Beyond BBQ – East Memphis

During my last work trip to Memphis I stayed a little closer to the center of town but still on the east side of the city. I had plenty of time to explore this area of town.
During my daily drive to work I got to see these life size horse statues. At the time I was in Memphis there was a scavenger hunt team building going on where I needed a picture of myself with a life size statue. These horses fit the description nicely.

I also needed a picture with a city limit sign. Luckily there was one very close to my hotel.

One night I was looking for a place to eat in walking distance to my hotel. A friend suggested I try Pyros Fire Fresh Pizza. They make to order personal size pizzas. I ordered the pesto pizza. It was quite satisfying.

Walking back to the hotel I came across a weinermobile!!!

Another night I tried a local brew at a nearby restaurant that was having a crawfish boil. Too bad I was already full or I would have taken part in the festivities. The beer was a nice scotch ale.

And finally I decided to try the restaurant in the hotel. Frank Grisanti’s had a fine dining feel to it. I dined in the courtyard of the hotel. The pasta was very filling. I tried to save my leftovers in the refrigerator in the room but unfortunately the fridge was broken and the food had to be thrown away the next day. Oh well, I wanted to try another restaurant anyway.

Sevilla: Alcazar

The Courtyard of the Maidens

One of the treats of visiting Sevilla is getting to see Moorish architecture. The moors ruled this part of Southern Spain from about 712 – 1248 AD, when it was incorporated into Christian Spanish rule.
The Alcazar in Sevilla started as a Moorish fort and then as a royal place. It is a great representation of traditional spanish Muslim architecture or mudéjar. Mudéjar was a unique style that represented both Christian and Muslim style symbols.

The Virgin of the Navigators

The Virgin of the Navigators is a christian painting that shows Mary protecting the explorers. You can see Christopher Columbus represented in the painting.

Inside the palace, many symbols are represented in the designs.

The palace also has a nice garden to stroll around.

More inside photos

Nice wall tapestry hanging in Alcazar.

As one can see, the Alcazar is on the must see list of a visit to the beautiful city of Seville.

London – The Globe

A visit to London would not be complete without a visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Ideally we would have loved to see a show at the theater but we visited off season. We settled for a tour instead.

The globe theatre that stands there now is not the original one; the original one burned down in 1613. During my first trip to London in 1995 they had just started construction on the current theater. I was happy that this time around I was able to visit the finished product.

As you can see everything was carefully constructed to look like the original as much as possible. They even replicated the thatched roof.

The stage

You can see the detail put into the balconies.

Another view of the stage.

The ceiling of the stage.

Shakespeare’s will in the museum.

A model of how the city looked during the time of the globe theater.

A timeline of all Shakespeare’s works.

Outside view

If you can, definitely go see a play there. You can be royalty and sit in a seat; or you can be groundling and watch from standing room only. Even if you can’t catch a play the theater is worth a visit for the tour and the artifacts in the museum. It should take you a good 2-3 hours to get through it all. Enjoy.

Asheville River Arts District

During a recent road trip to visit an old friend she suggested we spend a day doing the Asheville River Arts District studio stroll one Sunday.

The river arts district is an old industrial area of Asheville near the French Broad River that was re purposed into studios for local artisans. Every second Saturday the artisans open up their studios for guests to come in and watch them work. We attended during a twice a year event that opens the studios all weekend.

We hopped on a trolley that took us from studio to studio.

We also made a pit stop at the Wedge Brewery which was surrounded by metal artwork.

After a beer we walked over to watch a glass blower in action.

More studios

We got impatient waiting for the trolley so decided to walk a bit. Saw some interesting graffiti and fairy-tale house on our way.

I ended the afternoon with this light and refreshing local cider at a nearby cafe.

Visiting the studios was a great way to spend an afternoon. If you ever make it to Asheville I suggest you do your own Studio Stroll.

Varanasi Boat ride

After watching the amazing Aarti ceremony the night before, we woke up early the next day to take a boat ride down the Ganges.

This lady was selling neem sticks early in the morning. Chewing on neem is supposed to be good as a teeth cleaner.

Before we started our boat ride we enjoyed chai latte out of a clay pot. I was testing my digestive system and it did me well. This street purchase did not get me sick!

At dawn we started our boat ride.

As did many others.

We floated down the Ganges and got to see many different ghats (stairways along the water).

Another tourist boat was nearby and one brave guy decided to take a dip. Many devout Hindus consider this water to be holy and a dip in the river is extra special to them.

Laundry is also done by hand daily in the river. You will see this up and down the river.

Many colorful boats hang out around the ghats.

This lady was making an offering along the river.

We decided to give our own offering.

Cremations are held at either end of the Ganges. One end I could not photograph because out of respect but this one was currently not in use. You will notice the wood all around waiting for the next ceremony.