Mita contacted me and asked if I wanted to attend afternoon tea with the founder, I dropped everything and made the trip from Fujairah over to Dubai.

Dilhan and Merrill Fernando

The father and son behind Dilmah Tea were in Dubai to conduct the latest editions of Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge, a series of events which challenge teams of chefs to create High Tea dishes that are paired with specific teas. They had held the event in Dubai the previous day, and would be doing the same in Abu Dhabi the next. The practice of pairing wines with foods is well known, of course; now Dilmah is advocating the same with fine tea in order to create memorable High Tea experiences. As a tea lover and amatuer cook this sounds quite sensible and fun to me.

It was really a delight to get to meet Merrill and Dilhan Fernando. I and a few others had the privilege of sitting around a table at Amwaj restaurant in the Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai to chat with them and hear about their goals and experience with the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge as well as their business philosophy. I had read the account of Mr. Fernando and his company, of course, but naturally it was much more interesting to hear him recount it himself, with many personal insights and details added. Mr. Fernando’s passion for tea and for making the world a better place were quite palpable. What to me was already an admirable person and story became even more inspiring.

Merrill Fernando speaking passionately about his life’s work.

Also in attendance was Chef Bernd Uber, who serves as Presiding Judge for the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge. He gave mouthwatering accounts of the fine pairings of Dilmah tea and creative dishes that have been developed by the chefs participating in the Challenge. He also spoke quite of admiringly Mr. Fernando, his family and company, which the chef has been collaborating with for several years now.

Quite naturally, the occasion was capped with afternoon tea, including a selection of treats provided by the restaurant and a wide variety of Dilmah teas. Although many tea and herbal blends were on offer, I stuck with my preference for ‘straight’ tea, sampling the Oolong and “Brilliant Breakfast” teas.

I was pleased that Dilhan expressed enthusiastic approval when I mentioned my daily preferred tea preparation: simply a large mug with three bags of Dilmah Premium Ceylon. Apparently, he likes his tea very strong too!

Previously, I already would have happily recommended Dilmah Tea to anyone who would listen. Not only is it consistently great tea, but the family-run company itself is an all-too-rare example of an firm that one can be unabashedly enthusiastic about. In times when the vast majority of goods that we depend on are produced by giant corporations with often shady practices, having a choice that offers both quality and good ethics is a relief. And now, having met and spoken with the founder, I feel even more enthusiastic about recommending my favorite tea.

For more information, see these sites:

Dilmah Tea – http://www.dilmahtea.com/

The MJF Charitable Foundation – http://www.mjffoundation.org/

Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge – http://realhightea.dilmahtea.com/

Posted in Dubai, tea | Leave a Comment »

First Stroll in Istanbul

January 22, 2011

Posted by DaddyBird

I don’t usually get around to posting on this blog. Unfortunately I’m usually too busy writing, editing, proofreading, tweeting and configuring things elsewhere. Hopefully, I can get a few posts in while we’re here in Istanbul.

After getting settled in to our cozy room, grabbing a few things from a local market and having a bit of dinner, Kanga was wiped out. I was tired too, but just had to go out for a walk anyway. We’re only a couple of blocks away from the Blue Mosque! Why wait ’til tomorrow to see it? When I’m in a new place, I like to walk around and get the lay of the land as soon as possible anyway, so out I went.

I took some pictures while I was out. Of course some of them were of the local cats. They’re plenty of them around, which is the sign of a great city. 😀 (Lara and Terrence over at The GranTourismo Travel Blog have a cool post about the cats in Istanbul.)

An Istanbul street kitty

Took a few night-time pictures of the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia. They certainly don’t do to the structures justice, but then, I’m not sure that any pictures can.

Aya Sofia

The Blue Mosque

Walking distances are much shorter than I expected, which is great; we’re even closer to more of the sights that I knew. So far the city is just stunning. Can’t wait to see more of it in daylight. The weather is great! Nice and cool. While I was out walking around in 10 degree Celsius weather, wearing a t-shirt and no jacket, I was asked by several if I wasn’t cold. I told them I enjoy the cold, which I certainly do. This is my kind of weather. (Well, a bit cooler and rainier would be great too!)

Firuz Aga Camii

Our friend Rupert, who has lived in Istanbul, made a number of recommendations on places to go and things to do. One suggestion was to check out the pudding shops. I found one just a few steps away from Aya Sophia. The pudding is tasty, and the food looked good too, may go back for dinner.

A Pudding Shop!

I uploaded a few of the pictures that I took this evening to a Picasa album. Here’s the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/pauliancastle/Istanbul

Go down to the end of this street and turn left and you’re at our place.

This seems to be how they say, “Don’t park in front of this building” in our neighborhood.

Kitty in the window

On a sidewalk near the Blue Mosque; I think I’ve seen these exact items on sale in Naif! 😉

More soon!

Posted in cats, Istanbul | Tagged cats, Istanbul, pudding, travel | 2 Comments »

Monte Carlo at Night, and more…

March 3, 2010

Posted by DaddyBird

A few more pictures from Monaco:

Here’s the Monte Carlo Casino again…

…and the Café de Paris, etc…

…The Hotel de Paris, next to the Monte Carlo Casino, across the square from the Café de Paris…

…and at the other end of the Hotel de Paris, looking back up the street towards my hotel, the Hotel Hermitage.

Here’s one of the lovely fountains in the park on the other side of the square from the casino.

Here are a few more random pictures from Monaco, mostly chosen for the glimpses of the high rocky terrain in the background. The area is rugged and mountainous, and yet surprisingly green. Quite naturally beautiful.

Looking towards the East end of Monaco, from the Fairmont Hotel…

…and much of the same view from the street below. (But with more of the terrain in the background.)

Near the square in Monte Carlo, looking the other way down the street from my hotel. (Hey, look! A construction crane!)

As you can see, there are quite a lot of high-rise apartment buildings in Monaco. Still, they are dwarfed by the towering surroundings.

Posted in Dubai | 1 Comment »

Three Nights in Monte Carlo

February 20, 2010

Posted by DaddyBird

I recently went on an unexpected business trip to Monaco. The magazine that I work for, Shufflegazine, had been invited to attend a trade show, but my boss was unable to attend due to other obligations, so he asked if I would like to go in his place. It took me about 3 seconds to say, “yes!”

The trip really was mostly business. The trade show, DISTREE XXL, is aimed at bringing together IT & consumer electronics vendors with distribution companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It was a good opportunity for the magazine to find out about new tech products that night be coming to our region and to get acquainted with some companies that we may not have had contact with yet. That meant I spent as much time as I could talking to representatives of the companies in attendance and almost none seeing the sights of Monaco. I had hoped to slip away for an hour or two to visit the museum or a historical building, but time and the need to talk to as many as possible just did not permit me to do so. I did get a little free time late one evening, but by then all the historical sites were long closed for the day and even the little local restaurants were locking up for the night.

So my glimpses of Monaco were pretty much limited to what I saw on the walks in Monte Carlo, between the hotel I stayed in and the hotel where the trade show was being held. That being said, for an almost completely “all work, no play” trip, it really was a pretty nice time, and a beautiful place to be doing business for a few days. Attending a tech conference for the magazine and talking to people about their cool new products isn’t bad duty at all, and Monaco is one most lovely places to get to do it. Also, the food served to the attendees of the show at the Fairmont Hotel was outstanding. So while it was busy and tiring, and even though there were many things close by that I hated missing, overall it was still a great several days.

Here are a few pictures:

I got to stay at the beautiful Hotel Hermitage in Monte Carlo. Certainly the nicest place I’ve ever stayed. One of “The Leading Hotels of the World” according to the publicity literature. This fortunate geek boy certainly can’t dispute that. It was gorgeous, very comfortable and the staff was highly gracious.

The elevators in the hotel were small, but nicely appointed.

My room was too big to capture in a photo without a very wide-angle, fish-eye lens.

Many channels available on the TV, including French, Italian and other European channels. Interestingly, channels for Dubai and AbuDhabi TV were also included. An episode of “The Million’s Poet” is on!

It was a fairly short walk between my hotel and the Fairmont where the trade show was being held, with some nice sights in between, in particular the Monte Carlo Casino.

Adjacent to that was a fancy shopping mall and the Café de Paris.

And across from that was the most adorable little police station that I’ve ever seen.

It was just a little further to the Fairmont Hotel where the show was being held. The Fairmont is a much more angular and modern building than the others. If you’ve ever watched the Grand Prix de Monaco, you may have seen the Fairmont. As you can see in the picture, the hairpin turn on the Gran Prix course is right in front of the Fairmont. Also the course goes through a tunnel that is underneath the hotel.

The Fairmont is situated right on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and has bay windows running all along the seaward side of the building, so while at the conference we were constantly treated to spectacular views.

Sometimes the sea and the sky were unbelievably blue.

I have several more pictures from Monaco to share, but I put them in another post. Stay tuned!

Posted in Monaco, Shufflegazine, travel adventures | 1 Comment »

DaddyBird’s Birthday Party

February 17, 2010

Posted by DaddyBird

Last night, to celebrate my birthday, we had a dinner at my favorite restaurant, Aroos Damascus, with a number of our Dubai friends, most of whom we have gotten to know through Twitter. We had a great turnout, including ourselves 30 people showed up over the course of the evening, and it was a really wonderful time. Aroos Damascus serves very delicious Syrian-style Arabic food, and has a large menu, so there’s plenty of choice. The staff there is always very helpful and kind. I like getting people to visit this restaurant with us, but it can be difficult coaxing some to our part of town since the traffic can be very heavy coming this direction in the evenings. So last night, it was a particular thrill to have so many of many favorite people together at one of my favorite places.

Aroos Damascus has a large outdoor seating area which is very popular, and always full in the evenings when the weather is nice. We managed to monopolize several tables for our large group. It was a lovely way to spend a birthday evening!

Here are a few pictures taken by our friends at the party:

Our friend Mahdi took this picture of me, along with (part of) Muhammed Ali, Wajiha and Money: