Mimi Mongolian Trip

The rooftop terrace, larger than my studio, was sheltered from the Tramantane by the upper stories of the house. The terrace is large enough to have its own Swiss-styled chalet tool shed covering about 5% of the space. Plants flourished in wooden boxes. The sky was royal blue. We were French, Danish and Swiss (me, me, me, well almost since I still have to take the oath). The common language was French.

Michel, a Frenchman who lives in Miami, had a laptop placed on the white picnic table where wine, olives fresh from the market and other nibblies were stored and he gave us a photographic tour of his recent trip to Mongolia. Some people don’t want to see vacation photos or hear about other’s holidays. I love it because I can take mini vacations from the comfort of my home, ruling out some trips for the future and deciding on others as a must-see in person.

Thus I could be amazed at the shiny black coat of the yak. I smiled that I didn’t have to taste its milk (just the word milk causes a gag reaction), admire the sophisticated decorations inside the Yurt, and learn that Genghis Khan (1162-1227) despite his desire to conquer the world (until he got to Europe and didn’t see enough civilization to pursue it) had a really progressive side to setting up governments.

Meanwhile, although many of us read history, none of could date Attilla the Hun (5^th Century) or Clovis in the same century.

Mongolia would definitely come after my long-dreamed of trip to Iceland, but with the craziness today at London airports, I am content to just walk down the street and buy a loaf of fresh-baked bread.