The last two weeks here in London have gone very quickly. Claire and I have both been fighting off colds, and quite busy helping out here at the A Rocha center. We've done a variety of work and had a great time talking with the rest of the staff.
We are looking forward to coming home. Getting back to work, re-starting our somewhat revised lives in Kirkland, and being settled down again.
This past Sunday we did some sightseeing, out to Oxford. It's a beautiful town with a very historical University, but really the main reason we went is that I (Torrey) am a dedicated J.R.R. Tolkien fan. Oxford was where he lived, taught, and worked most of his life. We explored the town a little, and saw some of the special places where Tolkien lived and worked. One place in particular was the 'Eagle and Child' pub, commonly known as the 'Bird and Baby'. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the rest of the group who called themselves 'The Inklings' would often gather there for a few pints and discuss literature and philosophy. They would read to each other from their own works in progress for comments and critical review.
So with that experience fresh in mind, and since we're heading home tomorrow, here's a fitting poem. This is from the end of Tolkien's 'The Hobbit', as Bilbo Baggins is heading home after his adventure. (I've changed a couple of the lines to fit our own experience - we didn't fight any dragons!)
Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea.
Over snow by winter sown,
and along ancient city walls,
Over grass and over stone,
And under changing leaves of fall.
Roads go ever ever on,
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that sun-baked fields have seen
And wondered at the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
We are in London
Getting here was a bit of a mess... the Italian Air Traffic Controllers union had a strike, and our noon flights from Palermo to Milan to London were all canceled. Fortunately we were at the airport early enough that they were able to find us seats on a late flight. So we sat around the airport all day reading, but eventually got here at around 11:30 pm (plus a one hour time zone difference).
As for what 'here' is: We are staying at A Rocha UK in Southall, a suburb of London. A Rocha is a Christian environmental organization working to preserve and rebuild natural environments around the world. See http://en.arocha.org/home/ for lots more information!
So Claire and I are helping out here at "the Center", a couple of adjacent apartments which have been converted into offices and shared community housing. There is a big shared kitchen and we eat with the rest of the team every day for lunch - usually a dozen people at the table, and with a smaller group for dinner. We have our own room upstairs, and have been having fun meeting lots of people and helping out. In the three days we've had so far, we have stuffed and stamped envelopes, done some cooking, cleaning, gardening, and organizing. Claire has also done some data entry in the office, and I've done some handyman work like fixing doorknobs and moving curtains.
We haven't taken any pictures yet, sorry!
This weekend we will probably have a Saturday trip out to Oxford to do the "Tolkien Walk" and see the sights. Then on Sunday afternoon we will visit one of Claire's cousins in London for dinner.
We are also putting some time into figuring out how to hit the ground running in Seattle/Kirkland when we get back... car rental, hotel, etc. and that should be all planned by the end of the week.
Thats it for now. We are looking forward to seeing everyone back home in Seattle and Vancouver soon!
As for what 'here' is: We are staying at A Rocha UK in Southall, a suburb of London. A Rocha is a Christian environmental organization working to preserve and rebuild natural environments around the world. See http://en.arocha.org/home/ for lots more information!
So Claire and I are helping out here at "the Center", a couple of adjacent apartments which have been converted into offices and shared community housing. There is a big shared kitchen and we eat with the rest of the team every day for lunch - usually a dozen people at the table, and with a smaller group for dinner. We have our own room upstairs, and have been having fun meeting lots of people and helping out. In the three days we've had so far, we have stuffed and stamped envelopes, done some cooking, cleaning, gardening, and organizing. Claire has also done some data entry in the office, and I've done some handyman work like fixing doorknobs and moving curtains.
We haven't taken any pictures yet, sorry!
This weekend we will probably have a Saturday trip out to Oxford to do the "Tolkien Walk" and see the sights. Then on Sunday afternoon we will visit one of Claire's cousins in London for dinner.
We are also putting some time into figuring out how to hit the ground running in Seattle/Kirkland when we get back... car rental, hotel, etc. and that should be all planned by the end of the week.
Thats it for now. We are looking forward to seeing everyone back home in Seattle and Vancouver soon!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
One more set of pictures
This last set of pictures goes back to shortly after Mom and Dad joined us in Slovenia. We went to the "Cows Ball", a traditional Slovenian event which features lots of cows, beer, sausage, goulash, traditional outfits and music, large power tools, and more beer. This all takes place in Bohinj, which is surrounded by incredibly beautiful mountains...
So here are some of the cows on parade:
This is a cauldron, cooking goulash, with one of the beer stands in the background:
Some guys in traditional costume:
And an entire cow (or whats left of it) roasting on a spit. The broom in the big pan was used for basting it.
So thats it for now... Claire and I are off to Palermo tomorrow after lunch, and will probably be too busy to do another blog posting until we've been in London for a couple of days. So look for something new next week!
So here are some of the cows on parade:
This is a cauldron, cooking goulash, with one of the beer stands in the background:
Some guys in traditional costume:
And an entire cow (or whats left of it) roasting on a spit. The broom in the big pan was used for basting it.
So thats it for now... Claire and I are off to Palermo tomorrow after lunch, and will probably be too busy to do another blog posting until we've been in London for a couple of days. So look for something new next week!
And yet more pictures!
This next set of pictures is from a month or so ago, when we were traveling with Mom and Dad in Croatia and Slovenia.
As you might remember from when I wrote about it ages ago, we had one night on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Here we are on the ferry... all reading our travel guides except me, taking the picture. Tourists!
Hvar is a beautiful place to visit -- one distinctive thing about it is there are lots of pomegranates growing there. These were just outside our apartment.
This stone carving also features pomegranates, at the right. Grapes and olives on the left and center.
We went out for a musical concert that evening in Hvar, and Claire dressed for the occasion:
Jumping back a week further, here are Mom and Dad in Slovenia. This was in the park up above the Skocjan caves.
And from inside the cave itself, this is one of the entrances:
Deep inside the cave, it is dark (obviously) but there is a lot of artificial lighting. The space is so large that the camera flash is completely useless, so it is difficult to take pictures. This one is kind of blurry, but you can see the pathway around the edge of the huge underground chasm with the river running through it. Definitely one of the most amazing things we saw on the whole trip.
As you might remember from when I wrote about it ages ago, we had one night on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Here we are on the ferry... all reading our travel guides except me, taking the picture. Tourists!
Hvar is a beautiful place to visit -- one distinctive thing about it is there are lots of pomegranates growing there. These were just outside our apartment.
This stone carving also features pomegranates, at the right. Grapes and olives on the left and center.
We went out for a musical concert that evening in Hvar, and Claire dressed for the occasion:
Jumping back a week further, here are Mom and Dad in Slovenia. This was in the park up above the Skocjan caves.
And from inside the cave itself, this is one of the entrances:
Deep inside the cave, it is dark (obviously) but there is a lot of artificial lighting. The space is so large that the camera flash is completely useless, so it is difficult to take pictures. This one is kind of blurry, but you can see the pathway around the edge of the huge underground chasm with the river running through it. Definitely one of the most amazing things we saw on the whole trip.
And more pictures! Mount Etna
Going back further, here's some pictures from shortly after we arrived in Sicily. The first is a view of Mount Etna from the balcony of our hotel room. It looks a little like its erupting, but most of that is just clouds. But some of it is steam from the craters.
And from up near the summit, here is a view back down towards the towns of the coast, with some lava formations in the foreground. It was difficult to take pictures that day... very cold and cloudy at the top, and the lava is so black that it doesn't look like much in photos.
And from up near the summit, here is a view back down towards the towns of the coast, with some lava formations in the foreground. It was difficult to take pictures that day... very cold and cloudy at the top, and the lava is so black that it doesn't look like much in photos.
Finally some pictures! Castelbuono, Sicily.
Some pictures from Castelbuono, Sicily, where we were last week.
The first two are from two hikes we did in the area.
This third one is a ruin near a little village in the area, an hour or so from sunset. Sicily is very pretty in many places, but I haven't been able to really capture it in photographs as well as I'd like.
The first two are from two hikes we did in the area.
This third one is a ruin near a little village in the area, an hour or so from sunset. Sicily is very pretty in many places, but I haven't been able to really capture it in photographs as well as I'd like.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
More on Sicily
We are now in Castellemare del Golfo, and this will be our fourth night.
Getting here was a bit of an adventure... there was a "fire in a train station" or something like that, and all the trains heading east along the north coast of Sicily into Palermo were stopped. So we ended up sharing a big taxi with 6 other people, then took the train from Palermo, which arrived to late to catch the bus connection, so we sat around at a bar across from the deserted train station for two hours waiting for the next bus. We eventually did get here though, and are enjoying staying in a very nice little apartment. We have a rooftop balcony with a great view over the city and the ocean, and a decent little kitchen.
We have spent two days hiking in the Zingaro National Park, which has been great. No high altitude hiking, so no cold weather! Lots of beautiful coastal views, sandy beaches... We also have found a gym, so on our non-hiking days we got a great morning workout and then did some sightseeing and wandering around town. We are also finding time for reading and just relaxing. And definitely some fun cooking - we have purchased a Sicilian cookbook, and tonight will be pasta with pistaschio nut pesto, along with grilled fish, which we will enjoy eating with our view over the old town and the ocean.
Sorry no pictures right now, we are in an internet cafe. Maybe tomorrow though!
Our plans for the next week have come together reasonably well. Claire just found us a place to stay in Palermo for three nights starting this Friday, and from there we fly to London. We have figured out how to get from Heathrow to the A Rocha center where we will be staying and volunteering... we just don't know what we will be doing there yet! But we are looking forward to being in London.
We have also been starting to put together our plans for when we return to Seattle / Kirkland. Lots of things to figure out... temporary apartment vs. short term rental, long term rental, short term car lease, buying a car... but too boring to go into detail here.
Getting here was a bit of an adventure... there was a "fire in a train station" or something like that, and all the trains heading east along the north coast of Sicily into Palermo were stopped. So we ended up sharing a big taxi with 6 other people, then took the train from Palermo, which arrived to late to catch the bus connection, so we sat around at a bar across from the deserted train station for two hours waiting for the next bus. We eventually did get here though, and are enjoying staying in a very nice little apartment. We have a rooftop balcony with a great view over the city and the ocean, and a decent little kitchen.
We have spent two days hiking in the Zingaro National Park, which has been great. No high altitude hiking, so no cold weather! Lots of beautiful coastal views, sandy beaches... We also have found a gym, so on our non-hiking days we got a great morning workout and then did some sightseeing and wandering around town. We are also finding time for reading and just relaxing. And definitely some fun cooking - we have purchased a Sicilian cookbook, and tonight will be pasta with pistaschio nut pesto, along with grilled fish, which we will enjoy eating with our view over the old town and the ocean.
Sorry no pictures right now, we are in an internet cafe. Maybe tomorrow though!
Our plans for the next week have come together reasonably well. Claire just found us a place to stay in Palermo for three nights starting this Friday, and from there we fly to London. We have figured out how to get from Heathrow to the A Rocha center where we will be staying and volunteering... we just don't know what we will be doing there yet! But we are looking forward to being in London.
We have also been starting to put together our plans for when we return to Seattle / Kirkland. Lots of things to figure out... temporary apartment vs. short term rental, long term rental, short term car lease, buying a car... but too boring to go into detail here.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Quick update
Just to let people know where we are...
last 3 nights we were in a little town, Castelnuovo, and spent our time hiking in the Madonie park. Wonderful place - but we couldn't get on the Internet so no updates!
We are in Palermo for the next 30 minutes, and are taking the train to Castellemare del Golfo. We will be there for at least 6 nights, hopefully we will find a good internet access point and we will put up some pictures of the beautiful places weve been in Sicily.
Lots more could be said but I have to run back to the train now,
last 3 nights we were in a little town, Castelnuovo, and spent our time hiking in the Madonie park. Wonderful place - but we couldn't get on the Internet so no updates!
We are in Palermo for the next 30 minutes, and are taking the train to Castellemare del Golfo. We will be there for at least 6 nights, hopefully we will find a good internet access point and we will put up some pictures of the beautiful places weve been in Sicily.
Lots more could be said but I have to run back to the train now,
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Sicily
So we've made it to Sicily.
We haven't done much here yet... after traveling all day Saturday we stayed the night in Catania, the second biggest city on the island. However, after the worst sleep we've had on this trip, including the airplane, we decided to bail out of our planned three days in Catania at the cheap but dirty and very noisy hostel, and instead checked in to a three-star hotel up on the side of Mount Etna. Convenient for hiking, Wi-Fi internet, a pool, and blessedly quiet, clean rooms. Worth every Euro!
So tomorrow we're hiking up the side of another volcano, after which we will return here and laze around by the pool, maybe surfing the net to catch up on the Canadian news from our deck chairs. ($1 CDN = $1.02 USD!!!)
Meanwhile, here are some of the picture highlights from the last few weeks...
The Amalfi Coast, a minute from where we stayed in Atrani:
And a view of Atrani from up on the mountain, taken while we were hiking:
From a few days further back, an attempt at an "artistic" photo -- this is the ferry from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bari, Italy.
And a picture from the top of Vesuvius:
Also at the top of Vesuvius, here we are with the crater rim behind us.
Here's Claire outside a pizzeria in Naples, where we enjoyed a couple of fantastic pizzas (but the ones we had for dinner the next night were better):
And here's me in the ruins of Pompeii.
We haven't done much here yet... after traveling all day Saturday we stayed the night in Catania, the second biggest city on the island. However, after the worst sleep we've had on this trip, including the airplane, we decided to bail out of our planned three days in Catania at the cheap but dirty and very noisy hostel, and instead checked in to a three-star hotel up on the side of Mount Etna. Convenient for hiking, Wi-Fi internet, a pool, and blessedly quiet, clean rooms. Worth every Euro!
So tomorrow we're hiking up the side of another volcano, after which we will return here and laze around by the pool, maybe surfing the net to catch up on the Canadian news from our deck chairs. ($1 CDN = $1.02 USD!!!)
Meanwhile, here are some of the picture highlights from the last few weeks...
The Amalfi Coast, a minute from where we stayed in Atrani:
And a view of Atrani from up on the mountain, taken while we were hiking:
From a few days further back, an attempt at an "artistic" photo -- this is the ferry from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bari, Italy.
And a picture from the top of Vesuvius:
Also at the top of Vesuvius, here we are with the crater rim behind us.
Here's Claire outside a pizzeria in Naples, where we enjoyed a couple of fantastic pizzas (but the ones we had for dinner the next night were better):
And here's me in the ruins of Pompeii.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Back to Italy, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast
Just a quick update... We have been busy again :-)
We took the ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari, stayed in Bari that night, and continued by train the next day to Naples. That afternoon we saw the archeological museum in Naples.
The next morning we did the big day-trip out to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. And then on the third day in Itay, we headed down to the Amalfi Coast, where we have now been for two days.
So thats the bare facts... some impressions: Naples was very interesting but kind of overwhelming. Dirty, crazy, most insane driving I have ever seen, but still fascinating. Great pizza, and although there are tourists there it is not a touristy city. Pompeii and Vesuvius were both very interesting, some amazing sights. The Amalfi coast is just as spectacular as its reputation would suggest. It is very warm here, we have been hiking up in the mountains and it is warmer than July would be in Seattle.
Tomorrow we are taking the long trip south to Sicily. We have also booked our flights from Sicily to London, and think we have arranged to stay for a week at an organic farm "agriturismo" just outside of Catania (but are waiting to hear confirmation back from them). So the last few weeks of our trip are taking shape.
We are looking forward to relaxing in Sicily. And although we are not exactly homesick, we are starting to look forward to being back home. Some more stability, drip coffee and easier shopping, and a lot of other things will be good to come home to.
My 15 minutes are up so thats it for now...
We took the ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari, stayed in Bari that night, and continued by train the next day to Naples. That afternoon we saw the archeological museum in Naples.
The next morning we did the big day-trip out to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. And then on the third day in Itay, we headed down to the Amalfi Coast, where we have now been for two days.
So thats the bare facts... some impressions: Naples was very interesting but kind of overwhelming. Dirty, crazy, most insane driving I have ever seen, but still fascinating. Great pizza, and although there are tourists there it is not a touristy city. Pompeii and Vesuvius were both very interesting, some amazing sights. The Amalfi coast is just as spectacular as its reputation would suggest. It is very warm here, we have been hiking up in the mountains and it is warmer than July would be in Seattle.
Tomorrow we are taking the long trip south to Sicily. We have also booked our flights from Sicily to London, and think we have arranged to stay for a week at an organic farm "agriturismo" just outside of Catania (but are waiting to hear confirmation back from them). So the last few weeks of our trip are taking shape.
We are looking forward to relaxing in Sicily. And although we are not exactly homesick, we are starting to look forward to being back home. Some more stability, drip coffee and easier shopping, and a lot of other things will be good to come home to.
My 15 minutes are up so thats it for now...
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Some more pictures
This morning my parents left by bus for Zagreb. It is a long trip, but they should be able to take the bus once they get back to Split, which will be nicer than the bus. Then tomorrow they take the train back to Ljubljana, and then Monday they fly back to Canada. Lots of travel for just a few days...
Meanwhile, Claire and I are getting some errands done this morning, doing some shopping and trip planning. We are taking the ferry to Italy (Dubrovnik to Bari) tomorrow just after lunch. We'll arrive in Italy at 8 pm and stay the night, and then get up early the next morning to take the train to Naples. From there we go to see Vesuvius and Pompeii.
Here are some more interesting pictures from the last few weeks...
The first is Claire and I at Ptuj castle with the town behind us. We biked around the lake in the distance with my parents the day after taking this picture. Ptij was very nice, not overrun with tourists!
The castle museum in Ptuj had a lot of interesting local artifacts. Perhaps the weirdest were this chair and table combination, made out of deer antlers. Rather like something from a nightmare, actually.
One of the most enjoyable things we did while in Ptuj is head out into the Haloze hills wine country. The tourist information there got us set up to visit with a local wine producer, 'Turcan'. They had some really excellent white wine, easily the best we've had anywhere on this trip so far. Also, they were very friendly and hospitable, showing us around their production facilities and cellar, providing a wonderful wine tasting and allowing us to use their patio for the picnic lunch we had brought with us.
Unfortunately you probably won't be able to buy their wines in North America. They do export a little to Germany and Austria, but they are not a large producer and most of it is sold within Slovenia. But look for it if you ever travel here! Here we are in the cellar and tasting room:
And here are some of their vines:
Meanwhile, Claire and I are getting some errands done this morning, doing some shopping and trip planning. We are taking the ferry to Italy (Dubrovnik to Bari) tomorrow just after lunch. We'll arrive in Italy at 8 pm and stay the night, and then get up early the next morning to take the train to Naples. From there we go to see Vesuvius and Pompeii.
Here are some more interesting pictures from the last few weeks...
The first is Claire and I at Ptuj castle with the town behind us. We biked around the lake in the distance with my parents the day after taking this picture. Ptij was very nice, not overrun with tourists!
The castle museum in Ptuj had a lot of interesting local artifacts. Perhaps the weirdest were this chair and table combination, made out of deer antlers. Rather like something from a nightmare, actually.
One of the most enjoyable things we did while in Ptuj is head out into the Haloze hills wine country. The tourist information there got us set up to visit with a local wine producer, 'Turcan'. They had some really excellent white wine, easily the best we've had anywhere on this trip so far. Also, they were very friendly and hospitable, showing us around their production facilities and cellar, providing a wonderful wine tasting and allowing us to use their patio for the picnic lunch we had brought with us.Unfortunately you probably won't be able to buy their wines in North America. They do export a little to Germany and Austria, but they are not a large producer and most of it is sold within Slovenia. But look for it if you ever travel here! Here we are in the cellar and tasting room:
And here are some of their vines:
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Dubrovnik
So once again apologies for the long delay between posts. Hopefully that will be better now that we are not traveling so quickly. We have so many pictures to go through that I will have to spend some time on the laptop sorting and organizing, rather than trying to do it here in the internet cafe where I pay by the minute.
However, here are at least a couple. Here we are in Ljubljana on the day we met up with my parents. We are standing at the end of the Dragon Bridge.
A few days later, here are my parents and Claire up at the top of the castle in Bled, with some of the lake in the background.
However, here are at least a couple. Here we are in Ljubljana on the day we met up with my parents. We are standing at the end of the Dragon Bridge.
A few days later, here are my parents and Claire up at the top of the castle in Bled, with some of the lake in the background.
Now, Claire and I (and my parents) are in Dubrovnik, where it is raining for the first time here in 4 months. The hillsides are scarred with black marks from the fires they have been having. So we are taking the day to get caught up on trip planning and email, and updating this blog.
Since my last post when we were heading off to Zagreb, we've been through Zagreb (but didn't stay there) and then drove to Plitviče National Park. It's hard to describe it... a lot of small lakes connected by lots of waterfalls. That doesn't sound like much, but it is really amazing. Since the water is so loaded with calcium carbonate, the chemistry and physics of the water results in waterfalls which instead of carving deep channels and becoming a single channel, the waterfalls spread out and becomes wide collections of many waterfalls, running all over the landscape.
After Plitviče, we drove to Split (yes, that is the name of the city) and left the car, with a couple of nights there, followed by one night on the island of Hvar. We could have spent a lot longer on Hvar but had to leave the next day because that is when the twice weekly ferry runs. However in the short time there we managed to see the sights, have a good seafood meal, go swimming in the Adriatic, and catch a wonderful choir concert at the former Franciscan monestary that night.
And now we are in Dubrovnik. Sunday afternoon we will be taking the ferry back to Italy, landing in Bari. From there we head over towards Naples and the Almafi coast, Vesuvius and Pompeii, and then south towards Sicily.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A busy week
Sorry it has been so long since our last update. We have been travelling with my parents, driving a great little VW Golf Turbo Diesel all over the country. Since last Thursday, we have seen most of the top tourist attractions and "must see" sights in Slovenia. Some of the highlights:
- Ptuj, a wonderful, ancient city out in the eastern side of the country, where we stayed for two nights, toured the Haloze wine valley, biked around the lake, visited the castle, had some wonderful food, and more
- Bled, possibly the most beautiful town in the country, with a castle on the hill overlooking the lake, a church on a little island in the lake, some great hikes...
- Bohinj, (again - Claire and I were here for 4 days a couple weeks ago) where we saw the "Cows Ball", probably the most "Slovenian" festival in the country, ate sausage, goulash, sauerkraut, and beer, took the cable car up the mountain to get a view of Mount Triglav... lots of fun!
- Drove over the twisty, narrow Vrsic pass highway with its 49 switchbacks and spectacular views.
- Saw the Predjama castle, the Postonja caves, the Skocjan caves, the Vipava wine valley... The Skocjan caves in particular were one of the most amazing things I have ever seen anywhere. A HUGE underground cavern with a river roaring through the bottom of it, pathways winding along the cliffs over the river and a bridge hundreds of feet over the water. The best way to describe it is to compare it to the "Mines of Moria" scenes in the Lord of the Rings movie.
- Day tripped to Piran, a beautiful little town on the coast (seemed more Italian than Slovenian, not too surprising given its mostly Italian history)
And a lot more I can't even remember at the moment. I would love to put up pictures... we have taken several hundred pictures over the last week but unfortunately we are using the free internet service in the tourist information office and the computer here won't let me load pictures from our USB camera stick!
Anyway, we are heading off to Zagreb, Croatia in a couple of hours... maybe we will be able to put some pictures on the blog from there.
The
- Ptuj, a wonderful, ancient city out in the eastern side of the country, where we stayed for two nights, toured the Haloze wine valley, biked around the lake, visited the castle, had some wonderful food, and more
- Bled, possibly the most beautiful town in the country, with a castle on the hill overlooking the lake, a church on a little island in the lake, some great hikes...
- Bohinj, (again - Claire and I were here for 4 days a couple weeks ago) where we saw the "Cows Ball", probably the most "Slovenian" festival in the country, ate sausage, goulash, sauerkraut, and beer, took the cable car up the mountain to get a view of Mount Triglav... lots of fun!
- Drove over the twisty, narrow Vrsic pass highway with its 49 switchbacks and spectacular views.
- Saw the Predjama castle, the Postonja caves, the Skocjan caves, the Vipava wine valley... The Skocjan caves in particular were one of the most amazing things I have ever seen anywhere. A HUGE underground cavern with a river roaring through the bottom of it, pathways winding along the cliffs over the river and a bridge hundreds of feet over the water. The best way to describe it is to compare it to the "Mines of Moria" scenes in the Lord of the Rings movie.
- Day tripped to Piran, a beautiful little town on the coast (seemed more Italian than Slovenian, not too surprising given its mostly Italian history)
And a lot more I can't even remember at the moment. I would love to put up pictures... we have taken several hundred pictures over the last week but unfortunately we are using the free internet service in the tourist information office and the computer here won't let me load pictures from our USB camera stick!
Anyway, we are heading off to Zagreb, Croatia in a couple of hours... maybe we will be able to put some pictures on the blog from there.
The
Friday, September 7, 2007
Pictures
After some difficulty with badly translated directions, I found the local man who sells trout last night... This led to new adventures in hotel cooking, as I got to gut and clean them myself in our tiny kitchen. Despite my inexpertise in filleting fish they were delicious.
Here are some of the local trout in the river:
A black & yellow spotted salamander Claire saw while we were hiking:
One of the local rivers, which has carved out an amazing gorge in the rocks:
And way up in the mountains (2500 metres, while the lake is about 800), some small buildings:
Now we are off to buy some lunch supplies and tackle a really long hike, limited only by our need to get back to catch the last bus back to this side of the lake. Hope the weather stays good!
Here are some of the local trout in the river:
A black & yellow spotted salamander Claire saw while we were hiking:
One of the local rivers, which has carved out an amazing gorge in the rocks:
And way up in the mountains (2500 metres, while the lake is about 800), some small buildings:
Now we are off to buy some lunch supplies and tackle a really long hike, limited only by our need to get back to catch the last bus back to this side of the lake. Hope the weather stays good!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
From Tuscany to the Slovenian Alps
It has been too long since we've put an update here. Since leaving Tuscany, we've spent 24 hours in Bologna (where we had a wonderful, rich, expensive, decadent meal) and then continued on to Slovenia. We had two nights and the day between in Ljubljana, where did a bunch of organizing and planning for later in our trip. We also found time to bike around the city, which is beautiful, and sample some of the local specialties (horse burgers).
Then we took the bus up to Lake Bohinj, which is in the Alps again. We are staying at a nice little apartment with a kitchen, and enjoying cooking as usual.
Slovenia is much less expensive than Italy, and this area is very pretty. The hiking here is great - the first day we just walked around the lake (4 hours) and took lots of pictures, and yesterday we did a much longer, serious hike up into the mountains towards Mount Triglav, which is the largest mountain in Slovenia. We have decided to not summit Triglav as the weather is a bit chancy and it requires an overnight stay at a mountain hut.
Today we are resting up for another big hike tomorrow. We have found out from the (very helpful) tourist information office where to buy fresh local trout, which have a reputation for being delicious. (We have pictures of trout in the streams here which I'll put up later, when we get them off our camera.) So we'll be trying that for dinner, cooked with a seafood spice mix we are still carrying from Tuscany. Unfortunately we don't have a grill or oven, so it will need to be pan fried or possibly poached.
We are now off to see 'Slap Savica' which is Slovenian for the Savica river waterfall, one of the more famous sights in the area. The next posting will have pictures and less chatter!
Then we took the bus up to Lake Bohinj, which is in the Alps again. We are staying at a nice little apartment with a kitchen, and enjoying cooking as usual.
Slovenia is much less expensive than Italy, and this area is very pretty. The hiking here is great - the first day we just walked around the lake (4 hours) and took lots of pictures, and yesterday we did a much longer, serious hike up into the mountains towards Mount Triglav, which is the largest mountain in Slovenia. We have decided to not summit Triglav as the weather is a bit chancy and it requires an overnight stay at a mountain hut.
Today we are resting up for another big hike tomorrow. We have found out from the (very helpful) tourist information office where to buy fresh local trout, which have a reputation for being delicious. (We have pictures of trout in the streams here which I'll put up later, when we get them off our camera.) So we'll be trying that for dinner, cooked with a seafood spice mix we are still carrying from Tuscany. Unfortunately we don't have a grill or oven, so it will need to be pan fried or possibly poached.
We are now off to see 'Slap Savica' which is Slovenian for the Savica river waterfall, one of the more famous sights in the area. The next posting will have pictures and less chatter!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuscany
We have been in Montepulciano for 4 nights now, with two to go. Tuscany is very pretty, and Montepulciano in particular is a very nice place to stay. Our "agriturismo" is wonderful, basically our own little cottage with kitchen. So we have been cooking Italian food, drinking the local Vino Nobile wine, and enjoying morning runs through the vineyards and olive groves. We've also done a wine tour to a couple of vinyards and cellars, and tasted lots of local cheeses, wines, olive oils, and more. Many of the local food specialties are great, including "panforte" almond & fig fruitcake, "pici" which is like a really thick sphaghetti, and lots more.
Our first day here we managed to arrive in time to watch the Bravio Delle Botti (medieval festival and barrel race) which was really interesting:
We have been taking tons of pictures, it is very difficult to just choose one or two to put up here... Here's a view from near the top of the city at dusk.
Hard to believe we've been away for almost 1 month now, the time is going quickly!
Our first day here we managed to arrive in time to watch the Bravio Delle Botti (medieval festival and barrel race) which was really interesting:
We have been taking tons of pictures, it is very difficult to just choose one or two to put up here... Here's a view from near the top of the city at dusk.
Hard to believe we've been away for almost 1 month now, the time is going quickly!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
We have been in Florence for 3 nights now and as you might expect we have seen a lot of art. Here is a picture of us at the top of the Duomo, looking out over the city.
Tomorrow morning we leave early for Montepulciano. We plan to get there early enough to see the Bravo delle Botti (Barrel Races) which are one of the town festivals.
Tomorrow morning we leave early for Montepulciano. We plan to get there early enough to see the Bravo delle Botti (Barrel Races) which are one of the town festivals.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Bolzano
To start out, a picture from Venice:
We have been in Bolzano now for two nights. This may be our favorite city so far... very pretty with mountains covered in vineyards and Austrian style houses. More than half the people here have German as their first language, and many of the restaurants are German style as well. There are nearly free bikes available for rent, great biking paths around the city, a great open-air vegetable market, and several museums. The first day we got here from Venice, rented bikes, explored the city, and hiked up to one of the local castles. Yesterday we took a cable car ride up to Oberbolzen and explored that area. Today being Sunday, most everything is closed except the museums, so we saw the archeological and natural history museums. The first one has the famous Iceman, "Otzi". That was good as there was an audio guide in English. The second one would have been good except it was only in Italian and German...
Tomorrow we plan to bus up into the mountains and then do a really serious hike up into the Dolomite Alps.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Venice
We are in Venice. It is impossible to describe the city in a short posting so I won't even try. But we have taken over 100 pictures in the last 24 hours! Unfortunately I cannot put one here as we are online from an internet cafe, not with our own laptop. But our pictures of Venice look like everyone elses anyway!
We met up with John and Leena last night, and visited the Basilica today. It has been great to spend the day with them and talk about their travels and ours. We had a lovely picnic lunch out at the far end of the city in the park (much less crowded) and are joining them for dinner again in a few minutes.
We also have successfully booked accomodations for our 4 nights in Florence and 5 nights in Tuscany: Wine lovers will be interested that we are staying at an Agriturismo (farmhouse accomodation) a short walk outside the city walls of Montelpulciano. Check it out at http://www.fontecastello.it/agriturismo.uk.php .
Tomorrow morning we head north for Bolzano. German food, and more Alps!
We met up with John and Leena last night, and visited the Basilica today. It has been great to spend the day with them and talk about their travels and ours. We had a lovely picnic lunch out at the far end of the city in the park (much less crowded) and are joining them for dinner again in a few minutes.
We also have successfully booked accomodations for our 4 nights in Florence and 5 nights in Tuscany: Wine lovers will be interested that we are staying at an Agriturismo (farmhouse accomodation) a short walk outside the city walls of Montelpulciano. Check it out at http://www.fontecastello.it/agriturismo.uk.php .
Tomorrow morning we head north for Bolzano. German food, and more Alps!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Italy!
It has been a while and we've been busy! We spent three days hiking in the Aosta valley around Bionaz. Fantastic weather, amazing Alpine views.
We stayed two nights in a hostel and then one night at a rifugia up in the mountains, which was a unique experience.
We also had some of the local food specialties: Fontina cheese, which is something like a cross between Brie and Gouda. And Pan Nero (Black Bread) which is a hearty, crusty bread of whole wheat and perhaps other grains. Both are very good. Also tried the local grappa (distilled spirit from wine) which I liked but Claire did not.
Since then we've arrived in Turin, where we've spent most of our time walking around and doing errands. I have spliced a European plug onto our laptop power adapter. Today we are heading off to Venice, but before then we're going to see the Egyptian museum here in Turin.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Heading into Italy
We're in a bit of a rush at the moment as we're about to head off to Italy, but here's a quick update...
On Monday, we traveled from Paris to Chamonix (actually, Argentiere) near Mount Blanc. Tuesday (yesterday) we went on a great hike up into the mountains, saw the glacier of Argentiere, and then cooked dinner in the hostel. Unfortunately the weather has turned very cloudy, raining and cold so our plans to do several days of hiking and take the tram cars and lifts over the mountain to Italy will have to wait for the next trip.
We're going to take the bus through the Mount Blanc tunnel this afternoon to Italy, and hopefully the weather will be better on that side.
On Monday, we traveled from Paris to Chamonix (actually, Argentiere) near Mount Blanc. Tuesday (yesterday) we went on a great hike up into the mountains, saw the glacier of Argentiere, and then cooked dinner in the hostel. Unfortunately the weather has turned very cloudy, raining and cold so our plans to do several days of hiking and take the tram cars and lifts over the mountain to Italy will have to wait for the next trip.
We're going to take the bus through the Mount Blanc tunnel this afternoon to Italy, and hopefully the weather will be better on that side.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
We're in Paris!
Claire and I arrived in Paris without any problems on Friday morning. We found our hotel and checked in and discovered that the ground floor of the building had an organic food store! Yay!
After getting organized and cleaned up we headed out to the Eiffel Tower and the Champs de Mars park -- an obvious place to start, since it's walking distance from here. Then we had a picnic dinner in the park, with food we picked up along Rue Cler (a great street for food shopping, just around the corner from the hotel). Picnicing seems to be the way to go for us... great value for the money, and eating outside in the park is great. We got some very nice walnut-and-olive spread for our sandwiches, some fresh chevre, and made some very tasty sandwiches.
After dinner we took the metro to Champs Elysees and did the window-shopping and people-watching thing there. Back to the hotel and collapsed into bed. Jetlag!
Saturday we started at the Musee d'Orsay. That was great -- took longer than we expected, so we didn't end up doing any other museums that day. After a late lunch we did Rick Steve's "Historic Paris" walk around the Notre Dame and other sights in the historic centre of paris.
We had a late (for us) dinner at a Provencal restaurant near the Bastille square, and then did the Montmartre & Sacre Couer walk late that evening.
Today (Sunday) we are taking it easy. Reading and relaxing at the local cafe, and now we are back at the hotel where I've plugged our laptop into the free internet connection.
Today is the first Sunday of the month and many museums are free. Of course, that also means they will be very busy. We'll probably see one museum this afternoon, but other than that, plan to mostly relax, read, and do some trip planning.
We've got reservations for the Paris-Lyon train for tomorrow morning. From Lyon we'll connect through to Chamonix, where we'll be staying for three nights or so and doing day hikes and other stuff around Mount Blanc. Or at least that's the plan for now...
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Flying away tomorrow!
We've actually finished everything! Well, everything important and urgent, anyway.
Yesterday was long and busy. We packed up the final load of stuff, cleaned the condo, crammed that last load into our storage units, and took the Flexcar down to Redfin to drop off our keys.
Then we walked to Casuelita's Caribbean Cafe. We piled our backpacks and carry-ons under the bar and had a great early dinner. Habenero prawns, a jerk chicken sandwich with side salad, $5 each, plus $2 each for drinks at happy-hour prices. Obviously inexpensive, and the quality was excellent. Everything was delicious, attractively presented, and the service was friendly and fast. Highly recommended! I ate there a few weeks ago and the salad and soup I then were wonderful as well. The restaurant is nicely decorated with some views out over the water. I'm expecting to eat a lot of great food in Europe, but I don't expect to often get such good food, in such a nice location, at such low prices. We have been spoiled living in Seattle.
After that, bussed south to stay with Jenny and Phillip near the airport for two nights. It's a relief to have this spare day to get organized, send email, and do some trip planning.
The next blog update will be from Paris!
Yesterday was long and busy. We packed up the final load of stuff, cleaned the condo, crammed that last load into our storage units, and took the Flexcar down to Redfin to drop off our keys.
Then we walked to Casuelita's Caribbean Cafe. We piled our backpacks and carry-ons under the bar and had a great early dinner. Habenero prawns, a jerk chicken sandwich with side salad, $5 each, plus $2 each for drinks at happy-hour prices. Obviously inexpensive, and the quality was excellent. Everything was delicious, attractively presented, and the service was friendly and fast. Highly recommended! I ate there a few weeks ago and the salad and soup I then were wonderful as well. The restaurant is nicely decorated with some views out over the water. I'm expecting to eat a lot of great food in Europe, but I don't expect to often get such good food, in such a nice location, at such low prices. We have been spoiled living in Seattle.
After that, bussed south to stay with Jenny and Phillip near the airport for two nights. It's a relief to have this spare day to get organized, send email, and do some trip planning.
The next blog update will be from Paris!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
It's been a busy two or three weeks! We're down to our final 3 days here before we leave. And of course, we just can't have too much to do, so we took a break from packing and cleaning the condo and ran in the Seafair Torchlight 8 km race Saturday night. It's a nice route, starting at the stadiums, up the Viaduct past Seattle Center, turn around and then all the way down the parade route back to the stadiums again.
We did pretty well -- Claire ran it in almost exactly the same time as last year for her, but I did a little better. For some reason the official race results don't include our names and numbers... I've emailed "the people in charge" and they are looking into it but I don't expect much. Nonetheless, I crossed the line at 33 minutes and around 15 seconds I think, and Claire was close behind at about 36:12.
Mom and Dad were up at Seattle Center by the parade route start, and Dad got some pictures of us as we went by:
We did pretty well -- Claire ran it in almost exactly the same time as last year for her, but I did a little better. For some reason the official race results don't include our names and numbers... I've emailed "the people in charge" and they are looking into it but I don't expect much. Nonetheless, I crossed the line at 33 minutes and around 15 seconds I think, and Claire was close behind at about 36:12.
Mom and Dad were up at Seattle Center by the parade route start, and Dad got some pictures of us as we went by:
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Another step forward, as the Jeep is (finally!) up on Craigslist. A real downside to Jeep Wranglers is they are really hard to wash & wax, with dozens of seams, external hinges, and protruding parts. With that done, my major goal of the weekend is accomplished and I'm relaxing in Belltown. I managed to score an open parking spot in the middle of the nightlife, and with the big 'FOR SALE!" signs on the Jeep maybe someone walking by will take notice.
But if not, well, it's relaxing to sit here, surf the net, watch the crowd, and blog. I'm at "the Apartment" which bills itself as a "bistro - martini - tree" whatever that means. A reasonable glass of wine for $5 and a corner table... life is good.
But if not, well, it's relaxing to sit here, surf the net, watch the crowd, and blog. I'm at "the Apartment" which bills itself as a "bistro - martini - tree" whatever that means. A reasonable glass of wine for $5 and a corner table... life is good.
Friday, July 13, 2007
So it begins.
We've accepted an offer on our condo, Torrey accepted a job offer to start when we get back from Europe, and everything is starting to happen very quickly! We just have to complete the condo sale, sell our Jeep, move our stuff to storage, plan the trip, buy tickets, make reservations, figure out phones and ATM cards and Internet access and buses and trains and ... by the end of the month.
But a few things at least can be crossed off the list: We now have a blog, and I'm posting to it from the little Thinkpad we're going to carry with us, using a free WiFi connection.
We've accepted an offer on our condo, Torrey accepted a job offer to start when we get back from Europe, and everything is starting to happen very quickly! We just have to complete the condo sale, sell our Jeep, move our stuff to storage, plan the trip, buy tickets, make reservations, figure out phones and ATM cards and Internet access and buses and trains and ... by the end of the month.
But a few things at least can be crossed off the list: We now have a blog, and I'm posting to it from the little Thinkpad we're going to carry with us, using a free WiFi connection.
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