Aurora Borealis, Aurora Autralis.

This past summer I went to the Arctic Circle visiting Norway and Sweden. I saw some beautiful places, pristine lakes, snow covered mountains, gorgeous fjords, surrounding small towns, and I mean small. The people were very nice and friendly.

These places are gorgeous and I would like to go back in February when the northern lights are most visible.   However, when I think of the cold and that I don’t have the right clothes, my desire dissipates. After all, I don’t want to buy clothes and boots and all the other paraphernalia needed for such extreme weather, when I only would be using them for one week, and I am not an outside type of person anyway, much less in winter.

The Aurora Borealis are form when electrically charged particles from the sun enters the atmosphere, forming beautiful rays of colors in greens and pinks and sometimes red, yellow, blue, and violet, creating a magnificent dance between all the colors.

What most people don’t know is the Aurora Australis or the Southern Lights which are form and presented the same way than the famous Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.

What is interesting is that the lights happen at the same time at both poles and they are identical but in reverse, like a mirror image.

I remember as a young girl sitting on the beach looking at the southern lights dancing in the sky, there were so beautiful. I have also seen the northern lights and they were more magnificent just for the mere fact that they were closer to where I was.

The best places to see them are in the Arctic Circle in Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Antarctica, and the south of Argentina.

I have really enjoyed the Arctic Circle however, I am a city girl; I have proven it time and time again, nevertheless I still will be visiting remote places because if I am traveling the world I need to see and experience everything, not just the cities.

Christmas Victorian Market sky

During the Christmas season the city of Nottingham had a very nice Victorian Market. Many days I went over for a walk and to eat in the many food stall. I eat Ostrich burger, Kangaroo burger and German wieners with roasted potatoes. In another stall they roasted ham and they looked great, so one day I stopped there to get a sandwich.

After I bought the sandwich I turned around to stand by a table, when I saw the sky painted in brilliant pinks, lavenders and purples mixed into the blue. within second they turned into bright reds, oranges, and yellows.

 I put down my sandwich on a table and I proceeded to take pictures of that gorgeous sky, when I hear somebody screaming “NO” behind me. As I turned around I see this couple that had this beautiful big white dog that was eating my sandwich.

They apologized over and over and offered to buy me another one, I told them they did not have to but they did anyway. And to tell you the truth, I can’t blame the dog, the sandwich was delicious.

Jahi McMath

One of the worse pains a mother can experience is when her child dies. As a mother I don’t even want to imagine the pain and suffering, especially when it’s a child.

I feel bad for the parents of Jahi McMath, but they need to accept that the girl is brain death. She is not in a vegetative estate, she is death. The only reason her body still functioning it’s because she is hook to a machine.

 I don’t understand why they want to keep her on that estate, confined to a machine for ever. That is not life, it has not quality, it has no life.

In my opinion they should donate her organs while they are still viable, this way they can give a better life to many other children needing organs to survive. This way her death would have some meaning and the parent can continue with their lives knowing that Jahi still lives on.

The Devil's Violin Company

On my way to a house sit in Nottingham, I stopped in Coventry to visit a dear old friend for a few days.

When I arrived there was this very nice CouchSurfer lady staying there for couple days too.

That first night the three of us went to Stretton On Fosse Village to see a story telling group at the local hall.

We left the main road and drove through this little country road where there were no houses or street light, just darkness surrounded by trees. After what it seemed for ever we reached this little, little village with this little hall, to find out that yes, we were in the right place.

The Devil’s Violin Company consist of a lady playing the Cello, a guy playing the violin, another guy playing the Accordion and a guy telling the story. And what a great ensemble it was.

That night they were presenting “A Love Like Salt” which consisted of 3 plays based on Shakespeare King Lear with a touch of Cinderella, and “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer.

They did not present the stories as they are, they put their own twist on them making them enthralling, suspenseful, funny, captivating, and just wonderful. At moment you laughed, at other you sat at the edge of your seat.

The story teller was great, his intonation, body language, pauses and delivery were excellent.  

The music made feel like if you were feeling what was going on, it wasn’t just background music, it was setting the scene and letting you feel it and it not just complimented the stories it made them more powerful. I don’t know if the music was Celtic or Gypsy, all I know that it was great.

The British government subsidies this kind of programs, so remote or small towns can also enjoy plays that otherwise would not be able to afford to bring into their towns.

All in all it was a great night, great play and great company.

Riga, Latvia

What an interesting Sunday I had with two very different activities.

A few days before the Sunday in question I met one of my host friends, a very nice Russian man that was very eager to show me his Riga.

He invited my host and me to attend services at the Lutheran Anglican church, where the services are in English so I would be able to participate. I told him that I am not a religious person but he was being so nice wanting to share part of his life with me, so without wanting to hurt his feelings, I accepted.

The service was nice, a little different than catholic services and they were only one hour long, so it wasn’t that bad.  After the services I was introduced to the congregation. The Pastor was very nice and charismatic and in attendance were the American Ambassador and her family, so I was introduced to them also.

After the services we walked the old town toward the market, which as you know, I like markets.

Then back to my host’s home for a few hours and then to a country sauna, and what experience that was.

A 73 yrs. old Russian lady, which is a wind surfing instructor, invited us to her country sauna.

Country saunas are run by a wood stove with the stones on top, and they are very hot, some are 86° and some over 100°. It is recommended to wear a thick hat and gloves as not to get burn.  So there I was, naked and wearing a wool cap and ready for the experience.

After being in the sauna for a while it is recommended to cool down rapidly, so these saunas are usually located near a lake or cold pool, or at least a shower.

After a few times in an out, everybody run to the lake and jumped in, except me. As my feet touched the freezing water while listening to all the other ladies scream as they dived in, I could not do it. I just got wet with my hands and that was it for me. I know, I should have got in, after all, that is one of the benefits because the sudden contrast from hot to cold is good for the blood vessels and renews the skin making it more flexible, but I am a chicken.

Then one more time to the sauna where I lay while a lady swatted me. The swatting is done with dry brunches of birch, oak, linden or juniper. My swatting was done with oak branches and pine branches. These branches are wrapped into a bouquet and tide with their own leaves. These bouquets get wet before they are used.

First they fan the bouquet in the air sprinkling the water around and making the sauna even hotter, and then I got rubbed with the branches and then swatted with them. Actually, it felt good, very relaxing even that it was very hot and I could hardly breath, but they put a bouquet of wet pine branches over my face so I could breathe better and it worked.

Then one more time everybody went into the lake and this time I did not even try, I just stood under the rain feeling relaxed while cooling down. Besides it is such a feeling of freedom to stand naked on a field feeling the water falling on my body, just great.

One more time into the sauna for a honey scrub and then a nice shower and a good night sleep.

Next morning I felt brand new and so revitalized…

I have been to saunas all my life, and I have heard about the swatting Nordic saunas, but this was the first time experiencing one and hopefully won’t be the last one.