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Showing posts from 2010

The Real Spirit of Christmas

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There's a voracious vibe hanging in the air. Eyes flicker with the sentiment of more! more! more! It must be Christmas time. It's difficult to uncover the real, charitable focus of the season under all the materialism but you can find it if you decide not to be distracted by all the other nonsense. I don't enjoy shopping at all but I do get a kick out of choosing gifts from my favorite charities.  Instead of trolling through aisles filled with plastic doodads and electronic gadgets, I browsed through vaccines, mosquito nets and water kits for children all over the world. The Unicief  Inspired Gift program allows you to purchase these life-saving supplies on behalf of a friend or family member. They also get a card with a photo and description of the gift. I also perused chickens, rabbits, pigs and goats for the perfect present. Women in war torn countries learn to rebuild their lives through animal husbandry, farming and work initiatives provided by Women For Women Intern

Sand Dollars, Skeletons and The Season

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I've just finished decorating my Christmas tree, which always inspires me to think about the origins of many of my ornaments.  Glittery, beaded, balls from India are favorites, as well as embroidered bells from Italy. But the most unexpected decoration is a pure white sand dollar I got from St. Croix. Sand dollars make elegant Christmas ornaments and are commonly used in coastal areas and the Caribbean. The pretty sand dollar-covered tree above was captured in Eleuthera, with echos of the sea right outside. I never realized that sand dollars are fuzzy sea creatures similar to starfish. The sand dollars that wash ashore are actually skeletons.  Decorating a tree with skeletons gives a whole other perception that doesn't quite fit with the holiday season but I still think they're pretty. Will you be decorating with any souvenirs from your travels this season?

Genips and Sea Grapes and Figs, Oh My!

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I love tropical fruit, the more exotic, the better.  Whenever I travel to the Caribbean, I make a point of visiting the local markets or vendors for local fruit. In St. Kitts, genips, shown above, are sold on almost every street corner of Basseterre. Genips are like lychees, you peel them and suck out the pulp, around the seed which is slimy and slightly sweet. Figs are what Kittitians call the miniature bananas pictured above. I don't like bananas but I do enjoy figs, which are sweeter and creamier than the bananas grown in the U.S. Sea grapes grow on towering trees that tend to grow near the sea. This sweet fruit is also sold by many street vendors in St. Kitts. There's nothing like nibbling on a juicy bunch, as the sun warms your shoulders. Do you have a favorite fruit that you discovered on your travels?

Chocolate Chicago

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I am recovering from a chocolate hangover. Like a love hangover, it has no cure.  It all started when I grabbed a Groupon for  Chicago Chocolate Tours . Chicago boasts a long candy history and naturally, I'm very familiar with most of it but my husband isn't ( he just likes chocolate, not sugar in all forms). So we signed up for the Gold Coast Chocolate Tour and met are tour guide Jenny, above in the lobby of Bloomingdale's. Even though I possess a serious sweet tooth, I confess that I was not equipped to down pounds and pounds of chocolate over 21/2 hours. We started at More cupcakes, a tiny gourmet cupcake boutique aimed toward cupcake snobs, which includes me.  As you can see from the display above, the shop carries a dazzling array of flavors, including savory versions like maple bacon, goat cheese basil and blue cheese walnut praline. We sampled a tasting size of the chocolate fudge cupcake that was rich and moist. We planned to head back to stock up on red velv

Touch The Sky on Brimstone Hill

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If you ever visit St. Kitts, it's an official requirement to visit Brimstone Hill Fortress. Not only is it the island's most recognizable landmark, it's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the best place to grab heavenly views. Constructed between 1690 and 1790, the fortress rises almost 800 feet in the air. Which means you must climb the stone path up to monument, way up on Brimstone Hill. Sturdy shoes are suggested. The climb is well worth it because beyond the cannons, bastions and citadel, a striking panorama of  an impossibly green landscape unfolds. It really looks like you could reach up on your tippy toes and touch a cloud or two. Most of the fortress is  built with volcanic rock. I felt like I heard echoes of the centuries of history stored in those rocks. After decades of being passed between British and French colonialists, the flag of independent St. Kitts finally flies from Brimstone Hill Fortress. The fortress is the one of the best preserved histori

Bush Tea Adventure

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Most Americans down mugs and mugs of coffee everyday but I love tea. Technically, I don't drink the black tea leaves that are commonly considered tea but herbal infusions that are really a collection of herbs, flowers and spices. In the Caribbean, this is called bush tea and I always order a cup on whatever island I visit. There's just nothing like fresh bush tea. In St. Kitts, I ordered a pot at the Spice Mill restaurant and this earned me some surprised looks. Not because it was a hot, 90 degree Kitttitian afternoon but because few Americans know about the joys of bush tea and they didn't expect anyone to order it.  After much bustling and questioning, my waitress stepped outside the restaurant and plucked some lemongrass and thyme from the garden. You can see the tips of the plants in the photo above. I savored the spicy smell when she brought the pot out and sipped on cups and cups for over an hour. Bush tea is typically drunk for medicinal purposes and lemongrass,

Red Snapper Redo

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I love red snapper. There's no other fish that inspires the joy and anticipation that this mild, flavorful aquatic dish provides for me. I can not resist ordering  fresh red snapper whenever I'm in the Caribbean or Latin America. Served with rice and peas, plantains or yucca, red snapper is the equivalent of  a comforting embrace, spiked with bursts of laughter.  I have a difficult time ignoring it whenever I see it on any menu so I was faced with a bizarre dilemma in St. Kitts. Every single restaurant I visited for dinner, featured a tempting version of red snapper.  So when I sunk my toes into the sands at Mr. X's Shiggedy Shack beach lounge, I just had to order the red snapper grilled with lemon and thyme, above. When I dipped into the gorgeous, sun-dappled Spice Mill restaurant, I just couldn't ignore the spice-rubbed red snapper, topped with pineapple salsa, above. When I joined with the gang  for dinner at the swanky Blu seafood restaurant at the St. Kitts

The Cool Ruler Ends His Reign

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It doesn't get any better than listening to Gregory Isaacs' smooth vocals on a balmy Jamaican night. His voice glided over lyrics, caressing them gently, like a Caribbean breeze.  I first heard him live at a concert in Mandeville, Jamaica and I've been a fan ever since. Decked out in custom-made suits with a fedora tipped rakishly to the side, he earned the name of the Cool Ruler, King of Lover's Rock, which combines the melodies of roots reggae with dancehall riddims.  Producing 500 albums over his 40-year career, he won a loyal following not just because of his singing skills but because of the vulnerability he displayed. He battled drug addiction for most of his life, entering rehab, losing teeth, and facing arrest constantly but he always managed to come back, his voice still lovely. Gregory died at 59 yesterday, from lung cancer, refusing any operations. His presence will forever be missed but his music lives on. The video below is of one of my favorite songs, &quo

Biking in Basseterre

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I'm a punk. I admit it. I love a good travel adventure but  in the end, St. Kitts managed to kick my butt. I'm a big biking fan, as my weekly rides on my tricked out, pink Raleigh attests. But I just wasn't prepared for biking in St. Kitts.  I trotted out for an early morning ride with my press comrades and quickly crumbled. What could be so tough about biking through a tiny and lovely little island you ask? Well, for starters, we have the heat.  You'll never hear me complain about the sunshine and I adore hot, tropical weather. It's just that, a  95 degree temperature is not all that ideal for bike riding. See the wilted look on my face in the photo above? Notice the sweat glistening on my arms? That was was just the first 3 minutes. Then we have the gorgeous Basseterre landscape. I was surrounded by verdant green vegetation everywhere I looked. The Caribbean Sea beckoned  over the hills. Hills. I somehow had forgotten how hilly St. Kitts is. You can't go

Sailing St. Kitts Sky Safari

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Zip lines may look like the latest travel torture trend but it appears a lot scarier than it is. Imagine flying above the trees, sharing views with birds and monkeys.  You get so captured by the sights that you forget that you're thousands of feet in the air. I've zipped through plenty of rain forests and tree tops but St. Kitts Sky Safari was a slightly different experience. That's Kelly in the photo above. He helped my group cover our bodies in the pounds of required equipment. Unlike other zip lines, Sky Safari uses a carriage that you actually sit on, making it more comfortable and secure. The first contraption was a bodysuit/harness that would do any super hero proud. This was topped by a helmet and trolley carriage that we toted on our shoulders. Here, Jody models the sexiness of the entire getup. With Mt. Liamuiga looming ahead of us, we flew through the rain forest at 1,350 feet. The first zip line is dubbed The Boss and it towers 250 feet above the rain for

Hiking The Himalayas With A Suitable Boy

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I've been away for awhile, immersed in the vivid details of India. The Indian Himalayan mountain ranges are the loftiest in the world and though I've never witnessed them in person, I feel like I have an idea of what it might be like to scale them.  At 1474 pages, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, is one of the longest novels of the last century and the longest one -volume offering in the English language. It tops War and Peace and Ulysses in length and in the intimidating heft of the tome, which is saying a lot.  A Suitable Boy   is exhaustive in its scope of 50s era Indian life, examining everything from politics and castes, to religion and food.  I feel like I've spent weeks in India, observing ceremonies, talking with families and learning it's complex history and I'm both enlightened and tired from the experience. Set in the early 1950s, shortly after the Partition of India and Pakistan and during the first elections after independence, the novel offers insig

Gratitude Kittitian Style

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It's easy to take things for granted. Especially when you have been blessed to live in a place that's filled with tropical lushness and a lovely rolling landscape. I quickly learned that Kittitians are a very thankful people. It's evident from their graciousness, to their eagerness to share their beautiful island. But I was taken aback when I saw this display. Who paints phrases on a house? Apparently, a very thankful Kittitian who was provided with a government-funded home.  It wasn't enough for the owner to lovingly deck out the place with sky blue hues and painted roses. They wanted to always remember the source of their good fortune. It made me stop and think about how grateful I was to even be in St. Kitts, admiring the beauty of the island and its people. What are you grateful for?

Reggae Beach and Wilbur The Pig (Island Time Rush Slowly)

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If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a beach person.  Nothing soothes me more than salt water kissing my skin, sand covering my toes and an ocean breeze.  St Kitts is blessed with many lovely beaches but the most interesting is Reggae Beach, located on Cockleshell Bay.  It's a pretty stretch as you can see above but that's not what makes it memorable. People flock to Reggae Beach because the Reggae Beach Bar serves the best BBQ ribs on the island.  There's also a festive, relaxed vibe that attracts people. They also come to see Wilbur, the pig. Originally bought  for food, the owner of the bar developed an affection for the pig and decided to save him and let him live on the beach. For anyone that's ever read the children's classic Charlotte's Web, you know that naming a pig Wilbur probably means that it will never end up as pork chops on the dinner table. Wilbur weighs in at 700 pounds and enjoys guzzling beer as well as eating cheeseburge

Basseterre Bus Buzz

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Public transportation can be torturous in many bustling meccas but it doesn't appear to be a problem in St. Kitts capital city of Basseterre.  You see, the public transportation consists of privately-owned mini buses lovingly painted with slogans and names that reflect the owner's sensibilities. How can you have a rough ride when the bus is emblazoned with "honesty? " I think just watching these moving murals is enough to brighten your day. I'd hop in this angelic white van just because I believe that its name would bring only good things. This is my personal favorite, because the heartfelt emotions of this phrase resonates in all cultures. This flashy display makes me think that the owner is a gregarious extrovert. The owner's name hovers over the slogan  of this bus in a way that suggests that perhaps he's joined the cut-throat competition. This says a lot about the owner's outlook. I really like the style of this slogan because whet