The wonderful round tower at Timahoe in County Laois has to be one of the finest in Ireland. The Round Tower stands on the site of a monastery, said to have been founded by Saint Mochua in the seventh century AD. 

Sculpture of St.Mochua's Desk, with his rooster, mouse and fly. Created in by Michael Burke with the staff and students of Scoil Mhuire Fatima in 2004.

 St. Mochua was a seventh century warrior who converted to christianity and became a hermit, he had no worldly possessions at all apart from his psalter, a rooster, a mouse and a fly. The Rooster kept the hour of matins for him so he never missed prayers, the mouse made sure he never slept more than three hours a night by licking his ears if he fell asleep while praying, and the fly would mark his position in the psalter so he never lost his place. The dwelling where St. Mochua lived – Teách Mochua – gives its name to Timahoe.

The site is most famous for the wonderful round tower that is thought to date from the early part of the twelfth century. It has the most ornate, romanesque-style doorway of any round tower in Ireland, and in the right light conditions you can make out wonderfully intricate carvings of interlacing chevrons and representations of human heads. This doorway is positioned approximately 5m up from the ground level, with the tower itself standing almost 30m tall. For centuries scholars debated about what exactly these iconic Irish round towers were actually used for, with ideas ranging from them serving as look out points or refuges in case of Viking raids. However it is likely that round towers were primarily bell towers, even their name in Irish 'Cloig Teach' translates to 'bell house'. The towers would have also been highly visible markers in the landscape, serving almost as a lighthouse to weary pilgrims who would know that a Round Tower meant a monastic site, where they can buy accommodation and warm food for the night.

You can also discover the remains of a fifteenth century Franciscan Friary church. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1540's, the church and friary were converted into a defensive castle, though little of that survives today. The nineteenth century church next to the round tower is now used as a library.

Timahoe is a wonderfully peaceful site to visit and is very easy to access. You'll find it about 10km south from Portlaoise on the R426 heading towards Carlow. If you're visiting Timahoe why not try the amazing Rock of Dunamase that is located close by to the north. We have a free audioguide available that will lead you around this magnificent site and tells you the story of its bloody and tempestuous history. You can download the guide for free from www.abartaaudioguides.com and it is now available as a great free audio-visual app for iPhone. Simply download the free Guidigo app and access Dunamase from there.

I hope you enjoy this blog, we're trying to cover as many sites as we can across Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions about sites you'd like us to cover please do leave us a comment. If you enjoy information and images of Irish heritage sites then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+

All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com

 One of the most important sites in prehistoric Ireland, Navan Fort (also known as Emain Macha) is an incredible place of mythology and archaeology. Like The Hill of Tara, one of the other great ‘Royal Sites’ of prehistoric Ireland, Navan Fort is part of a large and complex landscape of monuments in an area steeped in the legends of Ireland. It was said to be the capital of Ulaidh and home of the great Ulster Warriors of the Red Branch, Emain Macha was also the seat of King Conor MacNeasa and it is entwined with the story of the great Cuchulainn – Hound of Ulster, who discussed epic battles and heroic campaigns here. The importance of legends relating to Emain Macha lived on through time – the famous Brian Boru spent a night at Navan Fort in 1005 to prove his worth as High King of Ireland. In 1387, Niall O’Neill chose Navan Fort as the location for a house where he could entertain guests – hoping to impress them with his wonderfully historical location.

However, in the 1960s this important site came under threat as a local quarry that was located very close to the northern part of the site, wanted to expand. The quarry was already located adjacent to Loughnashade (or Lake of the Treasures) so any expansion would have meant certain destruction of archaeological deposits. An archaeological team headed by Dudley Waterman began the enormous task of excavating the site, to try to understand more about life in one of Ireland’s most important Iron Age royal centres, and to try to assess how the physical remains could match the historical and mythological descriptions.

They discovered a large enclosure that encompasses an area of around 6 hectares, at the heart of the enclosure there are two visible monuments; a large circular mound and an earthwork known as a ring-ditch. The information that came from the excavation of these features gave a startlingly complex story of activity that stretches over millennia. However the main activity on site seemed to centre around the Iron Age, around 2100 years ago in 90BC.

A huge wooden temple was constructed at the summit of the site, using over 280 large wooden posts.

Reconstruction model of the enormous wooden temple

Strangely there is no evidence to say that anyone lived in this massive structure. Instead shortly after its construction, the temple was filled to the roof with a cairn of limestone rubble, then the wooden structure now completely filled, was then burned down and the remains of the cairn were carefully covered with a mound of soil. This unusual and unparalleled activity is one of the great mysteries of prehistoric Western Europe. Why did they go to this incredibly time consuming labour intensive trouble of building a structure of enormous dimensions, only to then fill it with stones and destroy it by burning? What Gods were they hoping to placate? For what reason? Theories in archaeology abound about this strange behaviour, though no-one can say with any certainty the reason behind it. It is often the case in archaeology that by excavating a site you end up with more questions than you had before you began, the mound at Navan Fort is certainly a great example of that!

Poignantly, the excavators also discovered the skull of a Barbary Ape in Iron Age deposits at Navan Fort. This ape came from Northern Africa or Gibraltar, and no doubt was a little bewildered to find itself in (comparatively) cold and wet Armagh. This ape would have been an object of huge curiosity and was likely to be a treasured possession of the ruler at Navan Fort, who would have shown off his ability to trade with far flung and exotic places. More artefacts of immense importance were discovered in the ceremonial pool, Loughnashade. Four beautifully made bronze horns / trumpets were discovered in 1798, along with a quantity of human bones. These trumpets were the largest prehistoric horns ever found in Ireland and are thought to date to around 2,000 years old. Of the four trumpets unfortunately only one survives today, the other three have disappeared. From the surviving trumpet replicas have been created, to hear what these ceremonial trumpets would have sounded like check out this YouTube video and just try and imagine yourself as a homesick Barbary Ape https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDgv5O8i8RU

We will never truly understand all the secrets of Navan Fort but it is certainly well worth a visit as it is a site that has retained its importance through the centuries. Simply by standing on the summit of the remains of that large temple looking out over the landscape, one can understand how this became known as the great home of the Knights of the Red branch and how it was immortalized in tales of heroes. We strongly recommend paying a visit to the excellent visitor centre, where you can enjoy an exhibition and audio-visual that describes what was found during the excavations.

There are also wonderful living history displays where you can experience life during the Iron Age and guided tours to the site are also available. To find out admission prices and more information please visit http://www.armagh.co.uk/place/navan-centre-fort/

I do hope you enjoy our blog, we are trying to cover as many sites across Ireland as we can. Please do consider supporting us as we need all the help we can get and we'd really appreciate it. You can support us by sharing our blogposts or by downloading one of our audioguides from www.abartaaudioguides.com, they are packed with original music by Enda Seery and sound effects to make a fun and immersive way of hearing the story of one of Ireland’s iconic heritage sites. They cost just €1.99 and you can enjoy them from the comfort of your own home or at the sites. If you want to try them out before you buy we have a number of guides available free to download, including the incredible Rock of Dunamase, Kells Heritage Town and an audioguide that describes all the archaeology discovered during work on the M6 motorway between Kinnegad and Galway, it’s the story of a landscape through its archaeology.

If you’d like to receive daily updates about great heritage sites then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Photo © Tom Wool-All Rights Reserved
The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City is showing the photographs of Tom Wool in an exhibition In The Shadow of Everest, which runs until July 26, 2010.

Coming from a fashion photography background, Tom Wool has devoted himself to work for humanitarian organizations. Using a medium format Hasselblad, he photographed Tibet's Rongbuk Valley and its inhabitants in May 2001.

The valley stretches about 30 miles from the base of Mount Everest on the north side, and is home to some 3,000 Tibetans. It's considered sacred, with deep religious connotations to the Tibetans. The valley is home to the Rongbuk Monastery, the highest of any in the world at 17,000 feet above sea level.

The Other Adventure Blog has put together a cool article on the Top 10 most dangerous cave diving sites in North America. The countdown begins with a place called "Temple of Doom" and gets better from there. There are some very nice images, and in some cases video, with each entry on the list. There are some very interesting sites listed, but only for the skilled and adventurous divers amongst us.

While I'm highly intrigued with diving, I haven't as yet added it to my resume of skill sets. Places like the ones shown here are both alluring and frightening at the same time. Perhaps the best way to visit them for most of us is from the safety of the web. :)

Oh and beware the epilepsy inducing banner ad on the site. I felt like it may be more dangerous than some of the caves.

I left home when I was 13, but only temporarily. I hitchhiked from New York to Florida. I only got as far as New Jersey when I was arrested on the Turnpike. The police called my father and made him come pick me up. He was pissed but he gave me the bus fare to get to Miami Beach. It wasn't until later in my teenage years that I left home for real-- this time to go to Tonga, a small island between New Zealand and Hawaii. I hitchhiked all the way to California before being arrested this time-- having stowed away on a ship in San Pedro. After that I discovered airplanes. I had never been on one and they were incredibly convenient. I mean, compared to hitchhiking... they got you there so fast.

It wasn't long before I also discovered that you are better off not checking bags. My primary motivation was getting out of the airport fast and the baggage carousel was always a place I didn't like hanging around. And on top of that checked bags get lost-- a lot. It's easy for me; I travel light. After nearly 7 years living overseas I came back to America with 2 bags; no need to check anything.

Today's NY Times published a story on the worsening checked luggage situation in the U.S. (I never noticed it overseas and I usually feel far more confident checking luggage on foreign carriers. When I fly overseas I never use U.S. carriers, always British Air if I can or another foreign carrier if there's no B.A. flight. "One in every 138 checked bags was lost during the first nine months of this year, compared with one in 155 bags a year earlier."

Holiday travelers can expect to feel the effects of six years of airline downsizing in one way or another. About 27 million passengers are expected to fly during the 12 days surrounding Thanksgiving, 4 percent more than last year, the Air Transport Association said.

But there are fewer airline employees to look after them, and their bags. And to squeeze more flights out of the day, planes are sitting on the ground for shorter periods between flights. So predictably, more bags fail to join their owners, particularly on connecting flights.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for failure,” said Hans Hauck, manager of baggage operations at American’s headquarters in Fort Worth. Since Mr. Hauck started his job in September 2006, American has not met its bag-handling goal in any month. As of late last week, though, Mr. Hauck remained optimistic that he would make his November number. A look at American’s bag-handling operation, which is the biggest of all United States carriers, shows it is making lots of little improvements but still losing ground. American misplaced 7.44 bags for every thousand passengers through Sept. 30, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported, up from 6.04 for every thousand a year earlier. (All but a tiny fraction of misplaced bags are ultimately reunited with their owners.)

And American isn't the only U.S. carrier that can't do the job. Actually none of them can. Anecdotal evidence shows Delta being the airline most poorly run, although supposedly statistics show that the small regional airlines do even worse than Delta when it comes to lost bags and American Eagle was the worst of the worst.

Two of the biggest problems are downsizing, with fewer employees to do more work, and an inability for the system to read at least 10% of the bar codes on checked bags.

About 2 percent are misread and dropped onto the wrong pier. Then, it is up to a worker stacking the bags on carts to notice the mistake. “He better,” said Ms. Wilewski, the baggage manager.

American and other domestic airlines have resisted investing in radio frequency identification tags, which are used by big retailers to track inventory and are far more accurate. The tags cost about 20 cents each so it would cost $50,000 a day for American’s 250,000 bags, plus the cost of hardware to read them at each step in the process.

“We don’t lose enough bags to justify that investment,” said Mark Mitchell, American’s managing director of customer experience.

Is there any State in the Union that elicits a sense of adventure like Alaska? Not only is it the largest state (Sorry Texas!), but it's easily the most remote, mountainous, and wild. In celebration of the 49th State, National Geographic Adventure is presenting Ten Trips into the Alaskan Frontier.

The unique element of this article is that it offers both a modern and classic adventure in a similar vein. For instance, in their section on the Alaskan Range they recommend a classic trek, hiking Denali's Empty Quarter, and a more modern one, Scouting the Iditarod trail.

Should you choose to hike Denali, you'll need a permit for the backcountry, which you can only get a day in advance and without reservations. The article also warns that sections of the trail may be closed due to bear sightings (!) or river floodings. If that sounds a little too rough, then perhaps the Iditarod trail is more your style. You'll hike through Rainy Pass, one of the more prominant sections of the Iditarod sled dog race. Going in the Summer means scenic views, blooming wild flowers, and running streams that are frozen solid when the mushers roll through.

The article has other suggested adventures as well, with both modern and classic options for The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Glacier Bay National Park, Tongass National Forest, and Yukon Charley River and Kondike Preserve A little something for everyone!

Oh, and I found this particular bit of advice quite useful: "Old-timer's guide to bear identification: If it climbs the tree to kill you, it's a black bear. If it knocks the tree over first, then kills you, it's a griz."

Photo © Ralph Childs-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Ralph Childs-All Rights Reserved
Although Ralph Childs participated in my photo~expedition to Bali in summer 2007, he's once again joining Bali: Island of Odalan Photo-Expedition™ which I'm organizing and leading this coming August.

Ralph is an active member of the Arlington Camera Club, and his photographs of a Balinese dancer and of a Pemangku (Balinese priest) have both won awards at this month's competition.

He has indulged in a passion for photography since the late 1960s when he took a Minolta ALs camera to France, and he has continued his passion since. Ralph has already been on four of my photo~expeditions, and this coming August will earn the fifth notch on his belt.

El Zócalo, the heart of Mexico City's historic center, is generally packed

I wonder if PIA has reduced the number of flights into the Swat Valley's Saidu Sharif Airport this week. I suspect hotel rooms are going begging-- unless the Taliban militia has requisitioned them all. They don't need to though. Thousands of residents have been fleeing in every direction as the Pakistani Army prepares for a decisive military confrontation just a few hours northwest of the country's capital. Now Mexico is also in a touristic pickle. (The Swat Valley was one of Pakistan's most beloved tourist sites until the Taliban took it over and started brutalizing, raping and beheading women without head scarves and men without beards.)

In the midst of the drug-related violence and the swine flue epidemic, American Airlines is following the rest of the airline industry reducing the number of flights into Mexico. The tourist industry there is also in bad shape. Starting Friday and for the entire month of May and early June, American will reduce daily roundtrip flights from 42 to 31, citing "weaker demand." Continental is still flying, just using smaller planes and United is cutting its 64 weekly flights between the U.S. and Mexico to 24.

Generally flights to Mexico have been empty and flights back to the U.S. have been full, although today's NY Times is reporting that things are kind a/sorta getting back to normal-- if you think calling off Cinco de Mayo has anything to do with normal.

The authorities have been seeking to strike a balance between the health risk of widespread shutdowns and the economic cost of keeping parts of the economy shuttered. In Mexico, the nationwide impact on industries, including tourism, has cost about $2.3 billion, or between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said Tuesday.

The BBC reported this morning that there virtually is no tourism industry functioning in Mexico City right now. And its nearly as bad in the rest of the country. There are no foreign tourists at all and cruise lines have been canceling stops there.

Walk into the crisp, modernist lobby of the Camino Real hotel in the upmarket district of Polanco, and you will be treated as a bit of a novelty. Guests are far outnumbered by staff. The hotel has over 700 rooms. Less than 40 are occupied. The World Health Organization is the only regular customer these days.

...The closure of restaurants and other entertainment areas in the capital alone is costing as much as 100 million US dollars a day.

The Mexican economy, already devastated by a drop off in remittances from Mexican workers in the U.S., the second biggest source of income (between oil and tourists), is absolutely devastated now. This positively just kills the millions of low wage service workers involved with tourism-- waiters, musicians, maids, cooks, etc-- and it's spreading through the entire economy, which was already weakened by falling petroleum prices. The hotel occupancy rate in Mexico City is around 5%. That's also the estimated percentage that the economy is likely to contract by. Bloomberg is reporting that the swine flu epidemic is costing the Mexican economy about $145 million a day in gross domestic product. It's estimated that Mexico’s tourism revenue could fall 43 percent to $7.58 billion.

Party time in Bamako

Roland, who is always clamoring to go see nothing but filth, decay, degradation and abject misery-- that and all that is offered on the seamy side of life-- says Bamako is the worst city he's ever been to. He agrees with the guide books that say to use the airport to get to Mali and then head straight for Djenne, Dogon Country and Timbuktou. He's turned off in Bamako seeing people suddenly squatting down on the side of a busy street and moving their bowels. He's turned off seeing children playing in sewage and women "washing" their dishes in the city's open sewers. He's turned off to the dry, dusty 100 degree weather-- in the "cool season"-- filtered through a curtain of smelly, deadly exhaust fumes. He's turned off to being over-charged for water. Malians pay 300 CFA; last night the hotel charged him 2,000. (Normally tourists can get a bottle for something between 400 and 1,000 CFA but the high end hotels tend to be shameless cash vacuums, like in so many cities around the world.)

Neither of us is a big mosquito fan-- though we've both given up fighting that scourge-- and we're not partial to the stench this town has to offer. And neither of us is happy to be ripped off if we try changing dollars in a hotel or even a bank. By chance we stumbled into a Lebanese supermarket and they gave us 450 CFA/dollar (no commission) instead of the 400/dollar (plus a 2% commission) others offer. If you're counting, that means $100 in the hotel would get you 39,200 CFA instead of 45,000.

On the other hand, Roland seems happy enough taking taxi rides down back streets filled with decaying colonial buildings that remind him of Vietnam and Cambodia and we both love the fantastic authentic African cuisine. The expensive hotels all serve way over-priced crappy, boring French food. Two people would be lucky to get away for less than $70 for dinner at our hotel (without wine). But last night we had dinner at Le San Toro, a restaurant owned by an ex-minister of culture and tourism in a part of town called the Hippodrome (on Avenue Al Quds). The food is traditional Malian, as are the decor and music. I can't say enough good things about the food which was not only spectacularly delicious but also very healthfully prepared. It's also pretty inexpensive, a fraction of what you'd pay in the hotel joints. And the decor and the art is breathtaking. On top of that the live kora music we heard during dinner was excellent as well.

Speaking of food, it has been easier in Mali to eat well as a vegetarian than in most countries. Everywhere is was a synch explaining that I don't eat meat and instead getting a nice fresh heaping plate of cous cous or millet or fonio with veggies. Last night at Le San Toro I ordered a vegetarian plate and it included cous cous, a huge variety of vegetables, beans and bananas. It was so good I can't wait to go back! Roland had a goat stew, disappointed there was no gazelle or zebra on the menu-- nor even camel. I do have to admit, though, that I'm looking forward to having lunch at Guy Savoy, one of my favorite restaurants in Paris, in a few days.

Photo © Wenjie Yang-All Rights Reserved
Wenjie Yang is a freelance photographer, who was born and raised in Shanghai. She comes to photography and photojournalism with a background in advertising production and production of movie crews for a number of years.

She currently attends the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism One-Year Certificate Program at International Center of Photography, and worked on editorial assignments from various magazines, including “Travel + Leisure”, “Marie Claire”, “Elle Decoration”, "Burn Magazine" and “Chinese Photographers”. She also was awarded third prize in the 2008 National Geographic International Photography Contest (China Region).

Wenjie introduces us to Nuo Opera through her photo essay here.

Nuo opera is an ancient and a popular folk opera in southwest China. It is characterized by the use of frightening masks, characteristic dresses, strange language used in its performances, and mysterious scenes. It integrates religious and dramatic culture, and its performance aims drive away evil spirits, disease and unholy influences, as well as supplicate blessings from the gods.

Traditionally, Nuo is performed by specially trained shamans as a means of exorcism. In fact, the professional Nuo performers are viewed as "spiritual tutors" wielding supernatural powers to disperse evil spirits, sickness and disease.

As mentioned previously in my updates on the fall climbing season in the Himalaya, things are definitely winding down across the region. The majority of the expeditions have returned home although a few are still there and attempting to make summit bids on various mountains. Heavy snows are not making it easy however as teams continue to dig out from the massive cyclone that dumped impressive amounts of powder on the mountains last week.

Chad Kellogg and David Gottlieb have checked in from Lunag-Ri, the target of their efforts this fall. As you may recall, the mountain holds the distinction of being the tallest unclimbed peak in Nepal with an altitude of 6895 meter (22,621 ft). When last we heard from the boys, they were on there way to Base Camp after just setting out from Namche Bazaar. The trek to BC was relatively uneventful and duo arrived on the mountain where they were greeted by two other climbers hoping to make the first ascent of Lunag-Ri as well. That team had already established Advanced Base Camp further up the slope and were in the process of wrapping up their acclimatization efforts.

All of this happened early last week before the cyclone made landfall, bringing heavy snows along with it. The forecast indicated that the storm could dump fresh powder on the Himalaya for several days, so Chad, David and their companions all settled into their tents to wait. Before long, a full fledged blizzard was hitting the mountain, burying everything in sight, including the tents they were staying in. It was an uphill battle keeping them from collapsing under the weight, but they managed to make it through relatively unscathed. By the time the snow stopped falling it had deposited 4 feet (1.2 meters) on the ground, which has made things difficult to say the least.

Over the weekend the team started shuttling gear up the mountain towards ABC. They made a cache halfway to that point and plan on going all the way up today. They'll build their campsite there, then drop down to fetch the cache tomorrow. After that, it'll be back to BC for a brief rest and then they'll launch their attempt on the summit. Chad estimates that it will take them roughly four days to make the climb. That ascent could start late this week.

It sounds like conditions will be tough all the way to the top, as the boys will be forced to break trail much of the way. They are particularly concerned about how much snow will be on the summit ridge as they approach the top, provided they even get a chance to reach that point. The weather forecast looks much improved for now however, so it seems they'll at least have a shot at topping out.

Stay tuned for updates.

If you're a fan of the Rest of Everest video podcast and have been following this season's climb on Broad Peak and K2, the moment you've no doubt been waiting for is here. In the latest episode, available below, the climbers leave Broad Peak behind at last and head to the "mountaineer's mountain." K2 is arguably the toughest climb in the world, and the show will now shift to that peak as we follow the climbers on the second phase of their expedition.

Like the majority of stone circles in Ireland, this stone circle at Athgreany in Co. Wicklow probably dates to the earlier part of the Bronze Age. The true purpose of these sites is unknown and there are a number of theories about their use. It is thought that they could have served as ceremonial centres during religious rites, or perhaps as calenders to mark the suns position to inform the people when to sow their crops. A number of stone circles also have burials associated with them, though it is unknown whether any burials are associated with this one at Athgreany.

This circle has an internal diameter of approximately 15 metres. Unfortunately it appears that only five of the stones are still in their original positions as somebody in the past tried unsuccessfully to clear the field, the stones still in their original positions vary in height from around 1.3m – 2m. 

The large outlying stone known as 'The Piper'

  

Local folklore tells us that people caught dancing on a Sunday were turned to stone and now are forever frozen mid-dance. The large outlying stone represents the piper who played for the unfortunate dancers. This is a large glacial erratic located about 40m from the circle. Large grooves criss-cross the top of this stone and may represent basic megalithic art, probably suggesting that although this large stone is in its original position since the glacier deposited it, it still formed an important part of the site and ceremonies of the circle.


The site at Athgreany is very easy to find and access, it is located approximately 15km north of Baltinglass on the Dublin Road. It is well signposted, with a small area of hard shoulder to leave the car. Climb over the wooden stile and the stones are on a hilltop after less than a 200m walk, an information panel at the bottom of the hill describes the site.

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Samir from The View From Fez blog has a great list of places to eat and sleep in Marrakech (as well as just about everything else anyone would ever want to know about Morocco). And the best Marrakesh restaurant guide I've ever run across is Footprint Guide's. But I want to stick my two cents in too. Everyone has a favorite spot for eating in Marrakesh. My friend Alisse, who had just gotten back before I left insisted that Yacout was THE place and Alisse is a great cook and knows food. Everyone says it's the most beautiful restaurant in town but the rap is that the food is... uneven, and even unpredictable. The idea of another huge overdone Moroccan feast was too much for me to handle and I never did experience it for myself.

Like I explained a few days ago when I wrote about eating in Fes, when I can I do my best to generally avoid the restaurants specifically catering to tourists. Occasionally one of these palace dining extravaganzas is done right-- and in Marrakesh, they have it down pretty well-- but most of the time these places are grotesquely over-priced and the food extremely bland and uninteresting to appeal to a lowest common denominator, taking elderly tourist bowel quirks more into consideration than authentic culinary excellence. The extreme, of course, is to pick one of the food stalls that cover an acre of in the Jemaa el Fna at night.

In the 35 or so years I've been visiting Marrakesh I think this was probably the first time I actually ate at a Jemaa el Fna food stall. I'm always so overly cautious about what I eat. I mean I don't even drink tap water in L.A. and I try as best I can to only eat organic food and never anything fried, and so on (nor do I eat anything made with sugar or flour or cooked in cheap oils). When I made my 2 year trip across Asia I noticed that my less picky friends, who ate as though they were born in places like Herat and Erzurum and Benares, were always coming down with seriously debilitating and revolting travelers' diseases like the infamous Kabul Runs (think Montezuma's Revenge on steroids). But the steaming bowl of harira Roland was slopping down greedily looked so good that I decided to go for it. There were no ill-effects and the harira was completely delicious (and only cost like 2.5 dirhams, as opposed to between 60 and 80 in the tourist restaurants, thirty times more!).

Anyway, let me share a couple of Marrakesh restaurant experiences with you. The only restaurant in Guéliz (the new city) we went to is the justifiably famous Al Fassia. The 2 unique things about it is that it is entirely run by women and that they revel in the concept of a la carte, never an easy thing for foreigners to find. The food was superb and expensive but not over the moon. And, like many Moroccan eateries, if you give them enough notice, they'll prepare things for you to order. The menu has all the best Moroccan standards and you can pick the ones you want and not have to bother with the ones you don't. It was sold out when we went and they said we'd have to come another time but begging and pleading helped and we were seated in an hour. I don't know if the dining room at the Riyad El Cadi takes non-residents (I don't see why they wouldn't if you asked politely) but the cooking is superb and, basically you tell them what you want in the morning and they serve it for dinner. You won't find better homemade type cooking anywhere. For our big night out the El Cadi's manager suggested we go to the Dar Zellij deep in the heart of the medina. I was intrigued because it isn't in any of the tourist guide books, although it is very much for tourists. We got there considerably before they were ready to serve so we spent some time talking with the very friendly and accommodating owner. The restaurant is simply one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The food, although the typical tourist menu (unless you call in advance and order what you want, which we did), is PERFECTION. Everything was beyond delicious. And the servings were not gargantuan (as is typical in Morocco), although if you're a glutton, have no fear: they're happy to serve seconds on any dish you want more of.

Just a note about all the famous dives made famous by the hippies starting in the 60s that flank the Jemaa El Fna: the food won't kill you but if eating is a joy-- and in Morocco it should be-- these are not worthwhile places to waste a meal time. They basically all serve so-so completely unmemorable basics, neither good nor particularly bad.

I saw this posted on various blogs, and thought I'd add my two cents. It's the newly released Guardian Eyewitness app for the Apple iPad, shown off by photographer David Levene. I can't argue with the premise that it's gorgeous...but what does it bring to the table beyond what a laptop and/or netbook already does? The Guardian photographs can be appreciated on a laptop/netbook as well, no?

I have a Mac Book Pro and its display is equally gorgeous. I have a cheap Acer netbook, and its display is certainly not as great, but it's cheaper than the iPad, and it allows me to use all types of software, and fiddle with my photographs using Lightroom...infuriatingly slow perhaps, but it does, and iPad does not.

I frequently visit the Apple store in the Meatpacking district to play with the iPad (by the way, there are fewer tourists on the second floor, where iPads are also available).

As I've said before, I haven't seen anything to convince me that the iPad is a must-have for photographers...so until it does, and despite the Guardian's app and others like it, I'll wait and see what comes with the device's future iterations and new apps.

The Dominican Priory of Kilmallock, one of the finest medieval ecclesiastical sites in Ireland

Settlement in Kilmallock began in around 600 AD, when St Mocheallóg founded a monastery on a hill one mile north-west of the current town. This monastery gave the town its name, as Kilmallock derives from the Irish Cill Mocheallóg (the Church of Mocheallóg).

The town is one of Ireland’s best-preserved walled towns, and it contains a wealth of stunning medieval buildings and features.

These low foundations are all that remains of the early medieval monastery founded by Mocheallóg

Perhaps most impressive of this array of medieval architecture is the magnificent Dominican priory that sits on the banks of the River Loobagh. The priory was founded in 1291, though it was extended and altered through the centuries. It contains some of Ireland’s best examples of medieval architecture – such as the ornate five-light east window - and a large number of sculptures of human heads (possibly representing benefactors of the priory) can be discovered throughout the buildings. It was founded with the support of the powerful Gilbert Fitzgerald. His tomb lies in the sanctuary beside the high altar of the priory, an honoured place reserved for the founders of monasteries.

Medieval sculpture inside the Dominican Priory

The Fitzgerald family are entwined with the story of Kilmallock. This Anglo-Norman family dominated southern Munster for nearly three centuries. From their base in Kilmallock, the Fitzgerald Earls of Desmond (the title derives from Deas Mumhan meaning South Munster), controlled Limerick, North Kerry, North and East Cork and West Waterford.

The Earls of Desmond gradually became independent of English authority and became almost de facto sovereigns of southern Munster. Like many other Norman families, they intermarried with the native Irish and adopted Irish language and customs. This changed with the rise of the Tudor dynasty in England. The most immediate impact of the Tudor dynasty and the Reformation was that the priory was suppressed by Henry VIII in 1541.

Although the Dominicans retained a presence here for a further two centuries, the position of the monastery was never secure in the turbulent times which followed.

The priory was still home to a community of monks in 1645 during the Confederate Wars, when it was visited by the Papal Legate, Cardinal Runnicini. Tragically, in 1648 it was attacked by the parliamentary forces of Lord Inchiquin and two monks were put to death in front of the altar. However despite these shocking events, monks continued to live and work here until well into the 1700s, often under the threat of religious persecution.

The medieval Collegiate Church of Saints Peter and Paul

King's Castle

As well as the incredible priory, Kilmallock has a number of other medieval buildings to discover. King’s Castle is one of the most notable. This fine example of an urban towerhouse dates to the 15th century. It is likely that it was originally built as the fortified home of a wealthy merchant or noble.

Some of the other medieval buildings include the remains of a 16th century stone mansion house, the medieval collegiate church of Saints Peter and Paul and of course the well-preserved stone walls that surround the town.

A visit to Kilmallock is highly recommended to anyone interested in the story of Ireland’s medieval past. If you plan to visit, we have a free downloadable audio-visual app (iOS and Android) that helps to lead you around the town, please see here for a preview.

The Stone Mansion (foreground) with King's Castle further down the street

The well preserved medieval town walls

I really hope you enjoy our blog. If you'd like to discover more stories about Irish history, archaeology and culture and if you'd like to support us you can download audioguides from my website www.abartaheritage.ie, where we have 25 guides that tell the story of Irish heritage and the majority are absolutely free to download.

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

SNewsNet.com posted a podcast interview with Pete Takeda, the author of the book. The interview dates back to January of this year, but is still interesting for those of us who are still discovering the story.

The text on the page gives another brief introduction to the story and then has the audio file available to listen to directly in your browser, or if you'd prefer to listen on your iPod you can also download it.

I've also been alerted that I'll be receiving a copy of the book to review, so hopefully after Kili I will have that available as well. In the meantime watch for a couple of other book reviews coming very soon.

Thanks for the link Jon!

I was privileged to teach a class titled Introduction To Multimedia for the third straight year at this year's Foundry Photojournalism Workshop which was held in Istanbul June20-26.

As a couple of my class attendees are in the process of shopping their projects to publishers, I'm unable to publish them until they're made public by their creators. However, I am able to show an image from each project along with a description.

The attendees were Brenda Bravo, Pierre Claquin, Yagmar Dolkun, Pedro Gomes, David Hagerman, Jeroen de Kluiver, and Roubina Margossian.

1. Brenda Bravo: Kadikoy Underground Puppetry

Photo © Brenda Bravo -All Rights Reserved
Brenda's project documented an underground puppetry group in Kadikoy, from applying their make-up to walking in the streets performing to crowds. Apart from recording ambient sound of the performances, and of the street, Brenda also narrated the piece which was titled Kadikoy's Underground Puppetry. Her subjects attended the final show wearing the same make-up they use during their walk-abouts in Kadikoy.

2. Pierre Claquin: Leaves of Tolerance

Photo © Pierre Claquin -All Rights Reserved
Pierre's project was titled Leaves of Tolerance, and documented Nick Merdeyan (the self described Lord of the Leaves) who, from a small store in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, produced artistic masterpieces of Islamic calligraphy on leaves, dried according to a proprietary process, and sold all over the world. Merdeyan, an Armenian Turk, narrated the piece showing his Islamic, Christian and Judaic motifs using Qur'anic script, underlining the similarity of the three Abrahamic traditions.

3. Yagmar Dolkun: Live Broadcast

Photo © Yagmar Dolkun -All Rights Reserved
Yagmar's project was on CNN-Turk, which took us into the back room of the television station before going live with a sports program. Yagmar chose to produce the piece in black & white without any narration, leaving the images tell the story, and relying on a mesmerizing music loop. The project can be seen by clicking here.

4. Pedro Gomes: Esmeray

Photo © Pedro Gomes -All Rights Reserved
Pedro's project documented Esmeray, a transgendered actor, a sex worker, a feminist, a Kurd and a home-keeper. Inspired by the NY Times' series One In 8 Million, Pedro interviewed Esmeray, and followed her through the day. He photographed during her theater perfromances, at a feminist meeting and later on at her home. Pedro's wife, Asli Maci, provided the excellent voice-over narration.

5. David Hagerman: The Ferry Boats of Istanbul

Photo © David Hagerman -All Rights Reserved
David chose to document the ferry boats of Istanbul as a symbol of this city. The ferries are part of the daily life for many Istanbullu, and beyond providing a commute alternative, also provide an escape from the daily tribulations of the city. A travelogue of sorts, David used ambient sound recorded on the ferries, the sound of their motors, the din of the passengers and a couple of short interviews.... one with a young man who claimed that "girls are like grains of sand".

6. Jeroen de Kluiver: The Alevi

Photo © Jeroen de Kluiver -All Rights Reserved
Jeroen documented the Alevi in black & white project. The Alevi are a religious sub-ethnic and cultural community in Turkey. Its tradition is related to Shi'a Islam and Bektasi Sufism, and its worship takes place in assembly houses rather than mosques. Jeroen photographed and recorded a ceremony known as cem, which features music and dance and during which both women and men participate.


7. Roubina Margossian: Symbolism In Religious Tradition

Photo © Roubina Margossian -All Rights Reserved
Roubina is one of the recipients of a scholarship to attend the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. She produced an audio slideshow titled Symbolism in Religious Tradition, focusing on a religious service in an Armenian church. Narrated by Father John of the church, Roubina's fondness for photographs of reflections is evident in the project!

Here's another post on Matjaž Krivic's work. This time, it's Mali that he shares with us in this lovely audio-slideshow-movie (he calls it multivision...not a bad name.).

Matjaž just returned from an overland road trip from Slovenia to Nepal via Senegal (Dakar to Katmandu), which took him 13 months of living and photographing out of a 4x4 Nissan Patrol.

For 20 years, he globe-trotted the world capturing the personality and grandeur of indigenous people and places, and found the time to be awarded many prizes, and recognized in various venues and exhibitions. He traveled in Yemen, Mali, Tibet, North and West Africa, Iran, Mongolia, China, Nepal and India.

The spectacular music accompanying the slideshow is Dunya Salam ("world of peace") by the legendary Senegalese singer Baaba Maal. An excellent choice!

So choose full screen, turn up the volume of your speakers and enjoy the show!

I haven't posted an update on the North Pole teams in awhile, but we've got a good update today from ThePoles.com where they are reporting that Alain and Dixie are steaming towards the finish line. You'll recall that these two started off in Sibera, and have traversed over the Pole to reach Greeland. They are currently 1302km into their expedition with a mere 354km to go before they reach their final destination. They've picked up speed over the past few days as well, as their sledges have lightened up and good weather has made for better travel.

Thomas Ulrich and Børge Ousland are also making great progress as the two arctic legends attempt another journey together. They reached 86° 4’ N and are reporting lots of open water in their area. Their expedition, unlike most, BEGAN at the North Pole, with the idea that they would then travel by skis, kayak, and sailing ship over more than 1500km as they head to Franz-Josef Land, in Siberia, then continue on to Cape Flora, then sailing back to Norway, where they'll trek to Oslo on foot.

Unfortunately, things aren't going so well for Rosie Stancer who has been trying to close in on the Pole, but suffered setbacks yesterday due to open water and negative drift. After struggling with high winds all day, and moving in a more westerly direction to avoid rubble, Rose made camp only to discover that she had not gained any ground for her efforts. Hopefully today she's making up for lost time, and is making her way North at a good pace.