Videos of Venice

Venetian Streets


Gondola's in Venice



Nelson sings "like a virgin" under the Bridge of Sighs


Plaza San Marco 1


Plaza San Marco 2

Plaza San Marco Moonlight

Venice Dreams, Olive Oil and Sun in Greece

We arrived from Spain to Venice with a bang. We picked up our pre-paid vaporatti tickets (thanks for the tip Mary Lynn) and were soon aboard a bus zipping towards the water. We entered Venice through the long causeway and suddenly we were there. Lugging the bags (Mom's included) was a huge task. We dragged them aboard the Vaporatti (water bus) and set off for the Rialto bridge. Nelz clicked away on his camera barely aware of anything other than what he saw through his camera lens. We haled off our bags and made our way to our internet hotel find (don't laugh at the name) the hotel Canada (so-named due to the owner's father having lived in Montreal years ago). The hotel fit our budget and not so much our desire for air-con... we were back to fans and humid heat. So we made due and used our skills (thanks Michael) and had many daily showers to keep cool.

The streets of Venice are a woven maze that we ventured off into right away in search of the famous Plaza San Marco (I have to say a must see in life). We made our way through the narrow paths and remarked at the shop windows being still filled with masks from carnival (the masks were amazing and one made its way into our suit case). The Plaza San Marco stunned me. We had been mere moments before in narrow and a dense space, and suddenly a massive square emerged. The basilica was stunning, the square gorgeous and yes massively filled with tourists. In spite of the throngs of camera filled hands and babies screaming the sheer beauty made me fall in love with the city. I know now that I have to go back and spend more time.

The food (how could I not mention it) was yummy. The pasta, the risotto, the seafood - all yum yum yum. I of course found the chances to wash it down with wine and fizzy water. But dinner and an evening never seemed to end without another ball of gelato being devoured. The good news about our travel is that while we are eating well we are also walking so much in the sun. My skin grows darker than Nelz's skin daily.

Finally three days later we had to leave the city that took my heart.

Our cruise began in Venice, and the departure from the City was stunning. I climbed to the highest deck and found a little spot to perch on as we sailed hundreds of feet above the city on the ship. What a view of the city. I clicked madly with Nelson's camera as he slept through the amazing passage.

Having never been aboard a cruise ship before I had no idea of what to expect. My first thought was that I had enter Las Vegas and the bling was hard on the eyes. We had our first meal aboard and were impressed with the food. Later Nelz and I snuck off into the night to figure out what was aboard the massive ship. Casinos, pools, baskeball courts, restaurants, and 3500+ passengers.

Our first stop was the next morning in the sleepy little city of Bari, Italy. It was great to suddenly been in a place where people did not speak much english at all and were not used to tourists.

That night we set sail for Olympia. We set off on our first excursion to see the ruins of Olympia (the site of the original olympic games). It was hot and proved to be too much for Mom, so Nelson continued on the tour and Mom and I made our own smaller tour of the grounds. The original stadium that german archaeologists had uncovered was really cool to see. See the next two videos.


Nelson Does Olympia


Olympia

We then sailed for Santorini in the morning and now in the evening we are in Mykonos.

Santorini was interesting. We anchored in the harbour and boarded small boats (tenders) to the dock. We then rode a cable car (instead of walking up 600+ steps) or a long donkey ride (poor asses - our butts too). Santorini is perched on a cliff over looking the harbour. narrow cobble streets wet and covered in donkey dung, white-washed buildings, and tourists galore. After we got back in line and made it again to the steep cable car as it dropped swiftly towards the sea. Our car was filled with some older croatian women from Rijeka screaming in croatian about the fact that they were about to die as they plunged to the sea. I intervened in what seems to be limited croatian - sadly I am losing the language.

Last I will post a short video of our arrival by small boat into Mykonos:

Videos of Cordoba

Bells in Cordoba


Mezquita in Cordoba


Roman Bridge in Cordoba


Royal Palace in Cordoba

Tagalog Message from Nelson in Cordoba

Videos of Spain


Alcazar in Seville 1



Alcazar in Seville 2



Cathedral in Seville 2



Plaza Espana in Seville 2

Spain with no rain on the plain

Wow, the week in Spain is coming quickly to an end and now I find myself with a little time to type and share some stories. But sadly it will be without pictures today - but you should check out Nelson´s pictures on facebook... amazing shots. As for me, the next chance I get I will be uploading many videos from across spain and putting them on youtube and plug them on here and on facebook.

Here is one to start you off: Madrid Video

We started our week really back in Guelph Ontario) see previous post. But the next stop on our Journey was Madrid. The flight in business class (you have to love travel points) was great and relaxing. It made our mid-day arrival in Madrid very cushioned. After dropping our bags and a shower we were out the door and on to a hop-on-hop-off bus. I have never really liked them, but with Mom travelling with us it makes for a really easy way to quickly see an overview of the city and for it to be accessible for her. It also gives you a quick visual layout of the city and visual stimiluation for about 1 hour. After the bus we stopped for a nice dinner at some small little cafe and began our drinking of copius amounts of water daily in little side walk cafes.

The next morning we hopped the train in Madrid´s Attocha station which is filled to the massive glass roofs with a tropical jungle. You descende into the jungle on the esclator and feel the humidity of the jungle - it is quite a lovely approach to a train station.

The trian ride was on one of spain´s fast AVE lines and in 2 hours we were in Cordoba (Southern Spain). What a sweet and lovely little city. I managed to find a cute hotel 1 block form the main attraction (The Mesquita). This very old Islamic mosque was a delight on the eyes and I must admit I shook my head and giggled when I read some of the litereature (clearly written by Christian authorities) that portrayed the Muslims as the big bad bullies and the christians as the innocent victims. The mosque was amazingly huge and so beautiful. It was so big that when the Christians took back this part of Spain they built a huge cathedrail right in the middle of the mosque and the cathedral looks like comparitively like a tiny tear drop in the ocean.... it is almost hard to find it in the middle. We walked around in the mosque for 30 minutes before we even saw that there was a cathedral.

Next we ventured to Seville (about 40minutes by train). Again I found a great hotel only 1 block from the central cathedral and the Alcazar (a beautiful moorish palace). Spiritually the Mesquita in Cordoba blew us away, but the Alcazar palace was stunning. The tile work and the Islamic art was gorgeous. You could feel the amazing power of the moorish empire in Southern spain the wealth of days past.

We also enjoyed a few horse rides compliments of Mom in these cute horse-drawn carriages. Usually an older guy with a very hard (even for me to understand) accent telling us tales as he drove us around.

Finally we made our way to Barcelona and to our lovely apartment in the Xiample area of the city and interestingly on the edge of Gay Xiample. We rented the apartment online and it worked out great. Comfortable, 1 block from the metro and great food and grocery stores close.

We also had a great evening with my old friend Ruben from Venezuela. Ruben and I met over 13 years ago in Vancouver when he was in the city studying. Ruben now lives here in Barcelona with his hubby Roberto.

We also made our way around again by a hop-on-hop-off bus. What a great city - the architecture is amazing and provoking. The main draw for me was the cathedral Sagada Familia by the artist Gaudi - you have to see it to fully appreciate it.

So tomorrow we are off to Venice - may the canals open to us and that we float about soaking up the city of Venice.

Guelph, guelph everywhere, but no turtles snapping

We arrived in Guelph to cheers and hugs. The rain was however streaming down on us in a torrential storm as we drove towards Guelph in our little rented car on the very dark 401 highway at 10 pm - at times barely able to see the cars weave in front of us. But the rain was quickly swept from our minds as the yummy spread of food on the porch welcome party was quickly devoured. Then Julia and Lise went to Mark's house and hauled him out of bed to join in. Annie, Julia, Lise Mark, myself, Mom and Nelson laughed and yakked into the early hours.

The next morning was a visit to Mark's restaurant (the corner stone) and a surprise to see Ravi having brunch with us. Ravi is a cool guy I met in Guelph 3 years ago - great energy and smart. Sadly Mark was not there, but left a calling card that the brunch was on him - what a sweet guy.

After breakfast we surveyed City Hall with Lise giving us a tour and surveying office space of Councillors followed by a visit to #10 office. Nice to meet with people 1 year before the election.

There was also a quick tour of the city and a hot sales pitch on real estate in Guelph - Nelson looked interested ;-)

The final cherry on the cake before we left town was a yummy dinner with Tony, Julia Annie and the three of us travelers. Good beer, great food, laughter, plotting schemes and yet once again not allowed to pay for meal - thank you Tony.

Will Guelph join the EU? ;-)

sending you all hugs. Thank you Annie for coordinating and giving up you bed - you rock!

Oh yes.... and the map of our travel... god... what were we thinking ;-)

Whirlwind

vrooooom

What a whirlwind of a week - completed 2 new requests for proposals that will happen in September when we return. I finished up the curriculum for this falls programs, built from scratch an outdoor cabinet (that is tiled - see pictures), finished installing the sprinkler system for the garden, and oh yes, prepared for the trip.

Building the cabinet was in some ways a great diversion and a great outlet for stress. The project turned out well and now we have a beautiful tiled outdoor bar on our patio that is wired (awaiting a blender). I think Darlene should do the honours of making the first tonic when we return.

Yesterday was a scramble to say the least. Last minute things to pick up and a panic of my new shoes for traveling being lost at the cobbler and staff not being able to find them for an hour. Then the challenge of buying last minute currency to take with us (euros and czech korunas). It always pays off when you are buying large amounts of currencies to call around to all the currency exchange shops and find out who has the best rates. I managed to get over 85 euros extra because I shopped around.

The last of the packing is now to be completed and one last smile at the garden and the beautiful mosaic tiling on the cabinet. Too bad we don't have time for a quick margaritta.

................... Off to the airport. i am leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again (Sept 8)

The Day of Preparation

The day of preparation arrived. I finally have finished booking all of the core items of the trip and now I am trying to string it all together. A stack full of printed confirmation emails and vouchers and itineraries now had to be sorted (and it was quite a big stack). First I sorted them into order and put a small sticky note with the date each item is occurring - i.e. Hotel in Cordoba, July 26.

The final fun part was adding an extra day to our time in Prague and the comfy apartment I found that is 30 feet from the main square in the old part of Prague.

The next step was quite easy as I have been using google calendar to track all the details (and it is fun because Mom and Nelson both check the calendar for updates). So I printed out the detailed view of the trip from google calendar (chronologically). Now my job is going through it day by day to make sure I have printed all the information for day (Hotel, train, plane, car rental, cruise, etc). I soon discovered not everything had been printed and also realized that in some places I had paid completely, some I had put down a deposit, some were reserved and needed me to pay by credit card upon arrival, and others I have to pay in cash when we arrive. TOO MANY DETAILS to remember. And I don't want to try and remember them all when I relaxing on a holiday - the point of planning is to not worry later (oh yeah, and get the discounts).

Last week we had a phone chat with Mom to review the tour options for each of the places we are visiting. The cruise offers tours (for pay). Take this one in Olympia:

"A classic, highly impressive itinerary that takes you through the ruins of ancient Olympia, set in a hilly landscape at the foot of Kronion Hill. The excavations, which began in 1875 by the Germans and which are still in progress, have brought to light this sacred area, which encloses within its walls an imposing complex of monuments including the Temples of Jupiter and Hera, the Grammar School, the Gymnasium and the Stadium. You'll visit the Museum where the famous statue of Hermes of the Praxiteles will be seen."

In total it is only a four hour tour, but in the heat of the Greek sun and filled with some many archaeological sites.

The other fun trip that we booked for only Nelson and I is a gruelling 8 hour tour in Rhodes - while we are on this tour Mom is doing a much shorter 4 hour tour by train.

"You will depart for enchanting Lindos which is situated 56 km from the port of Rhodes. Here you'll visit the village with its maze of narrow cobblestone streets and typical white houses. At the top of the promontory, which overlooks the town, stands the Acropolis with the Colonnade, the temple to the goddess Athena and the remains of the Via Sacra. To reach the Acropolis it is necessary to climb many steps. There is free time for shopping after lunch in a nice hotel. The tour will then take you to the ancient part of Rhodes, along the wonderful Knights' Road, a late-Gothic street. You will visit the museum inside the Castle before returning to the ship."

I have never really been a guided tour kind of person, but when you are only in a place for a short time it makes a lot of sense. But our biggest wisdom was to have only 2 tours during our whole cruise and the rest of the time during shore visits to explore ourselves. By the way, if you ever want some quick travel info, use google books and search under Lonely planet and the name of the country. It takes you to a pdf of the books (some pages are missing, but most of the time you can find the details you are looking for for free).

For me this i s a whole new experience to go on a cruise - no idea if I will like it.

But regardless, I will be doing the cruise with 2 people that I love dearly and getting to have really easy and relaxing adventures, and that has just got to be fun.


On last tale that i will tell is the adventure we will have with classical music and stunning architecture in Prague.

I found the classical music concert schedule for Prague for September (check it out). So we booked 2 concerts. The first one on September 4th is Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue II and is happening at this stunng building called Klementium (so I also booked a tour of the place just before the concert).

It is amazing how much better things sound when there is also such beauty all around you. The tour is includes:
- Mirror Chapel: beautiful chapel built in 1724, with extensive frescos and carvings. Has two 18th century organs, one played by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on his visits to the Klementinum.
- Baroque Library Hall: the stunning home of the Czech National Library, with 20,000 books, some dating from the 16th century.
- And the Astronomical Tower

The second concert is performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Their opening concert of the Prague season is a homage to Czech Music
A. DVOŘÁK: Concerto for piano and orchestra in G minor op. 33
B. MARTINŮ: Paraboles for full orchestra H 367
L. JANÁČEK: Taras Bulba, rhapsody for orchestra

My favourite part was how you choose your tickets (have a look). Some clever designer built a graphic of all the seats in the concert hall and when you mouse over each section it not only highlights those seats, but also shows you a picture of what you would see if you were sitting in each section.

Planning for the trip

I feel like I have been planning for the trip now for years. The hours and hours of research - in books, on the net and from fellow travelers (cool people like Kathy) has been phenomenal.

For example, I have spent hours and hours seeking out an affordable apartment in Barcelona for 3 people. The task seems straight forward, but gets more and more complex as you dig into it. Where in Barcelona will we stay? (first I began reading the lonely planet, and then I asked people who have been there - that helped a lot) Then you have to ask and figure out how much are we willing to pay? (Well the result of the price sometimes changes your desired location and what you need to have in the space) But factor into that .... there are 3 of us who need 2 rooms, so if we stay in hotels it can be awkward for the 3rd person not being as connected and out of the loop.

Sometimes figuring out the problem is easier than trying to figure out first what is the question. But in this case I think both the answers and the questions have been laborious.

I finally booked all of our internal (within Europe) flights last week. This week has been filled with booking hotels in Cordoba and in Seville. At the same time I am trying to stay a few steps ahead on ground transportation in Croatia. But trying to make an informed decision about how to get from Dubrovnik to Korcula would be much easier if there were regular modes of transportation - one bus a day (that runs in the middle of the day) sucks as the only option. It is a two hour drive up the coast from Dubrovnik, and then you need to coordinate with a 15 minute ferry ride over to the island, followed by getting from the ferry terminal on the island to our rented apartment (a 15 minute drive). Yikes!!!!!!!!

All of this could be solved by renting a car in Dubrovnik and driving to the Island. But once we are on the island (staying there for a week) we will want to do somethings independently (hence the need to rent 3 little scooters once we are there which are cheaper than a car for a week). I think in a past life I must have been a travel agent.

The carrot dangling in front of me that gives me the incentive to keep going is the week of relaxation on the island of Korcula. The Island is stunning, calm, the food and wine are fresh, local and yummy. Are rented apartment is on a very quiet little cove and a mere 5 meters to the Adriatic - I will be swimming everyday and that makes me so happy. The water in the Adriatic is so salty that you float in the water with ease. and the colours of the water are beautiful.

I look at this picture and I have no doubts why I am doing all of this work planning our adventure - ode to incentives!

Getting ready

With all of the flights booked to and in Europe and all the hotels/apartments booked in Spain I finally feel a sense of relief that it is all coming together.

What a big trip - 6 weeks in Europe visit friends and family and exploring Southern Europe. Thankfully after 5 years of saving points I am able to take Mom and Nelz in business class (which will make travelling that much more smooth and cheaper) - I used 300,000 points just for this.

The trip will explore Spain (with a specific focus on southern Spain with all of the Moorish influence) and of course the delights of Spanish Tapas. A visit also to an old friend in Barcelona - Ruben. Ruben and I met over 12 years ago when he was studying in Vancouver - he is originally from Venezuela and now lives in Barcelona.

We continue our trip with a flight to Venice. Nelson has for many years asked and begged to go to Venice, and so here we are. Apparently he has plans to re-enact "Like a Virgin"the video. Mom has already been to Venice once so she has a good sense already of the stairs and amount of walking involved.

The city stretches across 118 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers. The Venetian Republic was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century.

From Venice we board a cruise ship for a 6 night adventure of the Adriatic and Greece.

Venice (Italy)
Bari (Italy)
Katakolon (Greece)
Santorini (Greece)
Mykonos (Greece)
Rodi (Greece)
At Sea
Dubrovnik (Croatia)

We be departing the ship in Dubrovnik to first explore the old city for the day, and then to travel to the Island of Korcula which is about 22 hours drive north of Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik is an amazing and romantic place that takes my breath away. The old walled city is literally paved in marble and polished daily by the thousands of feet that walk in the city. The city is a walled naval fortress from days gone and was a significant naval city in the Adriatic. The city walls are massive and envelope the old city - they are at least 8 feet die and 40 feet high. Areas of it are so wide you could drive a car along the top.

In the Middle Ages, as the Republic of Dubrovnik, it became the only eastern Adriatic city-state to rival Venice. Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy, the city achieved a remarkable level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries. Dubrovnik was one of the centres of the development of primarily the Croatian language and literature, home to many notable poets, playwrights, painters, mathematicians, physicists and other scholars.

After Dubrovnik we are whisked away to the Island of Korcula. I first saw Korcula 8 years ago when I was living in Zagreb. My friend Kata (from Budapest) and myself went to Korcula for a week. I fell in love with the beauty and the calm of the place. Korcula City is a like a mini-Dubrovnik with a walled city fortress. But Korcula is much more. The economy, besides tourism, is based on agriculture, namely the grape vines, olives and fruit, and fishing and fish processing. The Island is quiet, and while tourism is important, it is not over-run. The smell of dried grasses is in the air and the smell of sizzling squid and seafood is abundant.

But no, our tip does not end. A week later we wake up from a week of bliss on Korcula and fly from Dubrovnik direct to Paris. Our urban sensibilities will be only awoken for a short time as we explore Paris and then the following day are whisked away on the high-speed TGV train from Paris to Marseilles. TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, French for "high-speed train") is fast Paris to Marseilles in 3 hrs and 18 minutes.

In Marseilles we will be visiting my dear friend Noelle. I have always wanted to go to Provence and in many ways the climate will be similar to Korcula. Drive and fragrant air and the warm winds from the Mediterranean.

Provence has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Paleolithic sites dating to 900,000 B.C. have been found along the Côte d'Azur in the interior country above Nice.

We depart Later that week for Austria for the first of two weekends visiting our relatives who live on the Austian and Hungarian border. My Grandparents on my father's side of the family come from a small village (Klingenbach) about 500 metres from the Hungarian border. The village and my ancestors are all Croatians who migrated (to flee from war - the Ottoman expansion in Europe) over 500 years ago and all live in a series of small villages along the border. They speak Croatian and also German and some Hungarian.

In between our weekends in Austria we will be getting o a train and visiting the fabulous city of Budapest - I am such a fan of this city! The City was originally two cities (Buda and Pest) that fall on either side of the mighty Danube River. Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement,^[9] was the direct ancestor of Budapest,^[10] becoming the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia.^[9] Magyars arrived in the territory^[11] in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241-42.^[12] The re-established town became one of the centers of Renaissance humanist culture^[13] in the 15th century.

Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe,^{[1][11][17][18]} its extensive World Heritage Site includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrássy Avenue, Heroes' Square and the Millennium Underground Railway, the second oldest in Europe.^[17][19] Other highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs,^[20] the world's largest thermal water cave system,^[21] second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building.

One of my favourite things to do in Budapest is to visit the Geo-thermal spas that have been in Budapest for centuries. I nice relaxing visit to the spa and sit in mineral water and maybe a massage to top it off. But don't finish the day without some good cheese, wine and a walk in the city.

After another visit to our relatives and a wonderful goodbye (tear-filled party) with me speaking about my father in Croatian, we depart for our final destination of Prague.

Prague has been the political, cultural, and economic centre of the Czech state for more than 1100 years. The area on which Prague was founded was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. Around 200 BC^{[citation needed]} the Celts had a settlement in the south, called Závist

I have never been to Prague, but have heard of its beauty and I am ready to explore and discover it.