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Kim and I have now been together for two years. Our actual wedding anniversary was Monday the 8th of June but we celebrated the weekend before in Bruge, Belgium. It is lovely just as the last two years of marriage have been! To the left is a shot taken while on the river boat tour along oneof the many canals networks throughout the city center. The new blog head shot is just before we got on the boat. We specifically lined our eyes up to fit the sliver of a space at the top of the blog.
We encountered some interesting street scenes while meandering along the cobble stone streets. These scenes and the amazing century old architecture is due to a recession. The main artery of the city’s port dried up leaving it without a way to import and export goods. TIme ticked on and Bruge remained the the same even when the industrial revolution was born. Also, it wasn’t desirable enough a place to fight for during the war so has subsequently kept its original charming medieval buildings and bridges. The residents are now profiting from the thousands of tourists who frequently visit to see an untouched medieval city in modern times. Patience can bring prosperity! Aren’t the dogs cute! They’re more interested in each other than the chocolate in the shop. One of Belgium’s best known commodities. Bruge specifically is known for its handmade lace.
Bruge, Belgium
Belgium beer is just as good as its chocolate. Can you see the floating head amongst the bottles? Weird!
It’s been a while since I’ve updated the recent happenings in the Magin’s world. I turned 35 on the 22nd of January and well…it was quite anti-climatic but fun all the same. I’m officially half way through my 30’s. Cool. I had a few dinners to celebrate. I got some really nice gifts from some very lovely people. Thank you all. This a photo of my friend Merritt and I at a fabulous restaurant in Camden Town. Very fun! That’s actually a mint tea made with real mint tea leaves on the table, not a a Mojito. We enjoyed champagne as our drink of choice that night. I used to drink real mint tea like that all the time in LA, so it was a real treat that they actually had fresh mint tea at the restaurant.
We spent New Years with our Friends Dave and Eva eating lovely Italian food. We then went to the center of London to watch the fireworks. Well we got there a bit late and only got to see them on the TV screens that were set-up in Trafalgar Square. We could have seen the event on our TV screen but we wouldn’t have had the pleasure of feeling the energy of the crowd, pushing us out of the tube station onto the crowded streets of London. We would have only seen the spray of champagne we felt as the the new year rang in. We also couldn’t have so easily walked over to the actual site of the fireworks after the show concluded just a short ten minutes later. It was a cold night but a really nice walk non the less. This is what we saw.
The week after New Years we went to the coast to do some body boarding. Well Kim did the body boarding I did the photo taking. He actually had many photos taken of him that day. There is a surfing site called magicseaweed.com and someone took photos of this very day of Kim body boarding. Here is another great body boarding shot- Well done KIM! Below are the photos I took.
The sun rising over the ocean. The clouds did actually clear as you’ll see below.
Kim body boarding his way through a tube of water about 6 feet in height. He’s shaded but we were enjoyingthe sun!
He’s happy to have gotten the chance to ride. I am happy as we’re on our way to lunch. Are you sensing a theme here? I am eating my way through 2009. Besides that I’m busy running more often as well as doing a lot of yoga and I’m beginning to teach again as well. I found a few gyms very close to our house to teach yoga at and a really great Pilates studio with the proper equipment to teach on just around the corner from my house. The weather has been a bit all over the place and the recession has slowed the process of getting anything going here, even for the already established.
This year is looking to be a year of major changes for many of us. We have a new president. The people of the world are as happy as we Americans. Much of the world is in a recession but is seeking ways to counter this. It’s like a company going bankrupt. The owner can only look at ways to rebuild and restructure in a better way. The world can only but benefit from reflecting on how it got to where it is today. What better a time than now, in the winter, when even mother nature is contemplating how she will regenerate herself come spring and always in a seemingly effortless manner as well. We could all learn a lesson from her process, allowing the time in which life passes and the occurances that take place during that time to be the only effort needed to make the necessary changes.
Sydney Harbor, originally uploaded by The Magins.
Australia equals adventure. Its non- stop action sprinkled with long relaxing days swimming, beach walking and sight seeing. Kim and I really like it here and are excited about the potential move downunder. It almost seems hard to believe that we started talking about moving there less than two years ago and it could be a reality in less than a year from now!
Even though we’re here for “business” we are also here having fun. Click on the photos above for a small photo journal of our trip so far. We landed Sunday the 8th and stayed with our friends Colin and Jen and their new little baby Abbey before caravanning for 6 short days. The weather was HORRIBLE! We did have one day of sun and got some hiking in. We saw the Three Sisters and climbed what seemed to my legs like a million steps. I may walk a lot on London but it doesn’t prepare you for a hike in the mountains. I am out of shape! The rain came just in time for us to go down under, down under. The Janolan caves were only 40 minutes from the town of Katoomba where we hiked.
We saw an underwater river. Our first ever. The water was so pure and clear it didn’t look like water was even there! The cave photo that looks like a sandy looking rock actually has super clear water over it. About 1 meter.
It then rained for the rest of that night near the Janolan caves where we stayed. We woke and I felt like I was back in the UK; cold, gray, wet and rainy so I made an executive decision and we headed to the coast where the weather wasn’t much better but we found a really great beach town called Avoca and had amazing dinner inside. It was warmer on the coast too, even though it wasn’t much dryer.
The next day we drove back to Sydney and hung out with our friends Colin and Jen. They have been super accommodating. They had lent us their couch to sleep on, their GPS to get us around Oz, their car to drive around in, their yummy drinks and snacks at their house, and most importantly their great company. They are so much fun!
We took two days to hang out in Sydney. We did a few touristy things and just walked around a bit to do, well the things you do in a city, eat, shop, dodge cars and people. Sydney proper has the biggest concentration of people I’ve seen yet in Sydney. There is no traffic and really not much people dodging even on the city streets. We like it!
We have been diving. Haven’t taken any shots yet underwater, as we haven’t seen too much worth taking shots of. We did see a school of about 200 Barracuda about 2 meters below the surface today. We don’t know what they were doing so close to shore other than that they might have been chased by a big shark. We didn’t see the shark. I am so glad we didn’t. I’m not sure of I’m ready for that yet!
We have about one week left before going back to the UK. I am a bit bummed we have to leave but at least be have something really great to look forward to!
Bone Chandelier, originally uploaded by The Magins.
This is a chandelier made from the bones of the victims that died of the plague. A half blind monk made it his life’s work to construct this and many other ornate pieces of work from plague victim’s bones. This piece, along with the others, hangs in a church just one hour outside of Prague. My friend Jen and I made a day of it last weekend during my 4 day trip to Prague.
He constructed a large chalice out of pelvic bones too! It may seem freaky and even a bit weird but it was so fascinating for me, having working worked on the muscles that surround these fascinating structures called bones. Some of the skulls still had teeth! Unreal.
Click on the photo to see more of the church, it’s artifacts and Prague (Praha).
KimandBeth.JPG, originally uploaded by The Magins.
Here we are, the Magins just one year later to the day or our wedding (the photo is, it’s 14 days later now!). We spent June the 8th, our wedding anniversary, meandering the streets of Canterbury in England with Kim’s Mom, Connie. Canterbury is beautiful, click here to see. Have a look through the photos and tell me if you think it’s just as funny as I to see a Subway down the street from a major historical 18th century wall!? We stuck with the old and went to a traditional pub for food. Kim had bangers and mash (sausages, onion and mashed potatoes.) Connie and I had a traditional Sunday roast, which is basically turkey day dinner fixings. very yummy!
Just prior to our visit to Canterbury we went to a wild animal park where we saw a host of animals from apes to tigers to lemurs and anteaters. The man who runs the sanctuary breeds the animals and then puts them back in their natural habitat. My favorite part of the park was the apes. Monkeys have always been my favorite animals and these apes were amazing! They had a lot of character and seemed genuinely happy to be living where they were, which makes me happy.
Here is a link to Cornwall as well. We went twice in April and I am just getting a chance to post the photos. Cornwall is a beautiful beach filled county of England. It’s about as far as San Fran is from Los Angeles but there are allot fewer things to see along the way. I slept for most of the car rides there and back. Kim likes it as it’s the best place for surfing in England. The surf was good the second trip we went down. My favorite photo is the pheasant crossing the road. What a bold bird! Also take note, our trip was two weeks apart. The first few photos I was wearing a winter hat and the last few photos we were wearing t-shirts and jeans. The weather in England is Schizo!
The portugese flag…, originally uploaded by The Magins.
Portugal… ahhhh…Portugal- want to see photos click twice on the flag above.
For four short and three short nights. Why short..? The vacation wasn’t long enough. I could have used about four months and 3 days in Portugal. It was not only a beautiful city for it’s weather but the people were friendly and thankfully very clever with language as we’re not! Everyone spoke English except other tourist from other parts of Europe other than England. We asked a Polish guy for directions. He looked Portuguese!
We started our holiday in Oporto where we landed on Friday at 9AM. Yes, we were up at 2AM to catch a flight out at 6AM. Long day! Its’ amazing the energy that can be extracted from mild, warm, sunny weather. We traveled down the coast stopping in little villages along the way. Click on the photos above for a description of the sites we saw that day and throughout the whole trip. We went a bit picture crazy so be prepared to see the whole of Lisbon and it’s coastal towns and sites!
Once we arrived in Lisbon, the women whom rented an apartment to us picked us up and took us into the Alfama section of Lisboa. It’s close to the water and the oldest part of the city. She now lives in an old pension that has been a part of her family for 3 generations. She and her siblings have split the house up and are living in it and renting bits of it out as well. We had a really nice stay so I’d say she’s at the start of a successful rental business.
That night we went out for a walk around our neighborhood and found a very yummy restaurant that served a mean salmon and some pretty tasty shrimp (prawns for you Europeans out there). We were exhausted not only from our travels but from all the hills sides we went up and down to get to the restaurant. We retired super early as we had a lot planned for the next day in the city of Lisbon.
We ate a little breakfast at home and marched straight to the castle in town. It was good we got there at 9:30-10 as when we walked out at 11. There was a line down the road to get in. We left there and stared down the hill into the city center. Along the way we found a really fun restaurant that we made reservations at for 10PM. See the photos of Chipotle. That gave us the whole day to see all the sites described in these photos.
The next day we set off to outside the city towards a coastal town called Cascais. The map here shows you where we drove and the photos tell a great story of the sites we saw.
Kim got to go surfing. I got to see the ocean. I miss it. We both got to eat another fabulous seafood and steak meal in Sintra. Many of the wealthy that live and work in Lisbon year round have a holiday retreat in Sintra. These days many wealthy people from all corners of Europe now have a holiday retreat here.
We continued to explore Sintra on Monday and then sadly had to drive north once again to catch our flight back to London. I was happy to get back to London but sad to leave the sunny weather. That would have to be my biggest gripe with living here. Otherwise I am enjoying my job, I am meeting new people and Kim and I are always doing something new and fun.
Sea Scene III, originally uploaded by The Magins.
FINALLY… our underwater experiences are on the blog! The pictures speak for themselves.
Enjoy.
Our shark friend is happy too., originally uploaded by The Magins.
The Maldives Island of Biyahdoo was a dream honeymoon destination. We relaxed, ate good food, snorkeled and dived in some of the most beautiful corals of the world, and we even met some friends along the way. This is a recap pf our above-the-water experiences while in the Maldives. If you find this exciting wait until the dive photos get published!
Enjoy…
Manta Ray- 15 Foot WingSpan, originally uploaded by The Magins.
I think we all have a core that’s ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous moments of eternity that just happen. We know them. - Coleman Barks
That day, this particular dive, was one of those moments. I was sitting 17.5 meters below the earth’s surface, relaxed and breathing as if amphibious watching the amazing grace of these huge sea creatures as they glide through sea water. I have never seen anything move more smoothly, more efficiently in my life. My profession, passion, and hobby teaching body mechanics through the use of yoga and Pilates has made me obsessed with the efficient movement of non-man made machines, the human body. No human could move this fluidly even with the assistance of scuba gear or the lack of gravity in outer space.
These photos and movies were taken by my aspiring photographer husband, Kim, during my first dive as a certified open water diver. Admittedly I was terrified. Not of the creatures swimming around us, thank god they were there to lend peace, but of being so still, so deep in water and so not in control. What if my regulator decided to malfunction (after all it is man-made). What if my heart gave out. What if I forgot how to swim to the surface? So many things running through my head, when all I had to do was sit and watch.
Thankfully my amazing dive instructor and even more loving and understanding husband were sitting right there with me. They are almost as graceful as the Mantas under water. If they were born fish they probably would have been born Mantas. Their love of the water and the creatures that inhabit it is what inspired me to come to this moment in the first place.
The mantas were doing what they normally do. Hanging out at rock below the surface of the water. Just another day at the office. The dive school named the rock Manta Point. It is where the manta’s go to get clean. There is an even, natural exchange that occurs at the cleaning station. The manta rely on the little cleaner fish to rid them of plankton and the small fish survive by ingesting the plankton. I am always amazed by nature’s systems. Every natural process is so beautifully in sinc with the next. That could be what caused the scare in my head and my heart to pound wildly. How can one moment in time be so perfect, so magical yet so as it is. My core was beyond ecstastic. Is that possible Barks?
We were down below for almost a hour. I was getting cold at about 40 minutes. We swam the whole time during the first 5 dives I had earlier in the week, so I didn’t get quite so cold. One can burn up to 1000 calories in an hour dive. Now I know why fish are so lean! I was finally shivering and had to surface just after 50 minutes with loads of air to spare.
I did remember how to swim and made it to the surface without an issue. Except to feel sad to leave. I am human, after all, I do need air and I have my own natural purpose on earth. But the brief encounter, that felt somewhat alien no more than a few stories below the earth’s surface, will remain a part of me forever.
Lunch At Harvey Nichols- YUMMY!, originally uploaded by The Magins.
One of my dearest friends Jakki had a conference in London and she stayed a few extra days in London to visit Kim and I at the end. We had a blast! We explored alot of England’s old & new traditions and some tourist sites.
Harvey Nichol’s was on our trip itinerary. Jakki wanted to see where people shop and shop we did at Harvey Nichol’s & Harrods. We didn’t get into town until noon and shops close at 6pm so we only saw the two of them with a break at Harvey’s for lunch. The restaurant at Harvey Nichol’s attracted young and old, trendy and touristy. I like to think we fell into both of the later. We both agreed that we liked Harvey Nichol’s better as it was a bit more hip but Harrods was interesting to visit for its old school charm. They had a live opera singer, singing in a balcony that over looked the escalator. That was worth the trip cross-town for sure!
We then went on a search for high tea. Traditionally a high tea was had at noon. Most places now serve tea from 4-6 in the afternoon. You usually have to reserve. We didn’t so we wound up at a very cute French cafe that served high tea. The clotted cream and assorted jams with a smooth sip of tea kept us going for our next stop, the London Eye.
This was built at the Millennium by British Airways and will only stay until 2010. The London Eye and I have something in common- we’re only in London for a limited time so come see us while you can! It’s huge! The structure, the capsule you stand and walk around in and the distance it takes to get around. In the half hour we were up there I was a bit paranoid of the height so all photos are courtesy of Kim and Jakki. I have never been one for heights!
We then took Jakki to one of our favorite Italian restaurants on the Thames and ate like Kings and Queens! We were exhausted when we got home but ready for next days surprise activities for sure!
We hopped in the car at noon and headed south to Stone Henge. Jakki only found out where we were going as she has a keen eye and saw the last possible sign telling us which way to go for Stone Henge. What an amazing site to see. It’s smack dab in the middle of a huge field. Some people just stop on the side of the motorway to take photos. There were loads of people inside as well taking photos and listening to the audio tour. Flip through the photos for some facts about Stone Henge. We didn’t have much time so we went VERY quickly, thanks to Kim’s great driving skills to Bath, England.
The brief facts: Bath is a city (population approx. 100,000) located in the southwest of England, not far from Bristol. The earliest documented inhabitants were the Romans, who indulged themselves in Bath’s thermal springs (unique in the UK). Bath’s second high-profile era was the eighteenth century, when the town was a hugely popular resort for royalty, aristocracy, gamblers and rakes. In between ‘taking the waters’ at the Pump Rooms, and attending colourful assemblies, Bath’s Georgian tourists indulged in all manner of intrigues, and the kind of superficial lifestyle described by one-time resident Jane Austen.
We got there to late to see any of the pump rooms but the architecture and city street themselves were wonderful to see. We got home late and exhausted again but so excited to have seen such amazing artifacts of history.
Jakki left the following day very early in the morning. We were sad to see her go but hopefully her work will fly her over here again in the spring! Thanks for taking time out to visit us Jakki!
