While everyone knows that Hollywood is the hot spot for film premieres, I've been suprirsed since moving to London at the number of films that also have openings here.

Paul managed to catch the premiere of Skyfall when we first moved to London, but since then, I have missed every single one. Since they often fall on weekdays, I seem to always be inconveniently out of town when the premieres happen, including the premiere for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

So, when a friend asked me to catch the Monuments Men premiere with her AND I was in town, I knew I had to try.

Now, let me preface this by saying that we didn't actually attend the movie itself. We settled with standing outside the theatre in Leicester Square with hopes that the stars would walk by us. We got there about 5:30, with the film scheduled to start somewhere around 7:00.  While the weather has been pleasant lately, there was a chill in the air in addition to the blustery weather. Even bundled up, it was cold, especially as I had my hands out of my pockets and gloves waiting to snatch some photos.

We were positioned on the blockades that were up by where the cars enter, just up from the red carpet so we could see (even if someone distantly) as people walked by. After 20 minutes of waiting, the first celebrity rolls up. It's a funny van, so we decide it won't be anyone important and go back to watching.

Then, all of a sudden, we hear screaming. It turns out, it was someone important. George Clooney! He makes the rounds to nearly all the fans, including walking all the way down to our barricades to sign autographs and say hi (including to us!). He was a laid back guy, and looked just like he does on the screen in real life, even from less than 3 feet away.

My sadly blurry George Clooney photo

Happy that we had at least one celebrity sighting, we went back to waiting. Slowly, but surely, the rest of the cast arrived. John Goodman, then Bill Murray, Jean DuJardin, Hugh Bonneville and then Matt Damon. Unfortunately, none of the rest made their way off the red carpet, so we didn't see much more than anyone watching on TV.

Finally, after I decided I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, we called it a night and fought the crowds to grab a bite to eat.

I must say, it's quite the spectacle and if you find yourself in London - stop by and see if you can join in. I think the crowds probably start lining up very early for the red carpet positions, but even a bit further out, you never know which friendly star may decide to make their fans day!

I am someone who thinks themselves an expert traveler. With over 150,000 miles logged in planes last year alone, I revile in my elite status on airlines and am the person who get huffy in the security lane waiting on people to figure out their liquids.

I have set rules for air travel, which I religiously follow.

1. Keep your liquids in a bag separate from the rest of the toiletries - I have a separate baggie that my liquids stay in all the time (even at home) and then tuck them in the front pocket of my bag for easy access.
2. Check in online - easy and saves you time.
3. Always carry on! Unless you're gone for a week, you can fit at it in a carry on.
4. Avoid airplane bathrooms - harder on a 10 hour flight, but worth an attempt. They are gross and even grosser when you watch as someone is in there 15 minutes before coming out. And the worst offense - going in barefoot!

When Paul and I went to Dubai in January, I tossed my airline rules to the wind when my flight was delayed by 2.5 hours til 4:45 am and checked my bag. Usually, this is the least important one to follow (at least for me) and sometimes can't be avoided.

As I collected my bag, I noticed it was unzipped, got home, double checked and my jewelry had been stolen. Luckily, nothing important, expensive or sentimental (I was wearing my most sentimental, the first jewelry Paul ever bought me), but stolen nonetheless.

Credit

I was at a loss - after over a decade of international travel, I had baggage lost in transit, but returned, beaten up like crazy on the flight, but nothing ever permanently missing.

What are the lessons learned from this for a seasoned traveler?

1. Don't check your bag if you can help it
2. Don't put anything of value in there, and especially not at the top of the bags!
3. Get TSA or airline approved locks where you can
4. Have travel insurance - it wasn't necessary here because it wasn't all that expensive, but I'd be crying a river if expensive jewelry or electronics are taken
5. The airline won't do anything. After a compeletely useless phone call and even more worthless email, their stance is never put jewelry in your baggage. My stance? Never let your workers steal it

After all this, all I can say is I'm thankful it wasn't something more and I have been lucky enough to avoid most travel & baggage mishaps. I know there are lots of people out there you can't say the same, which I unhappily discovered while searching forums on stolen property from baggage. 

Before 2014, I had been to Dubai something like 5 times in the span of just over a year. It's quickly becoming a global hub, meaning that I had more and more reasons to go there.

We had actually not planned to join the Chinese New Years Celebrations in Trafalgar Square.

But, as we bid adieu to a London friend, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of it all.


Trafalgar Square was packed, lanterns everywhere, firecrackers going off and a stage up front where people welcomed in the year of the dragon.


While we missed the parade, we still got a feel of the celebration and it was well timed.

The end of an era for our friend in London, the beginning of a new year - the year of the horse.  As this marks our second year in London, we'll have more people leaving but perhaps this is a nice reminder that every ending is a new beginning.

Here's to the year of the horse, filled with happiness, friends and lots of adventures.

Our first exposure to Buddhism was during our time in China - a quick side trip in Shanghai found us in the Jade Buddha temple.

In Sri Lanka, there are several famed temples that we had the opportunity to visit and with a guide this time, learn a bit more about Buddhism.


The first stop was the Dalada Maligawa. This is probably the most famous in Sri Lanka due to it's precious relics, some of Buddha's teeth. When Buddha was cremated, 4 of his teeth were taken from his ashes. Legend says these teeth were sent separately to different temples, and one of them found their way over time around 1600 AD to what is more commonly known as the Temple of the Tooth. The tooth theme carries throughout the temple, with large tusks adorning various rooms within. There is also a special shrine just for the case that hold the teeth (you can't actually see the teeth themselves), although this shrine is only opened up at specific times throughout the day, and only removed from the temple once a year. We went during one of the shrine opening times: Pro - you can see the shrine, con - you're joining the rest of the throngs to see the shrine.

 After you queue and are ushered by the shrine, there are a few other rooms to wander around within the temple. One includes Buddha statues from all over the world, another closes shortly after the shrine with golden Buddhas, and the stone wall surrounding the building itself. At night, with the incense lit up in offering, lotus leafs and candles, it's magical (albeit crowded).

 The next day, we had a different experience at the Dambulla Cave Temple. These caves have been in use for more than 22 consecutive centuries, eventually developing into their current form around the 12th century.

Upon approaching the site of the caves, you see a giant gold Buddha on top of a building. Ignore this and proceed - while it's certainly a site, it's not what you're looking for. Follow the stairs up to the true attraction. It's a nice, somewhat steep walk, with monkeys darting across your path, hoping to steal your lotuses for an afternoon snack. Finally, you find yourselves at the entrance where you deposit your shoes before entering the grounds.

As you walk in barefoot, the heat of the sun made the concrete almost uncomfortable to walk on, but then, you find yourselves in the cool respite of the caves. The caves hold 157 different Buddha statues in 5 different caves, but the biggest draw are the paintings which fill all the temples. The caves aren't the ideal places for paintings with lots of moisture and natural elements, despite being sheltered by buildings that have been built around them, but they take care to re-paint them and keep up the tradition.

While we were in Sri Lanka for a short time and only got to catch the biggest highlights of the country, there are temples and ancient ruins to be found all over the country. Next time, there will be even more to explore!

As you may have figured out from some of the blogs on Cape Town, Dubai, Brussels and more, I travel for work - a lot!

Nearly every country has their touristic icon - Big Ben & Parliament for UK, Aya Sofia for Turkey, Eiffel Tower for France.

For Sri Lanka, the icon is Sigiriya Rock. While I wasn't sure what all we would do while we were there, I knew that this place had to be on the list.

Besides it's unique look - a rock jutting out above the trees surrounded by a beautiful green plain - it has a unique history. Both of these probably contributed to it's addition to the UNESCO World Heritage list.  It's history is actually both short and long at the same time. Long, as it dates back to 477 AD when it was established as a palace for Kassapa I; short, as it's time as a palace spanned only 18 years before Kassapa was killed by his brother who wanted to take over the throne.

Called Lion Mountain, this was one of two of Kassapa's palaces - one at the top of the rock, and one at the bottom for winter & summer palaces. The palace was supposed to be impenetrable and protect Kassapa from his brother and other enemies, although that didn't quite seem to work.

We set out one day to climb to the top of the fortress for beautiful views of the surrounding landscape, as well as see the iconic terraced lawns on top. Even though it was the winter, it was warm so it is smart to get an early start to avoid the hottest time of the day, and the crowds.

 The first main attraction on the way up are the caves which hold the rock paintings of The Maidens of the Clouds. These paintings are now covered to protect the paint from fading although there has already been some damage, but you can still clearly see the reason for the name. You climb narrow, twisting staircases (originally from the London underground and obviously not part of the original landscape) to reach these paintings and the terrace built into the side of the rock.

 Next, the climb continues to the Lion's entrance. The rock has three entrances - the elephant, the cobra and the lion. The elephant and cobra are natural rocks named after their closest animal resemblances, but the lion entrance was man-made. It used to be entered through a lion's mouth, but now all that remains are the lions feet flocking either side of the entrance.

Above the Lion's Feet

From here, it's a short climb until you reach the top. This is where the king dwelled; his throne carved out of rock overlooking the pools and terraces.  It may seem like a rudimentary 5th century rock palace, yet when you look closer, you see lots of little things that show how sophisticated this palace was for its time. Waterways to both transport water and help cool the rock during the hot of summer, fountains that use the pressure of the water flowing down the rock to create a spray. While it's mainly ruins after over 1,500 years, you can still see traces of what used to be and of course, the view is still fantastic.

Take a moment, catch your breath, then reverse (or perhaps follow your guides directions and take a jumping photo up top).

Overall, it's my favourite thing we did in Sri Lanka, but it isn't for everyone. It's a tough climb, and while you don't have to be in shape, there aren't lots of places to stop and rest. It's usually one stairway up, and same back down so be prepared to keep on moving!

When we were looking at options to get to the Maldives, the best (and cheapest) way was to fly through Colombo in Sri Lanka.  As I thought about our 10 day holiday, I realised it would be better for our pocketbooks and perhaps Paul's sanity if we didn't spend the whole time in tropical paradise as planned.

So, after we found ourselves appropriately tanned, well rested and through a few books, we left the Maldives for completely different type of adventure in Sri Lanka.

I was lucky enough to have a co-worker from the area, which made the whole idea even more possible, as I could easily justify why we should be there. She also helped us get in touch with local travel agents who could put together a driver for us and suggest some of the best sites to see and itineraries.

"Highway" stall selling veggies - these were everywhere

Despite all the insider knowledge given to me, I was still surprised by Sri Lanka in a few different ways.

It is one of the most lush countries I have ever been too - every inch not occupied by humans or other structures, seemed to be covered in trees, bushes or other plants. The rolling hills also helped to add to the landscape of all the green, as green valleys and peaks would go as far as the eye could see.

Sri Lanka version of the Hollywood sign - for a tea plantation

On the other hand, it is probably one of the least developed countries I have been too. Even in Kenya, they had highways spanning the country to take tourists from one reserve to the other. In Sri Lanka, they just finished the first highway in the country, and it's only in the capital city Colombo. Since we spent most of our time in Kandy to the north, we spent hours on little back road, one lane highways clogged with tuk-tuks, cars, buses and even large cargo trucks. This is where the driver comes in handy - it seems to be you honk your horn 20 times in frustration, zoom around the car, repeat the process until you're out from behind whoever started the slow down. Then repeat 1 mile later.

The imfaous tuk-tuk

 Much of this is due to the civil war that spanned 27 years in Sri Lanka's not too distant history.  In 1983, the conflict began with insurgents, the Tamils, trying to create an independent state. For nearly 3 decades, the war continued, with 80,000-100,000 people killed and an unsuccessful ceasefire until the Tamil leader finally admitted defeat in 2009. Needless to say, this history left a mark on the development of Sri Lanka.

But, progress is underway and who knows where Sri Lanka will find itself in a few years. Hopefully a few roads richer, with all the charm you find today of road stands with king coconuts, little monkeys roaming around and lots of history, both good and bad.