From Milan with Love

"We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character."

Henry David Thorou

Today is our last day in Italy. Our last day in Europe. Milan is a nice city - this is undeniable. It has so many things to see that our two days here has not allowed us to even make a tiny dent. We did have the opportunity to see what we wanted to see - the great Duomo of Milan and the painting of the Last Supper which is housed in the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie. And of course we saw many other buildings, statues and pigeons (yes - pigeons are everywhere in Europe - they speak more languages than you can imagine).

Today I can only think about two things. My very sore feet and coming home. This has been a great trip and we saw so much but there is nothing like coming home at the end of a long journey. Like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz - "There's no place like home."

Yes, "There's no place like home!!"

Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie (the church that houses
Leonardo's painting "The Last Supper")

Self explanatory I hope!!

The Duomo - Palazzo Reale Museo del Novecento

Italy..finally!!

"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies,

jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears." — Glenn Clark

We are on the final leg of our journey but to me the most rewarding leg. For we have reached Italy...finally.  Some rest will be mixed in with our journey.
We have been to Italy twice before so there is some familiarity. But more than familiarity, there is friendship and family. Not family in the "legal" sense, but a family of the heart. Salzburg takes us to Verona where we transfer trains and travel on to
San Giorgio Piacentino.
This is our destination and the home of two very special people - Jon and Sonya. Jon Canestrini stayed with us for two months in 2007 and became our "Italian" son from then on in and Sonya is the young Canadian woman who captured his heart. They carried that romance to Italy where they married in Dec 2011 and they have opened their home to us to share during our time in Italy. Unfortunately Jon is away on business during our trip so Sonya is our hostess - and what an amazing hostess she is.
During our stay we visited a castle town called Castello di Grazzano Visconti, had lunch in an old tower called La Torre Dei Cavalieri, visited the city of Parma (home of parmisan cheese), the city of Sirmione (a beautiful seaside resort), and of course our favourite place in Italy - Fondo.
I have to elaborate a little on Fondo as this will be our third trip here to visit this amazing little town. This beautiful little town is nestled in the northern mountains in Italy - in the Val di Non. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We are most happy to spend time in this beautiful place with one of the nicest families we know - the Canestrini family (Jon's family)! Gianfranco and Emiliana live in Fondo and thier daughter Miriam lives nearby in Bolzano. During our time here we are fortunate to meet Miriam's boyfriend Stefano (a true Ironman - he just finished the Ironman competition in Austria the day before!).  It is also our first time meeting Emiliana's parents.

 After we finish our trip to Fondo we return to San Giorgio.  We wrap up our time in San Giorgio in with a meal of home made pasta and meat sauce (compliments of Sonya) which was molto delisioso!!  Forgot to take a picture of that - doh!! 
Next up, our final stop. Milano (my Canadian friends and family will know this as Milan).

Flower bouquet in the town Piazza.

Our view of Fondo from our walk in the fields outside of town
(I think about a 7 km walk)

Even smaller towns like Fondo take pride in creating a
beautiful Piazza (town square)

More Fondo!!

 Sirmione (next 4 photos)

I thought the swans enjoying the beach with the tourists was a great touch!!

 Parma (next 3 photos)

Salzburg - The Hills Are Alive - With the Sound of Music

"A person needs at intervals to separate from family and companions and go to

new places. One must go without familiars in order to be open to influences, to change."
                                                                                              - Katharine Butler Hathaway

Salzburg Austria is a repeat performance for us. We were here in June of 2010 but the weather then was "pouring rain with alternating overcast skies!". It was such a beautiful city that I couldn't help but be disappointed that we couldn't explore it more. The upside to our trip in 2010 was that we were lucky enough to do the Sound of Music "thing" - staying at the Von Trapp family home (which was now a bed and breakfast) and going on the Sound of Music Tour.

So I figured, what the heck. We are this close and travelling from Vienna to Italy so why not stop over for a day? If we are lucky enough we can catch the city in a sunny state and relax a bit for a day and wander casually through Mirabel Platz and the Getreidegasse one more time.

And lucky were were. The weather upon our arrival was hot and sunny and with part of an afternoon and a full evening ahead of us we set out to revisit this beautiful city.

Salzburg is the city of Mozart and his presence is everywhere - on souveniers, posters, chocolate wrappers and boxes - whatever sells. And it sells. His birthhome is on the Giedenstrauss and less than 1000 meters away (give or take) is the home where he spent is youth. We toured both in 2010 so the photos are just for this blog. We revisited the Getreidegasse and Mirabel Platz finding several things we missed the first time around. Later that evening we strolled the walking path that lies along the river and stopped for some wine and apple strudel. A perfect evening.

The morning we left we awoke to sun and high temperatures once again. We left early for the train station (our train for Verona departed at 9:00 a.m.) enjoying the hot sun as we walked. As it turns out, we were luckier than we knew. By 8:30 a.m. the skies had completely clouded over and it was clear that a storm was brewing!! We boarded the train at 9:00 a.m. to the sound of thunder, and then rain.

Yes, our timing was perfect!! 

Next stop - Italy!

A small section of Mirabel Platz

Salzburg's famous shopping street Getreidegasse
at night - empty of all the daytime tourists!

Mozart's statue

Mozart's Birthplace on Getreidegasse

Wooden Mozarts - a very popular item!!

Old Salzburg during the day.

Old Salzburg at night - absolutely beautiful.

 

Vienna Sings!

Vienna!! Our nineth stop and undoubtly the "icing" on the trip so far. I expected it to be beautiful but it is so much more than that. The buildings are spectacular! The food is delicious! Art and classical music is everywhere and everyone looks like the belong in a story. Coffee shops are everywhere (and those who know me best know how much I love a good coffee shop) and the Viennese and tourists alike seem to slow down the pace to just "enjoy".

Again, by the time we arrived we are only here for a day and a half and that was our first mistake. No where near enough time. This city deserves a minimum stay of a week I think. Next time I won't make the same mistake. After finding our hotel we drop off our luggage and head off towards the old part of the city. It's not far - just a 25 minute walk to the centre (going downhill). We see the Museum Quarter, the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Art) and the Museum of Natural History but we don't have enough time to do justice to this magnificent museum so we just photograph it from the outside (see reference to first mistake). We also get to see the Hero's Square and take a stroll through some of the old city while scouting out our supper destination.

What did we get a chance to see in Vienna? The Danube River, The Vienna Opera House, St. Stephan's Cathedral, the amusement park with the Vienna Riesenrad (Ferris wheel) and on our final evening we also went to a live concert at Palace Auersperg - a 1 1/2 hour performance in the same room that many famous historical figures performed in during thier lives . The performance was set 1700's and the 11 member symphony were dressed in period costume.  The music was of Wolfgang Mozart and Johann Strauss. In addition to just hearing the symphony orchestra we were treated to to 4 opera numbers and 3 dances - two ballet and one waltz. A bit of culture to add to the atmosphere of this wonderful city.

As I said before - not nearly enough time and it is time to say goodbye to Vienna. God willing we will be back for a second performance!!

Next stop Salzburg, Austria.

Museum of Fine Art

Hero's Square

Vienna State Opera House

Ride at the Amusement Park

Vienna's famous Ferris Wheel (each car holds about 10 people)

View from the Ferris Wheel (Terry had to take the pictures as I was
to scared to stand up:-)!!

St. Francis of Assisi Church

Danube River (Not so blue as the songs always talk about -
more of a dirty brown colour!!)

Pretty in Praha

Prague (Praha) in the Czech Republic is the eighth stop in our 2012 tour. We were there for two nights but with travel we really had only one and a half days to explore it. So, our focus was on the old city of Prague which is really where the tourists gather anyway. Once we found our hotel (which is another story in itself) and dropped off our luggage we headed off immediately to Wensceles Square which is a most popular area for tourists that leads into the old town. We weren't dissappointed.

Prague is a beautiful old city and full of tourists like ourselves. There are restaurants, bars, shopping and things to look at everywhere.

My favourite place was the palace which lies high upon the hill overlooking the city of Prague?.  To reach the castle we decided to climb the Old Castle Steps (Staré zámecké schody).  It was a workout for sure but once you get there though you see it is well worth the effort - a panoramic view to match the beautiful hot day we saw it on.

We also crossed the famous Charles bridge, saw the Astronomical Clock and Old Town as well (although I didn't take too many pictures there as there were barriers put up every where for events that were going on. Kind of ruins a good picture anyway.

Prague is a city of discovery - there always seems to be something happening - entertainers, markets, music festivals (we lucked out with one in the old city square - and an English speaking band to boot!!) so our time in this city was well spent.

Next up - the much anticipated Vienna, Austria!!!

St. Wensceles Square

View from the top of the stairs that led to the castle.  You can see the
whole city from here and it is spectacular!!

St. Vitus Cathedral - It is so massive you can only photograph
pieces of it at a time.  The square it is located in is too small to
get a photograph of the whole square!

The changing of the guard at the castle at noon.  It draws a big crowd!



The Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square

This was one of the buildings in the old town square - the only
one that wasn't totally obstructed by the ugly blue walls that were put up for
the concert and other events that were happening during the week.

The Thing About Berlin

We arrived in Berlin on a Thursday evening with certain expectations about what to expect from this "modern and thriving" German city. We started touring the city early on Friday morning expecting to see and hear about Berlin - of course mostly about it's sad (and of course shameful) past. (I realize of course that Berlin's past is not all bad - but I think many associate this city with the Nazi regime so many of the tours focus on this.) We had visited Dachau Concentration camp in 2010 and just a little over a week ago we toured Anne Frank's hidden annex on Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterddam (it must seem like we have a little theme going on here - it wasn't intentional). We weren't disappointed. We saw the Berlin Wall and read the many stories posted at this memorial site; the headquarters of the Third Reich; the Holocaust Memorial and we saw the many buildings that were rebuilt after the bombings of World War 2. We even stood above the bunker where Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide (hooray!) and of course we saw much, much more than this short blog has room for.

The things we didn't expect to see were parties that would happen on the particular weekend. Friday night there was a live telecast of the Euro 2012 game between Germany and Greece being held in Tiergarden Park. This area of Mitte is where we were staying so we got a first hand view. What accompanied this telecast were thousands of loyal fans who made their way happily and noisily throughout the late afternoon to watch the game. Now at this point you may be asking yourself - "So what? That happens with rider games as well." True enough - happy fans are great. The difference is that Regina, nor any city in Saskatchewan that I know of, does not have an open liquor law which finds thousands of fans carry bottles of beer and wine down the street. We watched in amazement as those carrying the bottes just dropped them when they were finished with them. The bottles were being smashed everywhere on the streets. The more drunk the fans, the bigger the mess. The next morning as we made our way down towards the Tiergarten area the garbage and smashed bottles left behind was unbelievable.

Saturday brought another surprise we weren't expecting either. We did a little shopping in the morning and then took a 4 hour bike tour around Berlin to get a "close-up" history lesson from a young man (Eric) from the USA who was doing his masters at Humboldt University in Berlin. He was a wealth of information and as we weaved our way throught the Berlin traffic we got to see this city from a much more personal perspective from someone who loves Berlin. Once again, there seemed to be another party going on as many of the streets we had travelled on the day before that were clean and clear were now full of garbage and smashed bottles - you can't imagine the mess it was. Even the Holocast Memorial was not immune to the carnage. In addition to the garbage and smashed bottles it looked like several of the memorial stones had been used as a free WC (those of you who have travelled to Europe will recognise this - but for those of you who haven't - WC = Watercloset = toilet).

What we didn't know at the time, but we found out as we biked closer to our final destination, was that Saturday afternoon Berlin was holding it's annual Gay Pride Parade. This parade drew a crowd of over 700,000 people and the parties were everywhere on the streets. There were police vans positioned on most corners and the streets were blocked off to traffic. I am not sure what the parade brings in cities like Toronto and New York but it was a real eye-opener for us - and for others on the bike tour as well. We didn't actually see the "parade" but we did get to see hundreds of "participants" both before, and after the parade, and believe you me - it was some crazy party going on!! I won't comment on what we saw but I will include a quote from an online article I found and you can imagine for yourself what was going on on the streets of Berlin that Saturday night.

"Berlin’s ‘anything goes’ atmosphere and lax drinking laws, combined with the German attitude to nudity, meant that there was a lot of flesh on display."

The thing about Berlin is that it will mean something different for everyone and it offers different things to different people.  And, as a "country-bumpkin" from the praires I have only one thing to say about Berlin - this "past to present" tour was one crazy history lesson!!

Note to self: When travelling remember to check out cities calendar of events!

Remains of the Berlin Wall today.  Artists came from all over the
world to paint pictures on these walls after Berlin was liberated.  After
several years the paintings needed to be restored so the original artists
were tracked down and asked to restore their paintings once again.

A monument consisting of hundreds of stories about Nazi
Germany can be found just behind the remains of the Berlin Wall. 
These stories cover the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

Checkpoint Charlie

The Holocaust Memorial

Just one of the hundreds of stories found behind
the wall.  This story is of Claus von Stauffenberg (Those of
who saw the movie Valkryie will know will know this story.
Tom Cruise played Claus in the movie.

On our bike tour.  The bikes aren't pretty but they are easy
to operate - I managed not to fall off so I think I did well:-)

The Reichstag (We wanted to tour this building but didn't
know that you have to book months in advance if you want
to see it during peak time - bummer).

This City Called Amsterdam

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."

Miriam Beard

I have to confess that I was a little uncertain about coming to Amsterdam.  Basically, most of the things I knew about Amsterdam weren't very positive - most of it was negative and some of it down right creepy.   I have, however, found Amsterdam to be "much, much" more than it's negative reputation.  I have found it to be a city steeped in history and wonderful surprises.   Terry and I have both loved visiting this city for a number of reasons - the museums, canals, architecture and atmosphere  are just a few of the attributes of this unique city (not to mention the chocolate and the cheese!).   So I decided to look up some facts about Amsterdam and thought I would share the following as we can personally testify that these facts are pretty darn accurate!

• The Dutch people are the tallest in all Europe and second tallest in the world (and the best looking)

.
I have to tell you that this little tidbit in itself has made me feel totally at home in this city of over one million!! For the first time in my life, here, I am not in a minority. For the first time in my life, in this city, I am average height!!!

• Amsterdam has over 1 million bikes but only 700,000 Amsterdammers

I thought Japan had a lot of bikers. Amsterdam gives the Japanese culture a run for their money when it comes to biking!!! Business men and woman, mothers and fathers with their children, young women and men - everyone rides a bike here. Rush hour traffic is not just about cars here. Keep your eyes and ears open here or you might get run over by a bike!!

• The Van Gogh collections in the Van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum are the largest in the world

I can testify that this is a wonderful museum - showcasing Van Gogh's works from the very beginning to his tragic death.

• Most Dutch people speak at least one foreign language as well as Dutch and English.

Everywhere you go in this city people know at least a little English - but surprisingly enough we only encountered a few people with just a little knowledge of English. Most people were very comfortable using English - which was good for us and all the other tourists that visit each year!!

• Over one million people visit the address Prinsengracht 263 each year - the hiding place of Anne Frank during the Nazi occupation of Holland.

Terry and I were able to help add to these numbers this year. This was a great museum - and an emotional one. It is hard to believe that we stood in the same room where this young woman wrote about the secret annex at Prinsengracht 263 where she hid, along with her family and some family friends, for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Our time in this city is soon coming to an end. Tomorrow we move on to Berlin - where I will once again fall into the minority. Oh well. It was it good while it lasted:-)

One of the many canals in Amsterdam - this picture was taken
just a block from the house where we stayed.

The house in the middle is Prinsengracht 263 - the
home where Anne Frank and her family hid during the
Nazi occupation of Holland.  Our rental house was
just two blocks down at Prinsengracht 19.

The memorial for Anne Frank.

A cool "corner" home.  Difficult to furnish
this home I expect.

Everyone rides a bike.  And these bikes are not "fancy" bikes. 
In America they would be considered "garage" sale bikes - but
everyone has one and they are not cheap!!

A typical sight on a typical street.  Eco friendly!!

Some more interesting architecture.

Typical architecture - all of the homes are similar in style.

Our view from our canal boat ride gives us the perfect
opportunity to view all 7 canals at the same time.