Travels With Maria

Author: Bruce Ishikawa

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

The Sewers of Paris

In 1998, Maria and I visited Paris, arriving the morning after France beat Brazil in the World Cup. We ran around the place sightseeing, trying to pack in as much of this great city as possible. One interesting thing we did was to take a tour of the sewers. I had heard of this years before, so when we discovered that the tour location was right on our way between one site and some other, we decided to check out Paris underground. The Paris sewers are an engineering marvel. They follow the streets, small streets have small sewers, larger have larger sewers. The whole system works by gravity, including a…
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

The Sewers of Paris

In 1998, Maria and I visited Paris, arriving the morning after France beat Brazil in the World Cup. We ran around the place sightseeing, trying to pack in as much of this great city as possible. One interesting thing we did was to take a tour of the sewers. I had heard of this years before, so when we discovered that the tour location was right on our way between one site and some other, we decided to check out Paris underground. The Paris sewers are an engineering marvel. They follow the streets, small streets have small sewers, larger have larger sewers. The whole system works by gravity, including a…
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

The Sewers of Paris

In 1998, Maria and I visited Paris, arriving the morning after France beat Brazil in the World Cup. We ran around the place sightseeing, trying to pack in as much of this great city as possible. One interesting thing we did was to take a tour of the sewers. I had heard of this years before, so when we discovered that the tour location was right on our way between one site and some other, we decided to check out Paris underground. The Paris sewers are an engineering marvel. They follow the streets, small streets have small sewers, larger have larger sewers. The whole system works by gravity, including a…
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

The Sewers of Paris

In 1998, Maria and I visited Paris, arriving the morning after France beat Brazil in the World Cup. We ran around the place sightseeing, trying to pack in as much of this great city as possible. One interesting thing we did was to take a tour of the sewers. I had heard of this years before, so when we discovered that the tour location was right on our way between one site and some other, we decided to check out Paris underground. The Paris sewers are an engineering marvel. They follow the streets, small streets have small sewers, larger have larger sewers. The whole system works by gravity, including a…
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

The Sewers of Paris

In 1998, Maria and I visited Paris, arriving the morning after France beat Brazil in the World Cup. We ran around the place sightseeing, trying to pack in as much of this great city as possible. One interesting thing we did was to take a tour of the sewers. I had heard of this years before, so when we discovered that the tour location was right on our way between one site and some other, we decided to check out Paris underground. The Paris sewers are an engineering marvel. They follow the streets, small streets have small sewers, larger have larger sewers. The whole system works by gravity, including a…
More

Midnight at the Oasis

On the morning of May 4, a Toyota 4WD picked us up at the hotel. Maria didn't know where we were going. Off we went into the desert. For the first hour or so, we were on paved road, but then the driver turned off onto a gravel / dirt / rocky track that seemed to get worse with every mile. We were bouncing pretty hard and the tough vehicle sounded like it might fall apart with constant banging. No sign of life except for the occasional herd of goats. Then the desert changed from rocky to sandy and off in the distance we saw green. I told Maria that was…
More

Tunisian Desert and Star Wars

We celebrated Maria's birthday by taking a bus tour into the Sahara. They said there are three types of desert: rocky, salt, and sandy. We went through miles of rocky desert, stopping at an oasis where there were date palms, viewing camel caravans, and visiting underground houses which were used as sets on the Star Wars movies. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camels![/caption] [caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Underground House Used in Star Wars Set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hillside Village in the Desert[/caption] [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Rugs Drying Provide a Spash of Color[/caption] [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Caravanserai Used as Star Wars Set[/caption]
More

Djerba Island

Djerba island is just off the east coast of Tunisia. It is a resort area with lots of European tourists. We hung around Djerba for several days, relaxing around the pool, visiting the spa, taking a motorbike tour and riding camels. A former French colony, Tunisia has a lot of visitors from France, but we were surprised by the number of Italians we ran into. But then, looking at a map, Italy is really close. We bought a lot of spices from this guy. Big bags of lots of good stuff. Our luggage smelled of spice market for the rest of the trip. [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Something we don't see…
More

The Biggest Surprise

Our tenth anniversary was going to be April 29, 2005.  Some months earlier, I began planning a surprise trip for Maria. I had given her a series of cryptic hints in the weeks leading up to departure and told her what to pack but she had no idea where we were going, only when. On departure day, we went to Logan and were dropped off at terminal E, International Departures. We went inside and ended up in the line to check in for Paris. "Oh, we're going to France!" she said excitedly. "That's where we start," I replied. The overnight flight brought us to Paris, where we landed in the early…
More

The Sewers of Paris

In 1998, Maria and I visited Paris, arriving the morning after France beat Brazil in the World Cup. We ran around the place sightseeing, trying to pack in as much of this great city as possible. One interesting thing we did was to take a tour of the sewers. I had heard of this years before, so when we discovered that the tour location was right on our way between one site and some other, we decided to check out Paris underground. The Paris sewers are an engineering marvel. They follow the streets, small streets have small sewers, larger have larger sewers. The whole system works by gravity, including a…
More