Persnickety Tutu

So, there I was yesterday at my favorite traveler's book shop, Traveler's Bookcase, feeling adventurous and wanting a place to go for a week. The woman working there tells me I'd love Antigua in Guatemala. She says it's "special" and that it has the things I'm looking for. She says she thinks it is right up my alley.

OK, so I buy a Frommer's book on Guatemala, spend all night online checking things out, get up this morning, book my ticket, and I'm a goin'. I'm leaving at the end of August for 8 days. I hadn't even heard of this place 24 hours ago and now I'm booked to go there. Crazy sh*t!

Kathy is doing Guatemala, baby!

I am free. I finished my five day photo shoot yesterday and it kicked my butt. I have bruises up and down my backside and legs. I sliced a finger to the bone cutting up ginger for the star photographer who wanted carrot, apple, and ginger juice every day. You remember the handsome photographer I mentioned before? It turns out his girlfriend is a freakin’ super model. Figures!

I got a call to assist Anthony's yoga class over at City Yoga this morning and I gladly took it. It was a total vacation for me after a long week of 10-12 hour days! It was almost shocking how easy it was for me to jump back in and I realized how much I have learned. I was on fire! Anthony, who I adore, told me after class that I am damn good at what I do. He always did support me and he told me I'd be a great teacher one day.

I am becoming one now...

I am creating great balance in my life. Slowly but surely, it is finding me.

More on my upcoming trip to Antigua Guatemala below!

As some of you know I will be heading out to Antigua Guatemala in about two weeks time. I am very eager to get there as the more I read about it, the more enchanted I become. I am also in desperate need of some quality me time and I plan on doing some yoga, writing, and truly contemplating my life as I know it. I feel big changes coming on. There is this new me growing inside that is starting to make some movement...

Here is a video I came across on YouTube that I thought I'd share with you. Antigua is calling my name. I can't explain it, but I know I am meant to go there. I am a woman who always tries to honor her instincts.

I already have my first couple of nights booked at Hotel Casa Cristina for a fabulous $27 a night and I have a deluxe room that looks out over La Merced church with views of the volcano. Happy Me!

Enjoy the video. The music alone is worth it.

I am not over planning nor over thinking my trip to Guatemala. I bought myself these two books and that's it. The rest I'll figure out when I get there.

Frommer's Guatemala- Fabulous book with clear information that hits the spot. Nothing too heady or fussy. It's my kind of guide book.

Lonely Planet's Latin American Spanish - The only phrase book I need. It has the basics, is really wonderfully easy to read, is small enough to carry around and it has some of the most hilarious phrases in the romance section you can imagine. It's informative and damn funny!

I am taking the most important thing of all with me, of course. It keeps the fire lit and the good stuff flowing.

I am leaving in less than a week for Guatemala so I thought I'd share a few favorite things I'm bringing with me. I am a woman who is both stylish and practical. I happen to love my special treat things as well. They make the trip a little sweeter.

1. Lesportsac Big Weekender Bag - I got it on sale for a song! It is made of the most divinely lightweight material, is incredibly durable and long lasting (I've owned these suckers for years) and can roll up in a ball to come with me in my suitcase so I can load it up with travel purchases like textiles from Guatemala. It is also the only bag I need for a weekend trip.

2. Be Present Agility Pants -
I just finally broke down and bought a pair of these at my yoga studio. They are made of a wonderful lightweight breathable material, are incredibly long lasting, and are utterly fabulous for doing yoga. They are hip looking enough to wear around on a casual day and are incredibly flattering on. They have these great slits up the back leg to just below the knee. I like bringing something I can wear for yoga but that I can hang out in as well. Every serious yogi chick I know owns them.

3.Birkenstock Kairo Sandals -
I swore I'd never wear Birkenstocks but these babies are foreplay for the feet! The makeup and wardrobe women on the last photo shoot I did wore these every day. Smart chicks know fashionable can mean comfortable too.

4. Seven For All Mankind Jeans - Because they truly are the only jeans I wear. I like my jeans classic like my men.

5.Seda France travel candles- I take candles with me wherever I go as they soothe and relax me. I'm a fan of these in gardenia.

6. Kiehl's Musk Oil - I like a scent on occasion and I refuse to haul around a bottle of perfume. I love my oils and I love this one in particular as it is so sexy and earthy. It also travels well.

As promised, these are the sites that have made it possible for me to plan my trip and have been utterly invaluable to me as well.

Next stop Guatemala!

Links can be read by clicking anything highlighted in red below...

I'm off to Guatemala today! I'll be blogging when I can and I do plan to write about my time there.

I am tired and excited. More than anything I am hungry for a new adventure. I can almost taste those handmade tortilla's from here...

Hasta luego!

I arrived in Antigua yesterday and am settling in nicely. I am just back from a little Italian restaurant where I had pizza, red wine and aqua mineral. I LOVE my little hotel, Casa Cristina, and may stay there the entire trip. My room is on the top floor and has the most breath taking views of the volcanoes. Yesterday I napped to the sound of a monster thunder and lightning storm that came through and it was nothing less than heavenly to hear the sound of mother nature expressing herself whilst I slept. I am happy here... truly.

My room with a view

I have been to some of the local markets and bought two wonderful native blankets for my bed. I have already learned to barter and got them down from 600 quetazles to 300 which means for these two glorious blankets in the most brilliant colors I paid about $39. Happy little me. This is what the owner of my hotel said she paid for hers. I am already becoming a local!

I begin my day by walking two doors down to Fernando's Kaffee where I get the best caffe latte. I have met some very cool people here and I love that I have no set plans and just wake up to see where the day will take me. So far, so good. I am at peace here. My senses are awakened and I am adjusting to a land that speaks a language I have yet to learn. I will...

More to come!

I am settling in nicely here. I took Elizabeth Bell's cultural walking tour today and it was the best $20 I've spent in a while. Seriously, I am a non tour chick and this was captivating. She takes you behind the walls and into the culture. She doesn't just talk the talk, this woman walks the walk. I know more about jade than I could ever have imagined as we went to the jade museum and I now know that there is one special spot here in Guatemala that is famous for the most brilliant jade in the world. Well, some of it anyway. Oh, and this site was discovered by an American woman. I get a kick out of that.

I have been busy being social and remiss in not posting on my blog. Sorry!

I have met a lovely woman in my hotel, Paula, who was in from NYC teaching a yoga teacher training out on the lake (check her out at Reflections Yoga Retreats). She's become a confidant and great partner in crime here in Antigua and we are off again tonight to go to an art opening and then have dinner. I see good chat and fine wine in my future!

You know that longing you can get when you leave a place that has captured your mind, body and soul as you realize you are about to leave it behind? That is me today. I am sad to leave this magical place and yet I take comfort in knowing I will be back soon. I am planning to come back in January now. Antigua has seduced me...

My shuttle comes to pick me up in about an hour and a half and Rosario, the proprietress of Casa Cristina, has let me stay in my room until 3.00 pm when I am picked up for the airport. Check out is 11.30 am. They have been incredibly good to me here.

I have so many images to share and a wee bit of video as well. I am overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings as I finish my packing and say goodbye to my lovely room here. I have an entire bag filled with treats for friends and linens for my home. I hope I get away with taking it all on the plane!

So, one last post from Antigua and then I will come alive with words and pictures that I will share once I am home and settled in with my girl cats. Funny, I don't miss my things at all. I only miss my baths, my tea and my cats. I realize I can be a wonderfully simple person when I get past the layers of pretty shiny things. I am a whole person, you see. I have become fuller and more authentic, have peeled away some layers and gone deeper because I have been here.

I bid you goodbye from Antigua then. With a quiet mind and heart wide open I bid her goodbye as well...

It's not the best quality as I took it on my wee digital camera, but I love it all the same.

As promised I give you Senor Rooster from Antigua Guatemala...

I've been quiet since I returned from Guatemala as I have wanted to digest all of the emotions and images that resonate within me after such a special and profound trip. There are those that need immediate attention and have to purge their every thought and feeling even before their suitcases are unpacked. I am not one of them. I have enjoyed going quiet and ruminating these last few days.

My trip is mine and mine alone.

I share bits and pieces of my inner life when I moved to do so. I savor everything in my world like a fine wine, a good man or the deepest darkest chocolate on earth. It takes time to peel away the layers and go deeper...

I have never been so moved by a place that even before I leave I am planning my return. My time in Antigua had that effect on me.

A friend recently asked me what I found so special about Antigua, what the draw was. I think for me it was the sensation I got being there. I felt grounded. There was something about being surrounded by volcanoes that was very centering and somehow deeply rooting. I am also drawn to the pace, the slowness of things. There is a sense of taking things in a sort of slow motion in Antigua.

There is more, of course. The food, the kindness of the people, the architecture and the light all had a profound effect on me. I plan on returning in January and am looking into spending a chunk of time there. It is something I would really love to do. And I'll be studying Spanish! Learning a new language is always a beautiful thing. My short time in this country has inspired me to do so.

One can find peace in a place as simple as a room in a small hotel with the sunlight shining in through the windows after a rain storm.

I did.

Yes, this little tutu is on a plane come Sunday night making her way back to the land of the Mayans for some time by the lake and more time in that special little city where the volcanoes rise up above you and root you so beautifully to the earth - Antigua.

I told my students a couple of Sundays ago that I realized I was feeling rather off center and a tad cranky and I knew when I got that way there was really only one remedy: TRAVEL

OK, travel and yoga. Both feed my soul...

So, I got online and booked myself a ticket back to the land of Jade and for eight glorious days I will be free, open and filled with a sense of adventure and desire. Happy little me.

This is both a pleasure and business trip as I am going to check out yoga retreat spaces on Lake Atitlan as my hope is to create retreats with friends and fellow teachers in the future. I'm a chick with a vision, don't you know?

I am the mistress of my own destiny.

I'll be blogging it out on the road as my new MacBook is coming with me so stay tuned and fasten your seat belts:

There will be tales to tell...

After a four hour flight out of Los Angeles I arrived at about 6.30 am in Guatemala City. I then shared a cab with a woman from Australia who was on her way out to the lake to do a yoga retreat. She informed me after we got into the cab that she was sick and that she thinks she might have MALARIA as she was just in Mozambique and was bitten by mosquitos and has been sick ever since. Lucky me! What can you do, you know? You just roll with it...

I got into Antigua by 8.00 and as my room was not ready I dropped my luggage and hauled booty to Rainbow Cafe where I just had a big fat traditional Guatemalan breakfast and am digging on the free wi-fi. There's a cold spell here so I basked in the sun every time I hit an area bathed in sunlight as I made my way down the so very familiar streets of Antigua. I'm like a big cat luxuriating in the heat wherever I can find it. One learns to savor the simple pleasures...

When we drove into town I felt like I was arriving home. I was greeted by Rosario, the owner of my hotel Casa Cristina, with a warm hug and a giant smile. Welcome back, she said. I feel welcomed back indeed.

Next I'm off to the bank to get my Quetzales and then back to the hotel to crash for a while. I have places to go and people to see...

This is my second trip to Antigua and second stay at Casa Cristina. Last trip I met my now dear friend Paula who was also staying in my hotel. This trip I've already made a new friend Aziz, a camera man from Holland, who is staying next to me and studying Spanish here. He's handsome and fun and we have a lot in common. We went out last night and had a late tea and a snack. We walked the nearly empty streets laughing wildly and telling each other stories about our travels. He's a lot of fun. Tonight we're off to dinner and drinks and some quality silly time. I love meeting fellow travelers on my journey's. Good people out there if you allow yourself to let them in.

Special thanks to my girl Leslie for making me this fabulous pic!

I've had the most wonderful time here in Antigua the last couple of days. My new friend Aziz and I had a grand time out for dinner feasting on traditonal Guatemalan food and then walked down to Meson Panza Verde for after dinner drinks by the fire. The owner of Sangre, the Tapas and wine place I love so much, was having drinks there as well and as soon as he saw me commented on the fact I had been at his place the night before. It's amazing how you run into the same people here all the time and how they fast become friends. I was still hungry after drinks so Asis and stopped in Gaia, the fabulous Middle Eastern restaurant here, where I savored some grape leaves, cucumber salad and fresh mint tea. Heaven...

I have not been able to get Wi-Fi with my laptop here in this little remote town on the lake called San Marcos. Carlos, the owner of Blind Lemons which is this little restaurant, bar and internet cafe here, was kind enough to let me just plug my laptop in tonight. Truth is, I didn't miss being online. It's nice to "unplug" and tune out for a while. We all need to do that every now and then. Quieting the mind is a beautiful thing. I need more of that in my life. Seriously...

I've been here for three days and I have a room on the lake with a view. It's more like a house as it's so damn big and has a yard that leads down to the water. Breakfast is included and last night I took a sauna (part of my room fee) and it was incredible (all for $25!). This area is famous for the saunas and they look like Igloos and are lit with this delicious smelling wood and a pot of water with these womderful smelling leaves are placed inside and then you are shut in. You just sweat like mad. I was in a bikini and Olivia, the woman I've befriended at Posada Schumann, where I am staying, was in her undies. We kept jumping out and cooling off as the staff laughed at us half naked and dripping sweat. We both went through two large bottles of water and one small one each in an hour! It was just such a magical and cleansing experience...

I've taken a tone of photos and I have so much to share. I took boat/shuttle into Santa Cruz today, an even smaller town, to visit Wendy, the owner of Villa Sumaya, where I hope to hold yoga/relaxation retreats within the year. Villa Sumaya is nothing less than utterly beautiful and it is the perfect spot for what I want to do. You relax as soon as you walk up the hill and arrive on the terrace. You can't help but let go once you're there. The energy is amazing.

I'm taking a boat back to the main town of Panajechel tomorrow to then catch a shuttle back to Antigua. I've gotten the rhythm of how people travel here and I'm even kind of digging the water shuttles. This from the chick who gets boat sick!

More to come. So much more to come....

I bid you goodnight from San Marcos.

I'm heading back to LA tomorrow at the crack of dawn. I have a shuttle picking me up at 5.00 am to make an 8.30 flight.

I don't do early mornings.

I've just come from visiting my massage friend Deet at her house and will be having dinner this evening with other friends who are staying in my hotel. I've just had the biggest menu del dia, or menu of the day, at a little joint called "Cafe El Gringo" where I was sent by a local friend for a true feast for all of 25 Quetzales or about $2.50. I had chicken and rice with potatoes and carrots, homemade tortillas, some freshly baked banana bread and a drink that tastes like hibiscus and cranberry juice. It was out of this world good. You can really eat like a Queen here for a song, let me tell you...

I got soaking wet on the boat back from San Marcos La laguna to panajechel and had to change out of my soaking wet clothes when I got to the dock. The boats are fairly primitive and rustic to say the least. Even with the plastic tarp they gave us, both gringos and indigenous people alike, we still got whomped by the high winds and waves on the lake. Again, I just rolled with it. You can't sweat the small stuff. I can handle a wet butt every now and again. It reminds me how lucky I am to have tons of clothes to change into. The local people on the lake are very poor and seeing how they live puts things in perspective in a very big kind of way.

Off to some tea and some thoughtful contemplation. Well, perhaps some ice cream just to be wonderfully wicked as well.

The shuttle boat on Lake Atitlan

I'll be posting more photos of this trip and writing more about my experiences there as well. There is so much to share!

This trip was truly a heart and mind opening experience. The moment I arrived in Antigua I came alive and felt so grounded. And Lake Atitlan really does draw you in, just as my friend Paula assured me it would. There really is magic there.

Mayan culture and mythology is utterly fascinating to me...

I give you a wee taste of Kathy's view of Guatemala.

Locals going off to work in San Marcos La Laguna

Fountain at Meson Panza Verde Hotel

That's Panajachel, Guatemala, my sweet little chickadees. And this little tutu is a goin'!

I'm heading back to the land of the Mayans next week, my third trip in eight months, to see my people in Antigua and then head out to Ati (the local slang for Lake Atitlan) to see some people and places. I have a dream. That's about all you need to know for now...

Ah, Panajachel. Some call it Gringotenango (place of the foreigners) as there are so many former hippies and expats from around the world living there. It's the main town on Lake Atitlan and it is where all the boats depart from to head out to the smaller towns on the lake like San Marcos la Laguna, the town I settled into back in January. Pana has some good energy to it. I'm going to sink my teeth in and see what flavors it brings me.

It's hot there right now so I'm looking forward to some light and heat and acting like a big fat cat lazing about in the sun, taking my daily naps and eating and drinking whenever I see fit. I also just found out that a lovely man who I met when I was there in January will be back on the lake when I'm there. Someone to play with! Happy little me...

I'll be staying at my usual haunt in Antigua, Casa Cristina, and my beautiful friend Rosario, who owns the joint with her husband, sent me the loveliest e-mail today welcoming my return and telling me I am more than a guest to them. She even gave me the Queen's discount! And she referred to room number 12, that sweet little slice of heaven on the top floor overlooking the rooftops and the room I always stay in as "your room." LOVE HER!

"Kathy's room"

I've already made some really fabulous social plans for when I get down to Antigua and out onto the lake. I'm looking forward to really uncovering the secret pleasures that Panajachel can bring me and plan on spending some more time on Lake Atitlan in the little town of Santa Cruz la Laguna. Lucky little me.

Here are a few pics of the area for you to feast on. You might just find that you'd like to get down there and take a little bite yourself.

I know I did...

The shores of Panajachel

The boats that you take to get around the lake

I'm heading back to Guatemala tonight on one of those crazy late night flights. I'm just about to finish packing (I am packing as light as possible this time around) and then off to a quick pedi as I always like to travel with happy shiny toes. It's a chick thing...

I'm flying with Taca Airlines, so this will be a new flying experience for me. Here's hoping it's a grand one!

This time tomorrow I'll be sitting at Fernando's Cafe in Antigua drinking a latte and catching up with Fernando. It's the simple pleasures, you know?

My Macbook is coming with me so more from the road!

I arrived in Antigua at about 9.00 yesterday morning after an overnight flight from LA. I immediately set off to Fernando's Kaffee for a latte and some breakfast. I had a quick catch up with Fernando and was greeted with a friendly wave by one of his waitresses as my shuttle pulled up when I arrived. It's always nice to be welcomed back.

After breakfast I walked down toward the big market and bought myself a cell phone. It is frickin' crazy what the US charges us for our cellphones and usage fees. I bought a Motorolla cellphone and it came with 175 minutes on it for $30! And they have really user friendly deals here where there are double and triple days so when you buy your minutes to download they give you double or triple what you pay for! My country kind of sucks at times. We're so advanced and yet so ass backward as well.

I came back, took a nap, and then I was off to my friend Deet's house for a blissful massage. She informed me that there was an art opening at Meson Panza Verde across the street and told me I was coming. How could I refuse? So, we headed over for wine and art and great conversation. After meeting and greeting we walked over to the Traveller's Menu for some dinner. After that it was ice cream cones and a walk in the park where we grabbed a bench, sat down, and talked about life and love and everything in between. What a perfectly wonderful night!

The only snafu that I have hit is that my favorite little hotel, Casa Cristina, has disappointed me with their hot water situation. I did NOT get a hot shower yesterday and I tried twice to get one. I had this problem on my first stay here and Rosario turned up the hot water temp so we all got hot showers. She said people weren't complaining but I saw that they had in some reviews. They just didn't complain to HER. Now it appears the temp has been lowered again and in the middle of the day she turns the hot water off to save money. I am not happy about this. I cannot stay in a place where there is not sufficient hot water. What to do?

If I don't get hot water today I will have to find another place to stay. This saddens me, but as I ask for very little when I stay in a hotel, having really good hot water for a shower is a bare minimum requirement! The screaming kids visiting yesterday didn't help either. My nap was cut short by what sounded like a circus taking place outside my door. This happened on my last visit as well. I think I'll take today to investigate other hotels in the area. Perhaps the hotel fairies are telling me it is time to open myself to something new?

Off to check things out and enjoy Antigua. More to come!

When you have to settle on going to a place like this for the weekend. I am very unhappy that I have to drag my butt out to the lake today to partake in good food, wine and play. Sad little me. I demand reparations for this travesty upon my being.

*heavy fascitious sigh*

Santa Cruz la Laguna. I'll be here again this weekend. Hasta luego, baby!

Just a quick check in after just coming back to Antigua from three days on the lake and a return to my laptop!

I feel like I lived a whole life in three days. I spent time with a man, made dinner for new friends and even looked at a few houses for sale! What can I say: I'm a chick with a vision.

So much to share but I'm sitting with a latte and trying to digest everything that I've experienced in these last few days. My mind is full...

I stayed with my friend Glenn at the house he's renting in Santa Cruz. It was lovely to be with him and even though he dragged my butt out of bed to hike up this ridiculously high hill before I'd even had MY TEA (I have the sunburn on my back to prove I was ill prepared for this feat and you know I swore under my breath the whole way up), I enjoyed spending time with a native man who, although he is from a totally different culture, has a lot in common with me. Sometimes it's spooky!

Glenn on a hike in Santa Cruz

My feet at Glenn's place

I'm back in LA and feeling out of sorts. I am realizing I crave a simpler life and getting out into LA traffic today really pissed me off! I have a wall full of expensive handbags and in Guatemala I am happiest using my $5 handmade native cloth bag that slings across my body and is a little slip of a thing. Funny how you gain perspective when you step out of your box and allow yourself to slowly adapt to another culture. It also makes you appreciate more fully the things you have back in your daily world and how many of them are not really all that important after all...

When you are a real traveler you take on bits of where you've been. You become a fuller person rich with colors and tastes and smells and experiences from other lands.

I am full tonight.

I have so many photos to share but to me this one best captures how I feel. I am a work in progress. I am slowly trying to strip away the sharp and twisty bits and go deeper into the grit, the meat of things. In this moment, in this room in Guatemala, I was filled with wonder, peace, anticipation and a sense of abandon.

~Some moments are just so terribly delicious.~

I am utterly imperfect. And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way...

Here are some useful tips for those considering a trip down to Guatemala. This after three trips there in eight months and I'm going back for an extended period of time this summer!

With the euro out of control and the dollar so miserably weak, I say take advantage of exploring other parts of this world of ours where you can actually still get really great values and you leave feeling that you haven't been gauged or had to sacrifice to travel. Make your money bring you pleasure, not pain!

I hope some of you find these helpful:

- Airlines with good ticket prices to Guatemala City: Delta, Taca, Spirit, United. I've spent between $250 and $373 for non-stop roundtrip flights from L.A. If you happen to live in Florida Spirit has ridiculously cheap specials all the time from Fort Lauderdale to Guatemala City for as little as $19 plus taxes each way. I met a really cool gay couple from Florida on this last trip who go back and forth for this reason! And really, with those prices, how can you NOT go?

- When you get to Guatemala city airport walk outside and look for men holding signs that say Antigua shuttle (or the name of the place that you're going to). You should pay no more than $10 for a shuttle to Antigua or $20 for a private taxi.

- You can pay for your shuttle with American dollars. I always bring about 100 Quetzales (equals about $13 or so) just in case.

I've been to Santa Cruz la Laguna on Lake Atitlan twice now during my travels to Guatemala and there really is something so sweet and quiet about the place. You can only reach it by boat and there are only a few small hotels there. I have friends there now so I believe I'll always have a place to stay. Sometimes the friends you meet along the way just stick with you, you know?

There's this special little place I've grown fond of called Hotel Isla Verde to the left of the docks about a quarter mile down the coast. You feel as if you're walking up into the heavens and with each plateau you find these delicious little nooks and spaces like hanging canoes to swing in and a wonderful open stage that is utterly perfect for an outdoor yoga class. Yes, this is a place I'd like to hold retreats! The eco-conscious and totally simple cabin style rooms sort of hang over the hillside and as they are fairly open spaces even the bathrooms open you to the great outdoors. It's enticing, really. The simplicity and beauty of it all is rather intoxicating.

I know I write a lot about budget travel and how I am the Queen of the deal. ~Indeed I am.~

Well, I am also a lover of luxury and the occasional splurge and fully believe in living life with a sense of balance. I've been known to adore a swank hotel room and am happy to sink my happy little self into a deep delicious tub whilst sipping wine out of a crystal glass.

But of course.

So with that thought, I give you a few of my favorite splurge places in Antigua, Guatemala. I plan on staying in a couple of these oh so swank places myself and will happily let you know how those baths work out. Me, a tub and a sexy little bottle of red? Perfect...

Do I spend money on myself from time to time? Mai oui! Yes, I most certainly do! I don't believe in waiting around for anyone else to bring me the finer things or hand me a nice little dish of romance.

I romance myself whenever I can, thank you.

A smart man will know this and simply want to add to my joy (and how I do love a good man) and if he's really smart he'll surprise me with a little luxury from time to time. ~I do believe I'm worth it.~

And to all of my utterly Divine Goddess readers I say this:

My dear sweet and wonderfully spicy little chili peppers, you're worth it too!

I give you my luxury hotel choices for Antigua below