Cacti, cookies, coast and condors

I went down the coast again with the ladies, this time it was with my mom and the aunties.  Yesterday was one of my aunties' birthday and so naturally we needed to celebrate.  The plan was to drive down the coast in the morning, to Big Sur, have a treat from the Big Sur Bakery, go for a hike and then have lunch at Nepenthe.

Well, we got a later start that expected - which is to be expected.  On the drive down, we stopped at Save-Mart, one auntie had forgotten her sunglasses and as she says "fashion first."  She ran in and bought cheap-o sunglasses as my mom, other auntie and I plotted how we would liberate the tri-tip being BBQed on a grill outside the store, unattended.  Seriously?

We parked at Nepenthe, we were going to eat there after all.  But first we had to stop at the Phoenix Shop.  It's a shop below the restaurant that sells great books, stationary, jewelry, clothing, cosmetics and all sorts of home accessories.  Sampling hand cream, leafing through books and perusing the clothes sale rack really works up an appetite so up the stairs we hiked to eat lunch.  So much for hiking...

We waited to be seated, admiring flowers and making quite the scene.  The weather was gorgeous and it was nice to see so many people out enjoying the sun and the scenery.

We were seated on the back patio, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The view was breathtaking.  I have a picture below but it doesn't even begin to do justice to the beauty that we had the pleasure of admiring.  We had a slow meal sharing each plate, family style.  A woman walked by with a baby on her hip, wearing just a onesie and had a fountain of hair coming out of the top of her head.  I stopped my story mid-sentence and began my well-versed baby flirtation.  Within minutes the baby was on my lap and she had all my attention, I was in heaven.

After our 3-hour meal, we decided we were tired and we should probably head to the bakery for birthday goodies before going back home.  The Big Sur Bakery is nestled in The Big Sur Spirit Garden. How beautiful!  We walked through the cacti and sweet peas, among other flora.  There was a man watering the garden and the smell of wet plants on a hot day is unmistakable - it gets etched in your scent memory pretty vividly.  It reminded me of watering plants in the summer with my uncle on his land, north of Damascus.  He taught me how to syphon water out of the well despite being on an uneven surface.  What nostalgia!  For a moment your psyche transports you to that time and place.  You are who you were when you were there.  The smell is the same in these two place, where you are in actuality and the place in which you have olfactory memories.  I guess your soul, if you believe in souls, is the same, but your body has changed; what we remember in our mind fails to point out the differences, the pain, whatever.  You are simply existing in two places at once - in your memory and in the present.  It's truly phenomenal.

We were disappointed, as the bakery was in transition from lunch to dinner and there were no pastries left, it was 3:00 in the afternoon, after all.  As we piled back in the car, my aunt pulled out a little bag of coconut, apricot cookies and a bar of dark chocolate.  She is always prepared...take note.

While attempting to nap in the backseat on the drive home, I was startled by our abruptly pulling off onto the shoulder.  I naturally jumped out of the car as my aunties did - they were armed with a camera and binoculars.  After a great deal of binocular focusing and oohing and aahing we decided that we were in the presence of 2 California Condors and 2 vultures.  Cool!  We took turns passing around the binoculars.  One auntie is a naturally trained biologist.  And I mean naturally in the literal sense of the word, like in nature.  She explained the difference between a condor and a vulture and as she did, a third condor flew in and joined the other birds in circling their dinner - and putting a show on for us.  She explained that condors have up to a 9 foot wingspan and that they have white on top of their wings and below, whereas vultures are smaller and don't have the white on top of the wings.  We marveled at their magnificence in the mid-afternoon sun until they were through and flew off.  It was really the perfect ending to our day.

cool picture from the deck of Nepenthe as we waited to be seated, not too patiently

view from our table...oak tree + Pacific Ocean + fog

deck at Nepenthe, sweet checkerboard that these kids were playing some form of hopscotch on :)

Grapes!

Cacti

Gelato for breakfast

Yes, I'm having gelato at 9:43 am. I'm in DC and it's hot and the gelato is delicious.  I stopped at Pitango on 7th St, downtown.  I ordered rhubarb sorbet. Quite lovely. Tangy, soft, cold, delicious. A nice break in my day off that I'm spending walking around the nation's capital.

Dinner on the Red Sea

We walked from our hotel to a restaurant that was famed to have great, fresh fish, Fluka. 

On the way, we were stopped by a Bedouin young man with a camel on a rope.  I went to take a picture and he had the camel heel and kneel and told me to get on it for the picture.  Ok.  I went over and stepped on the rug of a saddle, flung my leg over his/her backside and sat on it.  Before my dad could even take the picture, the man had the camel stand up.  If you have not had the wonderful experience of riding a camel, I'm sorry.  First, the camel props him/herself up on it's hind knees, so you hold on tight to the reins and your upper body is flung forward, then up on his/her hind legs, a bit more of a fling forward and then up onto all fours, as the front legs come up, and your body flies back.  It's quite exhilarating.   

me on the camel :)

The man handed me the reins and started clicking with his mouth.  The camel started walking.   "Ok, thank you" I said.  I thought we were just taking a picture but it soon became evident that this was a business transaction for him.  I road the camel up and down the sidewalk, making small talk with the man.  "Ok," I said, "no no," he calmly replied "you will ride the camel back down the alley.  Looks like I didn't have a choice.  It's very peaceful, riding a camel.  Your lower body moves forward with the body of the camel and your upper body follows.  It's really amazing, when you watch the camel walk, it moves both right front and right hind leg forward, together and then left front and left hind leg next.  This is unlike a horse and not that it can really be compared, but also unlike a human, we walk with our right leg and left arm forward and then reverse, to balance.  They really are amazing creatures. 

Sally and the camel, ha ha

I finished my ride.  Now for the camel to sit down, front legs collapse to the ground and your upper body flies forward.  You feel as though you will fly right off, somersaulting off the camels head. Thankfully that did not happen.  Then the back legs plop down and your body gets flung back.  Really cool sensation.  My dad put his hand in his pocket to give the man some money.  The man asked for 10 Dinar, about $14.  My dad got angry.  He started yelling at the man, "she just wanted a picture, you took her for a ride, this is a rip off."  This happens a lot with tourists and camel owners.  My dad tried to give him 2 dinar, the man said it wouldn't do.  He insisted that it was fine and we didn't need to pay.  I felt bad, "How about 5?" "That won't work," the man responded, "khalas (enough) it's on us."  My dad was not pleased, "okay Sally, let's go," and he started to walk away.  My insides hurt.  I gave him the 5, thanked him a lot and went away.  My dad was mumbling how this wasn't the first time this happened and they always cheat you, etc. etc. 

We made our way to the restaurant we'd been directed to.

shrimps!

Thank you for sacrificing yourself fishy, for my gastronomic delight

We sat down at the restaurant and had fish, caught that day in Red Sea, along with wine and various breads and dips.  The fish was prepared "harra," which means hot/spicy, with red peppers, green peppers, cilantro, garlic, and whatnot (see image below).  We had white wine made in Jordan, which was quite delightful, from a vineyard call Zumot. This is what life is about.  Sharing a nice meal with people you love.  Sharing stories and experiences and just enjoying whatever life has to offer.  I wish that for you.  

Before

after