Germany & Alsace-Lorraine

Lisa overlooking the Black Forest...she is all about the color purple!

Imagine that you are with child. Would you feel safe having a midwife with vivid purple hair at your bedside? You may not, but many, many people have. The county I live in is fairly conservative area and a  professional so outrageously different might find it difficult to be tolerated, much less accepted, yet it's full of babies, children, adults and now their babies and children's babies that were delivered by Lisa the midwife. She's the best.

I understand that her career began when a midwife in Italy needed someone to assist with a birth and 12 year old Lisa stepped up. The event made such an impression that she lent a hand whenever and wherever she could find the opportunity. By the time she was out of her teen years Lisa was no longer the apprentice. Last year, after decades upon decades, Lisa retired from midwifery. On the walls of her home are countless photos of 'her babies', gifts from appreciative parents.

Lisa and her husband traveled to Bad, Germany where she taught a session at the Midwifery Today Conference in Bad, Germany. She carried magnets with her and left one at the center.

What a place for a conference...

Bad, Germany street scene.

After the event, they rented a car and drove to Alsace-Lorraine. A magnet now makes its home in a little café with cactus plants in the window, the place where everyone goes. Too bad I can't remember the name of the locale.

These wobbly-looking little homes in Alsace-Lorraine are hundreds of years old and still keeping people warm and dry.

Cayman Islands

It all started off with a son and his family renting a condo in the Cayman Islands. Grandma was invited, then a brother and his girl, then the ex and his wife all decided to join them. Another condo was rented and filled. Fortunately this extended family is one that works well together so it is safe to say that a good time was had by all.

 

 

They enjoyed everything the island had to offer: snorkelling, the sea turtle farm, stingrays, jet paks, lazing around the pool, sunning on the beach and eating out.
 

 

 

It was my friend, the grandmother, who took a magnet and presented it to the hostess at the best restaurant on the island. It had a fabulous buffet but was booked and couldn't take such a large group. Somehow or other, this hostess worked magic and managed to fit them all in. On a prior family outing, a magnet was left with a vendor on a beach in San Maarten.
 

 

Moldova & Ukraine

The last leg of our journey in Eastern Europe found us leaving Romania on a minibus from Iasi, Romania to Chisnau, Moldova where we would hop a flight to Kiev. Right away the land flattened out as if the border between the two countries brought about an intentional change.

Chisnau, the capitol of Moldova, was our temporary home for only a few hours. They seemed to be in holiday mode. The streets downtown were full of vendors, tables and racks set up in hopes of selling anything and everything. After having pizza we wandered until we found a small park with a craft fair going on. I sat down and attempted to draw a few people making transactions and a couple TV people trying to interest passersby in talking to them.

When our time came to look for the right bus to the airport, I took on the task of searching for an English speaker. I found a young artist who pointed me in the right direction. He was tall with long blond hair tied back and his work was very stylized in black, greys and reds, simple designs but striking. I gave him a magnet and he seemed pleased but very self conscious about it.



A very cute little trolley-bus in Chisnau.

We arrived at the airport in Kiev only to find that our hostel had given a bus number that didn't exist. My son stopped a couple workers and asked for assistance in Russian. One young man spoke back in English which I found amusing, but he set us on the right path. I gave him a magnet. At first he refused because he thought I was trying to hand him cash but readily accepted when I told him it was just a small gift.

Our hostel was close to the stadium where the Eurocup soccer game between Ukraine and Spain, I think, that took place the following night. The streets were roped off for blocks with beer booths and a huge screen for the big event. My son took part in the festivities but I watched the game at the hostel. It was an exciting game because it was so close and even more so because Ukraine won.

Kiev is one of those cities with a well put together mix of old and very modern architecture. It has a history ranging between tragic and glorious with plenty of monuments to commemorate them. There are also some beautiful onion domes, my favorite being the Santa Sofia cathedral with its interesting restoration project.

I gave another magnet to the young man who ran the hostel front desk. He and his family were friendly and helpful, the rooms were clean and the beds comfortable but the showers were too cold for my taste.

A memorial for those who starved...

...and a monument to the founders.

Romania

Our train from Bulgaria arrived in Bucharest in the evening. We didn't even leave the station, had no desire to. Instead we caught a train to Brasov, a city in central Romania. Who should we meet on the train but the Australian lady from the hostel in Veliko Tarnovo who was carrying magnets for me. The ride was long, it was late, and a Romanian woman in the seat ahead of us took it on herself to be sure we got off at the right stop, using her hands and shaking her head to inform us at each stop. I gave her a magnet for her efforts and she seemed pleased.

Our visit to Brasov was pleasant. We took the 'castle tour' offered by our hostel and spent the whole day going from one to the other of the castles Romania is known for. The next day we walked around Brasov going uphill to the castle overlooking the town and ending up in the old square as people poured in for evening festivities. We had coffee at one point and an insistent beggar latched onto us. A girl from a nearby stand shooed her off and she was given a magnet. We also purchased some of her pastries for our next bus ride.

Bran's Castle from where Vlad ruled.

Peles Castle

The ride across Transylvania was beautiful, miles of rolling farmland and village after village with red tiled roofing. Very picturesque. We spent a day and some in Sighisoara and went to the castle where Vlad the Impaler spent his early years.

We arrived in Baia Mare, a big mining town, in the evening and had a terrible time finding our hostel. Finding food wasn't much easier. I met a fellow with a food stand at the bus station who helped us through the nightmare of Romanian transportation. Actually, I think he adopted us. Not only did he direct us to the right bus in the right lane at the right time, he made sure we were seated at the standing table while we ate hotdogs he personally dressed for us (mustard, ketchup and lots of mayo). As we were about to get on the bus, he also noticed me dipping my flower into puddles to keep it from wilting and ran over to present me with a plastic bottle of water for it as well as a stalk of wheat from the Catholic ceremony I'd asked about earlier. We gave him one of my magnets, a frog,  which really seemed to please him.

Bulgaria

Once more I went to Eastern Europe with my son who is, in my opinion, the world's best navigator. There is a certain advantage to knowing how to read the Cyrillic alphabet which is used, in fact, was created in Bulgaria. Bulgaria was the country he wanted to visit. I was aimed for Romania.

We flew into Budapest, Hungary and hopped the cheapest flight I've ever taken to Sophia. Our hostel was in a building that had housed some communist party headquarters but had ne grandeur about it. The common area and check-in were downstairs and the dorms upstairs but we had to go up an outside stairs. One day I found  a group of youngsters from Argentina being drilled by their coach for a gymnastics competition so I sat on the steps and watched them. When they were allowed a break, I continued on my way to my room, got a magnet for each of them, and presented them before going back downstairs. Their coach only allowed them a minute to examine them before she put them back to work.

Sophia is not a rich city and certainly not glitzy but I really found myself fascinated by it. What I really wanted to see was Rila Monastery in the mountains south of Sophia and a small tour was arranged by our hostel. Talk about a feast for they eyes!

Rila Monastery

We made our way northeast by minibus to a small mountain town called Veliko Tarnova. We arrived late, well after the buses stopped running and after a good wait, hiked to our hostel. It was a beautiful town of houses clinging to a fairly steep hillside. Behind the hostel was a small neighborhood of simple houses with red tile roofing, courtyards and narrow cobblestone streets. A guide told us this is how the old Bulgarians live and they are very proud. We hiked to Tsarovets Castle on the hill and visited the church which had the most unique paintings of any Orthodox church I've seen. Before leaving, I gave a magnet to a young man who worked at the hostel. I also gave a few to an Australian woman who took them on her journey.

The last town we visited before leaving Bulgaria was Russe, and we only stayed for a few hours. We thought we were catching a bus to Bucharest but missed the connection due to a cutback of services for the holidays. We hiled to the square and talked to a fellow at tourist information who gave us a short agenda. We gave him a magnet before departing. I had really good pizza with corn on it and some absolutely incredible chocolate torte in that city. For that, I would return!

Sri Lanka

Three magnets were sent to Sri Lanka by Jane, a woman who's daughter married the nephew of the recipients. They are part of a family that left the  north and moved to Colombo for better opportunities, as educated people from the area tended to do. This was in the 1930s and I believe the country was called Ceylon at the time. The family went back north for a few years when Colombo was bombed by Japan in 1939. They returned and settled in a large house where there now stands an apartment building. Though several of the eight children in the family grew up and migrated to different countries, two of the sisters live in that apartment building and they each were given magnets. Another sister who still lives in Colombo has the third magnet and replied as follows:

"Recieved your magnet from El- it now takes pride of place on our frig. your's is an unusual and original idea  to link all countries via magnets. I'ts a " magnetic " idea and with the magnets we'll be magnetically linked. I think of magnet therapy and all the other amazing things magnets can do.

 

  The magnetic pull of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon)  has attracted visitors from China, Arabia, Italy and America. Even D.H. Lawrence wrote a poem about Kandy perahera (temple processsion). No wonder then that Sri Lanka draws you magnetically  ! !

 

  Hope the pull of Castlereagh, St Clairs and Hakgala gardens  draws you here magnetically.

 

Good luck to your project and hope you get here again."

 

Following are some photos of Colombo sent by their brother, father of the young man who is blissfully wed to Jane's daughter: 

 

This is the Colombo photo that attracts all the tourists!



A Colombo street scene.



The high school  they attended.