Stitch - Raleigh, North Carolina

I've been on a bit of a 'kick' lately to find and support local businesses.  While perusing the Raleigh, North Carolina tourist brochures,  I stumbled across an article about Holly Aiken, a local artist, who creates purses.  This ticked all my boxes....local, purses, and another Holly.  I had to seek out her store, Stitch, in downtown Raleigh.

As soon as I walked in, I knew I was in trouble.  Over the course of a week, I shopped there twice and since I've been back in Illinois, I shopped online and bought a few as gifts.  There are too many options with too many color combinations that caught my eye, that I had to buy more than just one handbag.

The tomato/gunmetal bag with the abstract flowers and the green/avocado bag with dots are both Holly Aiken purses.  Now, if only I could convince her to branch out and make a zip close wallet to match :-)

So, if you're in Raleigh, North Carolina, check out Stitch.

And here they are....

Edinburgh, Scotland in a little over a day

About a month ago, Ryanair was running a fare special. As luck would have it, this whole no working thing (professional tourist) worked to my advantage as I was able to fly out on a Monday and return on a Wednesday for a mere 1 penny. No check in fees, no taxes, no checked luggage....no problem!

I stayed at the Hilton Caledonian. What a lovely hotel! I was in room 218, which is quite large and has an amazing view of the Edinburgh Castle. There was one small issue, but at no fault of the hotel....the construction crew, which has Princes Street all torn up cut the power to our block, which caused a blackout at about 19:30. The generator kicked in and power was restored, but the fire alarm was affected, so we were back downstairs 10 minutes later. Then, the fire department didn't clear the panel correctly, so 10 minutes later another fire alarm. All in all, about an hour of climbing steps. Luckily all the guests were good natured about it and the staff was very nice and apologetic.

Edinburgh was wonderful. I cannot wait to return in the spring/summer time when all the flowers are in bloom and the tram work is completed (late 2010). In one full day (and two partial days), I managed to take in some sights and do a little shopping, but next time I'll bring Chuck along and we'll spend a few days in Edinburgh and then head to the highlands for a few days.

I started my day at the Edinburgh Castle. It is quite the hike to get there, so if you plan to walk all day, I'd recommend hiring a taxi to take you to the castle, then walking down the hill and exploring the rest of the day.

The Royal Mile runs from the Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace and is lined with cashmere and wool shops, souvenier shops, kilt makers, and pubs. As I walked from the Castle to the Palace, I shopped and I shopped some more. I even went into a few shops to buy an extra suitcase...but, in the end, I just crammed everything into my existing bags. Note to self....next time, bring an extra bag!

At the end of the Royal Mall is Holyrood Palace, which is where Queen E stays when she is in Scotland. It's a lovely palace, but of course, is not as opulent as Windsor or Buckingham.

Princes Street is undergoing a major renovation, with new infrastructure (water/gas pipes) and will soon be getting a new track for the tram, which is supposed to extend from the airport to the city center. But, for now, getting around the Princes Street area is a bit of a challenge as you have to basically commit to one side of the street or the other because there are very few pedestrian passageways. I shopped at Jenners and felt a little giddy when I stumbled upon Mark and Spencers. Yes, I love the wensleydale cheese with cranberries. One little snack size piece and I was set for another few months.

I'll be back. There are so many things I didn't get a chance to do...and Chuck would love it there, so we'll plan a return trip that is sure to include a trip to the Highlands...and maybe a visit to some folks we met in Venice!

A few pix and the slide show.

The view from my room at the Hilton Caledonian.

The Edinburgh Castle

The Crown Jewels are located in here.

Weekend with friends in Kiel, Germany

Our friends, Nils and Ina live in Kiel, Germany and Chuck has been there several times, but I've been in the US during his visits. So, it was time for me to join him for a weekend in Kiel.

Another great German city! There's a nice large mall in the city center and a pedestrian street lined with shops and beer gardens. It is quite convenient because as Ina and I shopped, the boys would stop and have a beer....the best of both worlds!

Kiel is a port city on the Baltic Sea that has large passenger ferries coming in, dropping off passengers (from Norway/Sweden/Russia) for a little fun at the casinos and, um, shall we say, 'extracurricular activities'. Kiel is also known for Kiel Week (Kieler Wochen) in June each year, where it hosts the largest sailing event in the world!

The sights:

• St. Nicholas's Church
• Kiel Fjord
• Holsten Street - shopping street
• Kiel brewery
• Rathaus - city hall
• Drinks by the fjord

And, of course, there is always an opportunity for shopping. I've been debating about what I wanted to bring back to the US from our European travels....a rug, pottery, porcelain, dishes, cutlery, etc.

So, what did we (I) buy....

WMF cutlery, Denver style.

A few pictures. Here's a link to the slideshow.

There's something about Fish in Kiel's history, thus the fish tiles in the walking street. But, I have no idea what the story is, so I'll have to wait for Nils to fill me in.

Cruising the Amalfi Coast

Before we left for Italy, I read quite a few reviews and discussion forums on TripAdvisor (which, by the way, is a great site for information). One of the comments routinely stated is that driving in Italy should be avoided at all costs. And, if you do decide to rent a car and drive, make sure that when driving the Amalfi Coast you pay attention and don't look at the beautiful scenery. Ahhh, after just returning from a driving trip to Positano, I completely understand why.

The view is breathtaking. The roads are a mixture of hairpin turns and narrowing passages. My palms were sweaty as Chuck navigated his way through the crazy traffic and hairpin turns. I kept thinking if the concrete barriers were enough to stop a car from careening off the cliff. I suspect not.

Positano is a cute little town on the Mediterranean with narrow shop-lined pedestrian passageways snaking their way down to the ocean.

Some pictures from our adventures...

Cute shops lined the narrow passageways through Positano.

Don't those tomatoes look good??

Positano

Picture of Positano taking from the road that snakes its way into the town.

I can't imagine that this little barrier would stop a car from careening down the cliff.

Exploring Beijing

We had great fun exploring Beijing the last few days. In our short time there, we...

• Walked around Tiananmen Square
• Explored the Forbidden City
• Met the nephew of the Last Emporer and had him sign a beautiful wall hanging
• Sat gridlocked in rush hour traffic
• Walked through the Hutongs
• Saw the Temple of Heaven
• Shopped at the Pearl Market, on Silk Street, and Yaxiu Market
• Got lost in the embassy district...stopped by a guard and told to show my passport
• Walked the Great Wall (Mutianyu section) on a very cloudy / foggy day...then went back on a sunny day to get some nice pictures!
• Rode in the same gondola at the Great Wall as President Clinton in 1998
• Took a tobaggon ride down from the Great Wall
• Went on a culinary market tour in the Hutongs
• Saw dancers and performers at Ritan park
• Walked around the Summer Palace
• Walked through some amazing parks (Ritan, Jingshan, Beihai)
• Watched the flying acrobatic show in the Chaoyang district
• Bought some tea on Tea Street

A few pictures (until I get a chance to upload slideshows)....

The shopkeeper in one of the stalls at Yaxiu market, my favorite market.

The flying acrobatic show in the Chaoyang District.

Beihai park

Aerial view of Forbidden City; taken from Jingshan park. This is the north gate entrance (south gate entrance is near Tianenmen Square).

Jingshan park

The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall

Shopping at the market in one of the Hutongs

So.cute.

In Brussels this weekend, we stumbled upon this craft fair in a square just off the main Grote Markt (Market Square). My very best friend and her husband had twin girls in May, just after I left for Denmark. Honestly, cute kids...and what's even cuter is that one looks like her and one looks like her husband. Too cute.

So, I picked up these little dolls for the girls. A middle aged woman and her husband had about 30 of these hand made dolls in their little booth. They told me that the woman hand made the dolls and that the clothes were machine washable in cold water.

However, after a little google search (don't you love google?)...the bag says Pomme Pidou, which is apparently a Belgium company that makes these little dolls, so maybe I didn't quite understand the translation. Pomme is french for apple, but I'm not sure what pidou means.