Category: travels

vegas and the grand canyon

so vegas is a glorified disney world/cruise ship/strip mall, but the grand canyon is absolutely mind-blowing! i knew that vegas wouldn’t be my thing. after the first moment of shock and amusement at the blatantly fake statue of liberty and eiffel tower, the strip just struck me as a sad sad place. the tourist traffic is relentless and the pawn shops r pretty visible, esp around the old strip. at some point it was the city of crime and sin i guess, now it’s just a depressing mall. but i enjoyed the drive to the grand canyon and all the tiny towns we came across. had lunch in seligman for example at lilo’s westside cafe where they serve german-american food. bought some arizona honey too – pecan flavored, totally delish.

pictures below:

1) elvis is everywhere in las vegas.
2) the beautiful lake mead on the way to arizona.
3) the grand canyon, close to sunset.
4) ravens are much bigger and shinier than crows.
5) a view of the grand canyon from the old watchtower.
6) the havasupai people have lived on the southern rim of the canyon for centuries.
7) with my son.

elvis is everywhere in las vegas.
the beautiful lake mead on the way to arizona.
the grand canyon, close to sunset.

ravens are much bigger and shinier than crows.

a view of the grand canyon from the old watchtower.
the havasupai people have lived on the southern rim of the canyon for centuries.
with my son.

pakistan’s gandhara art in ny!

back from seeing pakistan’s gandhara art at the asia society museum in ny! brilliant!
…

Asia Society Museum presents an exhibition of spectacular Buddhist sculptures, architectural reliefs and works of gold and bronze from the Gandhara region of Pakistan, most never exhibited before in the United States. These artworks show the rich artistic heritage of Gandhara as a geographical and historic region and as a particular style of art. The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara reveals the complex cultural influences—from Scytho-Parthian to Greco-Roman traditions—that fed the extraordinary artistic production of this region from the first century B.C.E. through the fifth century C.E.

At its height, Gandhara—whose center was situated in present-day Peshawar in northwest Pakistan—encompassed Bamiyan in Afghanistan, Bactria, the Hindu Kush, and the Punjab region of northwest India. The majority of Gandharan art known today is Buddhist in origin. Buddhism reached Gandhara as early as the third century B.C.E., and began to flourish in the first century C.E. as Silk Road trade and cross-cultural connections from the Mediterranean to China fostered its spread.
…

More here.

mara ahmed - gandhara art in ny

erró’s thought provoking art

was introduced to erró, one of iceland’s most remarkable artists, at the reykjavik museum of art. the museum was built in order to house the work that he has generously donated. his collages, paintings and sculptures r not only beautiful but political. check these out, they’re called “retreat from iraq” (mixed media, 2005) and la petroleuse (mixed media, 1977).

retreat from iraq by erro

la petroleuse by erro

am loving iceland

on glacier mýrdalsjökull, which is about 5000 ft high and 230 sq miles, with my husband and our guide ingi (center). the glacier is pretty close to eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that erupted last year and disrupted air travel all over europe.

glacier mýrdalsjökull - iceland, aug 2011

spring break in nyc

stayed at the kimberley hotel in midtown. day 1: went to central park zoo with the kids, saw picasso’s guitars and abstract expressionism at the moma, and had dinner at haandi. day 2: saw marcia kure’s photomontages at susan inglett, had delicious chinese food in chelsea and finally spent the evening in times square. went to jersey to spend the night with my brother and his family. a great mini vacay.

mara and mimi in central park

home!

home sweet home!!! back after getting up at 4 am, having to pay a departure tax (wha?) of $104 to leave costa rica, having to dish out another $50 coz a suitcase was slightly overweight, fighting for my hand cream right before boarding the plane coz it wasn’t in a ziploc bag, landing in newark and having my husband undergo special “checking” coz he happens to have a male muslim name (welcome to racial profiling) and being told (as at a checkpoint) that it could take anywhere b/w 15 minutes to oh, many many hrs (sorry if u miss ur connecting flight), waiting for another 3 hrs at an insanely overcrowded airport and finally making it home. that’s the price one has to pay for a brilliant vacation i guess.