Europe Archives - Page 8 of 14

Europe Italy

Pisa & Lucca

Yesterday we ventured outside of Florence for a day trip to Pisa, which was about an hour and half away by train. Pisa was a pretty little town and had some lovely streets for wandering but the main focus of course was to see the famous tilting tower.

The leaning tower was surprisingly small and surprisingly beautiful. I did not think it would be so white. Set against the particularly blue sky yesterday it was striking. The tower does indeed lean at a very noticeable angle and we, like the countless other visitors captured numerous photos of it from every angle. (What we did not do was take photos of ourselves ‘holding up’ the tower, which many others seemed to be doing.) The queues were far too long to wait around in the hot sun to climb to the top so we visited the neighboring duomo and baptistry, which were splendid. (Also splendid was the fact that while walking through the tourist crowds Betty-Lou found a fifty euro note on the ground!) After the architectural sites, Betty-Lou spent her newly gained money on a relaxing lunch. Betty-Lou had mussels, which she assured me were delicious.

From Pisa we took a half hour train ride to Lucca, which is a lovely medieval walled city filled with beautiful churches and winding alley ways, each more perfect than the last. There are not any major sites in Lucca, but the town itself was wonderful to spend a few hours exploring.

It was also filled with tourists, mostly filling the shops, which lined the streets. We had planned to eat dinner in Lucca, but we were caught in the old problem of the restaurants in Europe not opening for dinner until late (i never will get used to that), so we took the train back to Florence where we had a wonderful meal out doors (as all of our meals have been so far). Betty-Lou ate wild boar sausage, artisanal cheese, and osso bucco, which she said was as good as hers. I had porcini risotto and asparagus and more than one glass of limoncello, which the waiter brought me in an admitted attempt to get me drunk. Limoncello isn’t bad, but two glasses is definitely enough.

It was a very long day and we ended it quite exhausted, but it was wonderful and we went to bed reflecting on the day and looking forward to the next adventure.

Europe Italy

A Day in Firenze

Our first full day in Florence is complete and we have now seen all of the sights on my list and we have wandered leisurely down countless streets, each more picturesque than the last.

After blogging last night we ate at a tiny and inviting Moroccan restaurant. It took Betty-Lou three full days to decide that she does not care much for Italian food. There seems to be a paucity of fresh vegetables on the menu, she ordered eggplant at one point and it came smothered in cheese. The Moroccan food was a welcome change.

Today we hit the streets and sights that we missed yesterday. We visited the Church of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo, Galilleo, and Machiavelli are buried, amongst others. We went to the Church of Santa Novella which houses some excellent renaissance art, we walked the stalls of the central market and dodged the friendly vendors. There is an impressive array of leather goods here for sale, as well as beautiful stationery, and an endless array of Pinocchio bric a brac. It is odd; i do not often think of Pinocchio, but when i did i always thought he was German…something about his little shorts and bavarian looking hat. Anyway, he is Italian and his likeness is everywhere.

We did do a bit of shopping and enjoyed coffees at some exquisite cafes on various piazza. Note to readers: if you order an espresso at even the finest cafe it will not cost you more than about 1e50, if you drink it standing at the counter that is. If you want to sit at a table, that espresso jumps to 4 or 5 e, as i discovered. In some cafes though the extra cost is worth it just to soak in the atmosphere.

So today was mostly wandering, and it was lovely. We just had a brief rest in our hotel room from which we can hear the most marvelous din of the square around the Duomo – it is all a hum with the voices of people and regular, jarringly beautiful church bells.

Now we are out for a glass of wine or a snack and cigar before bed. Tomorrow we shall take the train to Pisa and possibly beyond, time permitting.

Arrivederci.
PS It is a great challenge to come up with titles for blog posts and avoid the plethora of cliches that fill the mind. Rejected titles so far: Mambo Italiano, The Light in the Piazza, and La Dolce Vita. I gave in to Betty-Lou on ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’.

Europe Italy

Under the Tuscan Sun

It has been a couple of days longer than i expected since our last post, but as it turned out we got to the internet cafe just after closing on our final night in Rome and there is no internet in Gubbio.

Our final full day in Rome was lovely and leisurely. Having seen most of the big sights we had on our lists, we were free to wander at leisure. We visited the Castel Sant Angelo, walked through the Jewish Ghetto area, past yet more ancient ruins and through more churches than i can keep track of. We walked to the Spanish Steps which were picturesque, but the area was not really our scene as it was more of a high end shopping district. We visited the Piazza del Popolo and had a lovely lunch of zucchini, caccio e pepe, and wine which was awesome. In the evening we went back to Il Campo and ate and drank on the square. There is a bar/eatery on the corner where for 10e you can have a cocktail and all you can eat appetizers. It was a great deal and we ate our fill while i enjoyed an obscenely large cigar.

Italy is proving to be a great smoking place. Everyone smokes cigarettes and a few people smoke cigars (well, cheroots really). You can not smoke indoors but outside it is encouraged. On patios, while riding vespas, while shopping for vegetables…. I feel quite at home here in that regard.

Yesterday morning we took a train from Rome to Fossato del Vico, which is a train station in the middle of nowhere where we caught a bus to our second destination: Gubbio.

Gubbio is a tiny medieval town in the hills of Umbria. It is extremely picturesque, nestled within its stone walls. We arrived at our hotel and found it locked, but a waiter from a restaurant across the street yelled down the street and the proprietor came and let us in to our room. Gubbio was quiet – very quiet – particularly after the bustle of Rome.

We walked the city and visited its few churches and squares, including the Fountain of Lunatics, before walking to the destination about which i was very excited: the open air funicular. There is essentially a cable car ascending up a mountainside, but what sets it apart is that you ride up in a cage – or more like a small metal basket. If you are afraid of heights it would be torture, but i found it delightful and it afforded me exquisite views of the town. (Betty Lou wisely waited at the bottom.) At the top was a simple church.

Shortly after our wander it grew dark and began to pour, which caused many shops and restaurants to close early. We stopped into a charming corner grocer and picked up bread, cheese, and a jar of black truffle and olive tapanade and ate in our room.

This morning, after breakfast and under a newly brightened sky we caught a bus to Perugia, which took us through a lovely, pastoral backdrop. From Perugia we took the train to Florence.

We are now in Tuscany.
Our pensione, the hotel San Gionvani is right on the Piazza San Giovanni and our simple room has a view of the Duomo.

First impressions of Florence is that it is very beautiful and has an abundance of charming streets to explore. Since arriving (after having a trio of delicious Tuscan soups and grilled polenta with mushrooms) we visited the Duomo, saw the Botticellis in the Uffuzi, watched the sun beginning to set from the Ponte Vecchio, and, after ducking into a few more churches of course, had a cannoli at a beautiful patisserie on the Piazza Republica. I thought the cannoli would be disgusting, but it is actually quite good.

We will be in Florence for a few days and will blog more frequently, as there seems to be an abundance of internet options here.

d and b

Europe Italy Vatican City

Ciao, Bella!

Ciao from Rome. We arrived on Saturday afternoon after an uneventful flight through Amsterdam. On first impression Rome is a beautiful city. The architecture is stunning and the sun washed piazzas are incredibly romantic and inviting. We have enjoyed wandering about the tangled streets past tiny sidewalk eateries, imposing and decorative churches and throngs of people hanging around, eating, drinking, smoking, and talking.

Our hotel is just perfect. We are staying at the Hotel Guilia, which is on the Via Guilia, just a few steps from the Tiber River. The hotel quaint and immaculate and ideally located. The first night we walked across the bridge to the south of the Tiber where an energetic neighborhood awaited with people out everywhere. We joined them for pizza and a cigar and walked aimlessly until it was time for bed.

On day one we started at the very beginning with the Colosseum and the Forum/Palatine Hill. I was apprehensive about visiting the Colosseum due to the massive amount of tourists that crowd in there every day (about 30,000). It’s true that the crowds were oppressive, however we were not daunted by the usual busloads of tourists and slow shuffling families with video cameras aglow nor by the hour plus queue to get inside. We pressed on. We joined a tour and got inside a little faster and were given a brief oral history of the Colosseum and then we explored on our own. It was pretty impressive to think of all that had transpired there – especially if one enjoys gore and violence. Which i do.

After the Colosseum we went on a stroll though the ruins of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. One must use one’s imagination to envision what it must have been like in the days of togas and Tiberius, but it was fascinating to see the remains of temples and whatnot.

Following a tasty lunch of pasta and wine, we walked through various piazzas and to the imposing Pantheon and through the delightful Piazza Navona where we browsed through the stalls of artists selling their wares. Most of the artists were quite adequate, though mostly similar to each other. We did find however one man selling these truly unique abstracts and collages made of paint and Italian news papers. I found one that roughly approximated an Italian skyline and bought it. And (quel surprise) Betty Lou bought a colorful painting of a street. One additional highlight was the Trevi Fountain which was more beautiful than i imagined. Sometimes the really familiar sights are lackluster in reality (i’m thinking of you, Champs Elysees) but this was not one of those times.

We hit a few notable cafes including the Caffe Tazza D’Oro and the Caffe Sant Eustachio where i had one of the best espressos of my life. We then had a couple of cockatils of the Campo de Fiori while listening to some jazz buskers and watching the sky darken.

Today we tackled the Vatican. We walked there and into Saint Peter’s Basilica, which was really was beautiful and impressive. The crowds were not too bad when we arrived so we decided to buy tickets for the Vatican Museum so we could see the Sistine Chapel. The queue to get into the museum was not at all bad, although the crowds inside were very unpleasant. Like closely flocked sheep we were forced to shuffle down lengthy corridors before reaching the Chapel. The co-mingling of halitosis and body odors of the sweaty crowd only added to the experience. That said, i must say that the Sistine Chapel itself was worth the prelude. Yes, it was crowded inside, but the paintings themselves really were breathtaking and moving and we enjoyed sitting there in silence for some time taking it all in.

After the Vatican we walked up to the Spanish Steps and around that area and back to our hotel for a brief nap.

Now we are out again for more exploring and may find time for a glass of wine or a gelato before bed.

Betty-Lou is sitting here at my side, correcting my typos, and she wants to tell you that she LOVED when a gorgeous Italian man said ‘Ciao, Bella!’ to her.

Now that we have found an Internet Cafe, i can safely say that we will write again tomorrow. We don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow so we will just see where our whims take us.
d & b

Europe Luxembourg

Home

I arrived home yesterday. My last night in Luxembourg was fun, as I went to several locations participating in La Nuit des Musees, where all of the galleries and museums were open until 1am and had special events going on (jazz bands, performance art, cocktails, etc). It was great.
d

Europe Luxembourg

Vianden

On Friday morning, after a hearty breakfast I took two buses to get to Vianden, which is Luxembourg’s most popular tourist destination. Why is it popular?

That’s why. Because there is a big 12thC castle on a hill surrounded by a little medieval village. It is perfect. The air smells of leaves and woodsmoke and grilling meats. There were virtually no tourists, so i felt like i had the town to myself. I visited the castle and took a chair lift up to the top of a mountain for coffee. I visited the house where Victor Hugo lived while in exile. (Apparently he wrote Les Miserables there.) and i just generally wandered around, because that’s all there is to do. My hotel (the Hotel Heintz) was absolutely delightful, so i relaxed there before going out for dinner. After dinner i hopped between three different bar\cafes, enjoying wine, coffee and cigars. (Cuban cigars are about half the price that they are in Canada, but there are not alot of shops that sell them.)

The town was all abuzz though getting ready for the annual Nessmoort (Walnut Festival). They were setting up booths and there were walnut related products everywhere–liquors, sweets, roasted nuts etc. Apparently it is a big deal and they have been doing it for centuries. (Actually, they are festival crazy in this town; apparently they relish in any excuse to get dressed up in medieval costume, drink and eat sausage.)

Anyway, i arrived back in Luxembourg city this morning. I am staying at a new hotel, the Hotel Simonici, which is very modern (everything is white) with lots of art on the walls. It is very nice, although my room is tiny.

The city is lively today. Hundreds of Swiss soccer fans are running wild through the streets and forming marching bands. I went to an antique market in one of the squares (mostly junk, but it was fun to look), and then i had lunch. At lunch I met this Irish girl who has invited me to join her and some friends for drinks later, which I may do depending on my mood.
Tomorrow I return home.
I may write again later…or not.
d

Europe Germany Luxembourg

Echternach

When we last met our heroine, she was off to Echternach, deep in the heart of “little Switzerland” and then….nothing. As it turns out that i have been in areas so quaint, that they are internet free! (i apologize if i am making even more typos than usual, but this keyboard is entirely random and difficult to navigate.)

On Thursday i took the bus from Luxembourg city to Echternach, which took just under an hour. It was raining when i arrived, but that did not dissolve my spirits, as the town is so charming. It is kind of like Tallinn, in that it is very small and very medieval feeling. There is a square and a pedestrian street, a church and a school and that’s about it. I checked into my Hotel, Le Pavillion, which was very cozy; i then proceeded to explore the town.To my delight there were hardly any tourists and almost no one spoke English. There were however lots and lots of kids. There is an enormous boarding school in Echternach and after school and into the evening, the kids just roam freely. Some were as young as about 8 years old. They weren’t creepy – like children from a certain movie that shall not be named – they were just hanging out and eating candy. It is hard to imagine people in North America letting children roam unsupervised, but to the best of my observation, not one of these children was being molested. Crazy.

I walked around all the streets at least twice before i decided to venture across the bridge into….Germany! Germany is a stone’s throw from Echternach – literally, I threw a stone and hit German soil. Unfortunately, the town on the German side isn’t very attractive, but I did hike up a mountain path into the forest to see what I could find. (nothing)

Bach to Echternach, I had dinner outside of my hotel, sitting in the stillness, watching people walking sturdy rottweilers and German Shepards and listening to a couple of old men talking vibrantly in Luxembourgish.
And that was my day in Echternach.

Europe Luxembourg

I’ve Got a Lovely Bicycle

I awoke this morning feeling a million times better (still a bit sniffly, but much better).

After breakfast, I took a stroll through the weekly farmers market at the Place de Guillaume II, where they had a lovely array of fruits and flowers. Sadly, I was stuffed from breakfast, so I didn’t try anything.

I then did something shocking….I rented a bicycle! They have those bike that lock up automatically and you rent them for like €1/hour and you can return it to any station in the city. I rode it cautiously at first, only on the sidewalks, but then I was riding in traffic without a care – and also without a helmet. It was liberating to be so reckless. I must say though that people here (and likewise in Paris and Amsterdam) ride bicycles differently than they do in Vancouver. First of all they are better dressed – men in suits and women in dresses. People in Vancouver slap on the reflective spandex just to commute to work. Second, people in Europe don’t ride their bike like maniacs. In Vancouver people are dodging in and out of traffic, always racing. Here everyone seems to ride at a leisurely pace, perhaps so they don’t get sweaty in their fine clothes. Anyway, it was fantastic.

I ended my ride at the train station, where I caught a train to Clervaux, in the middle of the picturesque Ardennes, which makes up Northern Luxembourg. It took 50 minutes to get there. Clervaux is slightly larger than Esch-Sur-Sure, but not by much. It seemed especially sleepy. All the stores seemed to be closed, I didn’t see anyone driving or doing much of anything really, except sipping coffee and walking slowly. It was quite lovely. Everyone there seemed to speak either German or Luxembourgish, not English or French.

I went to Clervaux Castle to see the Family of Man exhibit. The Family of Man is a photography exhibit but together in the 1950s at the Met in New York. It showcases photos of people from around the work taken by a wide-ranging group of photographers. The idea was to show people from everywhere engaging in similar activities to show how people are are fundamentally alike. (Since it is from the 1950s, I suppose it is a reaction to WWII and the Cold War). It is very sentimental, but effective and I quite enjoyed it. I had also planned to visit a museum dedicated to the Battle of the Ardennes, but discovered that from October to May it is only open Sundays.

After a coffee, I returned to Luxembourg City…and to my bicycle. This time, I rode down a crazy, windy hill to the Petrusse Valley and to Grund. I rode the length of the valley and back again. There were any cars on the path I was on, so I could ride as fast as I liked. At one point, which stopped on the bike, some Japanese tourists took photos of me. I suppose I shall end up in someone’s photo album in Kyoto as an example of a LuxembOurg commuter.

I then visited the National Museum of History and Art. It has 2 floors of contemporary Luxemburgish art, including an exhibit by an artist called Foni Tissen, whose work I quite liked. The other floors were devoted to renaissance and medieval works, of which I have seen better collections, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. (Wow, that sounds snobbish!) The lower two floors were all ancient history stuff – Translation: rooms of clay pots and bits of clay pots and bits of metal that once formed part of something useful.

I had falafel for dinner. I had planned to go for something fancier, but it was 6:00 and I was hungry. I am never in Europe long enough to get on to their eating schedule. All the restaurants close or stop serving food between like 3 and 8pm here and, well, I get too hungry for dinner at eight.

I had a cigar at the hotel bar and then went out for a stroll.

It is so warm here today; even this evening i didn’t need a jacket.

The city is very busy tonight. The restaurants and bars are literally overflowing – people milling about outside with their drinks in excited groups. One street even rolled out a red carpet that stretched for several blocks and all of the shops were serving champagne to people on the street. I wanted to mingle there, but it was a very well-heeled crowd and I did not fit in.

I must say that the men here are all very well dressed in nice suits. It looks like a whole city of lawyers and investment bankers, and it probably is.

Tomorrow i head to Echternach in the area known as “little Switzerland”, where i shall be staying the night.
Gutt Nuecht.

Europe Luxembourg

L’Eau de Vie

Last night after blogging, I enjoyed the most relaxing evening in the lounge at my hotel. I had a cigar and read the New York Times and worked on the crossword puzzle. I also samples one variety of the Luxembourg beverage, L’eau de Vie. Basically it is like grappa, but in stead of being made from grapes, it is made from fruit. There is apple, pear, strawberry, plum, raspberry, and others. I had the raspberry. It was quite nice.

I chatted with the waiter, who is from Germany. He told me that he recently went to Canada; and where do think he went? To Invermere, Cranbrook and Banff. How random is that? Invermere? He thought it was beautiful. He told me that he had always heard that Canada had very good ”weed” and very bad chocolate. When I ordered my beverage he said ”Wunderbar”, of course it sounded like “Voonderbar”. Delightful; I didn’t know that German people actually said that.

I also talked to a Swiss man who has never left Europe because he does not think he could fly because he could not go without cigarettes fro the duration of the flight.

After a sleepless night due to a raging fever and an achy body, I began my day. I took a train to Ettlebruck and then caught a bus to Esch-sur-Sûre, which is North East of Luxembourg City. Esch-sur-Sûre is a tiny little hamlet nestled (that really is the most appropriate word for it) between the mountains in a steep bend in the river Sûre. The ride there was beautiful, past farms with horses and sheep with long tails and enormous cows. The town is tiny – population 250. It took me 20 minutes to walk every street. I played on a swing by the river and listened to birds and watched dogs playing by the river. The air was so crisp and the leaves were all in various shades of autumn.

The town dates back to about the 600s and there is a castle from about 800 on a hill in the centre of town. The castle is mostly in ruin now, but from its vantage point I had excellent views of the town. After a cup of coffee, I returned to Luxembourg city.

This afternoon I visited the AM Tunnel gallery. It is very odd. It is a gallery of photographs (100s of them) displayed in a tunnel 5 floors below the ground. The tunnel exists as a conduit between the various banks in the area (none of which look like banks, by the way; the all look like homes for royalty). The gallery had two exhibits: a vast collection of photos by Edward Steichen and a similar array of photos by Rene Burri. It was very impressive.

I haven’t done much since then; I had dinner (pizza) and I have just been walking and relaxing. I just had some tea and a cigar at my hotel. I am pretty exhausted and still feeling quite ill, so I shall retire shortly.

The weather was nice today: about 17 degrees, cloudy, but not rainy.
Tomorrow I plan to take the train to Clervaux. Details to come.
d

Europe Luxembourg

The Stuff of Nightmares

Day two in Luxembourg has had two things working against it: my cold and the rain, which was severe this afternoon. Aside from those two negative aspects, the day has been lovely. I went on a brisk walk in the park this morning before browsing through the shops on the Grand Rue. There is a fine selection of chocolate shops here, although I have yet to sample any. I did however buy a coat. It’s weird, I know, but it is chilly here and the coat is nice; it is black and sort of marching-band-esque. It proved to be a wise purchase in light of the rain and cool temperatures.

I then went to the Casino. No, not the gambling kind, some of you will be disappointed to learn (and you know who you are), it is a contemporary art museum called “Casino” (it was a gaming establishment in the 1800s). They had an exhibit called SK-Interfaces and it was great, although I may very well have nightmares. It was probably the creepiest exhibit I have ever seen – and let’s not forget, I have seen mummies in Egypt, pickled babies in Russia and, yesterday, a jar of preserved fingers. The exhibit was this weird synthesis of science and art that culminated in art such as someone growing tiny leather coats using animal stem cells; some flowers that had been cross-bred with the artists own DNA; a fur coat made of road kill and an accompanying video of the skinning process; a video of an artist who had an ear grafted onto his arm; a display of artful hymens made of human and animal cells; ä collection of “perfume” bottles filled with liquid derived from human sweat and supposedly smelling of actual human fear; and a photography exhibit of a nude woman engaged in rather disturbing acts with a pig carcass. Yep. Not everything was creepy. There was a neat painting that you were encouraged to touch and when you did, the color would disappear (temporarily) from the places you had come into contact with. But by and large it was pretty disturbing (which means I loved it).

The rest of the after noon consisted of me wandering and, when the rain got too bad, hopping from cafe to cafe, sipping on wine and coffee and soup and smoking. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to smoke inside and to SEE people smoking inside. One cafe I walked past was filled with table after table of women with glasses of wine and coffee, smoking contemplatively and reading or writing in books. It just seems so civilized.

I had about a 3 hour nap today. I was wet and tired and I am, after, all, sick. This allowed me to go out this evening for a tea and a stroll. The streets are so welcoming here after dark. Everything feels so pleasant and secure. I have to say that there are a surprising array of inviting cafes and taverns here; they aren’t too loud or too quiet and the decor seems to always be just right.
Tomorrow I plan to venture outside of the city to explore one of the many villages in the country.
Gutt Nuecht.
d.

Wandering North

Category: Europe

Pisa & Lucca

A Day in Firenze

Under the Tuscan Sun

Ciao, Bella!

Home

Vianden

Echternach

I’ve Got a Lovely Bicycle

L’Eau de Vie

The Stuff of Nightmares