tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59677464641096590492024-03-08T04:23:36.417-08:00My Travels To the ContinentStories and pictures from my adventure to Europe.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-9403454947431919472011-03-04T08:19:00.000-08:002011-03-04T08:19:46.089-08:00Been a While!!First of all I want to say that I do know that it has been a long time since I have posted. It is not because I no longer feel the need to or have suddenly changed my mind about having a blog, it is because I realized that here I am, in Italy, on a trip that I will remember for the rest of my life, haveing experiences that I will never again have, and instead of sitting and obbsessivly writing about them, I may as well let them wash over me, go out and enjoy, not sit at my computer all evening writing a post every day. I will try to make the posts a little bit more frequent than they have been, but It is only because I am haveing such an amazing adventure that I am not writing about it as much as I was.<br />
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Anyways, back to what you came here to read, about my adventures in the land of the italians.<br />
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Since my last post, much has changed, I am no longer in lovely Pescia, nor even the great region of Toscana any more. In fact, I have left the italian main land all together and taken a 10 hour ferry ride to the island of Sardegna.<br />
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That was just a teaser though, as I am going to start where I left off last time, in Pescia, pruning trees, creating waterworks, exploring Toscana.<br />
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Spring starts in tuscany way before it does back home. In fact back home it is still snowing on occasion, and the flowers wont even think about coming to see the light of day for at least another month.<br />
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Not so here. From when I arrived in the middle of January, the daffodills were just bursting to bloom, and a week or two later they did. By the time I left, they were in full bloom everywhere, with crocuses, lillies, and all sorts of wonderful other pretty things mixed in. On the other sided of the valley, where the sun falls in the morning, the cherry trees are in full flower.<br />
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I was really getting down to business in the pruning department, pruning between 20 and 30 trees a day. The last few weeks there, I spent pruning, with a few little odd jobs thrown in here and there.<br />
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One of the weekends, Simon and I decided to go to Pisa, as it was only an hour or so away.<br />
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I have heard from various people that Pisa is kinda boring, and that there is not much to see. Well, I would say that I would have to agree. I mean it was raining a little, and a bit chilly, but still, all that there really was is this tower they didnt plan out very well, and the big cathedral next to it. The cathedral was really cool looking, all white.<br />
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Here are some pictures of the tower.<br />
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What I actually found more interesting was looking at all the people doing exactly the same pose, holding up the tower.<br />
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I also really liked the grass that surrounds the whole area, It is probably the largest area of manicured grass I have seen in europe so far. It was awesome grass, very long and dense, but still beautifully green.<br />
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After looking at the tower for a few minutes we went and had some pizza.<br />
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Walking back to the station, we passed the river for the second time, and I thought that it looked almost surreal with the weather of that day.<br />
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Back to Pescia.<br />
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One bright sunny day, I wandered right up to the very top terrace, and climbed the tallest tree. Here are the results of that expedition, looking out across and down the valley.<br />
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On my way down I stopped to take a few shots of the terraces, just because it was a nice day.<br />
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I continued walking down to where I had done my water project earlier in my stay, now in full functional mode.<br />
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Here it its with water crossing over the aquaduct bridge thing.<br />
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And here is the result a few hundred feet away and down.<br />
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Right next to the bottom where it fills up a barrel is the greenhouse.<br />
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Some other random things I wanted to share are these, home made olive oil, and spicy olive oil, potatoes sleeping on a bed, and a funny sign on someones driveway.<br />
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The last weekend before I left, it was Simons birthday. We lit up a couple of fires, one in a firepit just outside the house, and the other in the pizza oven. The pizza oven get so hot it is incredible. You stuff it full of brush, and then light it, keeping it stuffed full for about a half hour, then you let it burn down to embers. It is crazy hot. The bricks glow red hot, and your arm hair singes if you put it within about 3 feet of the opening.<br />
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Here are some pictures of the raging inferno beforehand, and the glowing embers a little later.<br />
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Once the embers have burnt down to the right temperature, you sweep them all to one side, and then stick the pizzas in on the other side. The first lot cooked in about 5 minutes each, and the second took about 15 minutes.<br />
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It was awesome.<br />
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The next weekend it was finally time to leave this lovely place, and as much as I wanted to stay, it was time for me to go and experience life in another part of the country.<br />
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At this time, I want to thank Sue and Chris and the boys for a wonderful wonderful stay. I enjoyed my time so much.<br />
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Thank you.<br />
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Here is their website that has some more pictures on it of different times of year.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ti-pi.com/">www.ti-pi.com</a><br />
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I left Pescia the same way I arrived, from the train station. This time however, instead of heading back towards Firenze, inland, I was heading towards Pisa, and the sea. I got on the train at about 2 in the afternoon on saturday, and popped of a short trip to Lucca, then a transfer there to Pisa, and finally, a transfer in Pisa Centrale to Livorno. I arrived sometime around 3.30 in the afternoon to the port city.<br />
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The train station is a fair ways frm the port however, but, since I had until 9 that night to find the ferry terminal, I headed of on foot. I got to the port about an hour later.<br />
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I didnt take many pictures in the port, as my camera was all out of batteries. I ended up walking about 7.5 km up one way, then all the way back around another way before I finally found the terminal.<br />
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It is much different than the terminals I am used to back in Canada, but eventually I managed to find my way in, get a ticket and get settled in to wait. I did pop over and take a picture of the ferry that would be taking me through the night and across the sea to Sardegna beforehand though.<br />
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Moby Wonder, a huge cruise ferry, decorated inside and out, as with all the Moby Line ships with the Looney Toones characters.<br />
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Eventually the time came to board, and eventually to leave the port.<br />
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Here we are leaving the port at just aftern 9pm.<br />
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The port of Livorno is quite squishy for large ferries, and there were a lot of S turns before getting underway in a proper sense, and leaving our pilot boat behind.<br />
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I stayed out on deck until all I could see of Livorno was the lighthouse blinking away.<br />
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Everthing else was dark.<br />
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I spent a while just wandering around the ship, but eventually settled down in a corridor near the front. The ship was nearly empty as this time of year there are few tourist making the crossing.<br />
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On the ferry, if you do not have a cabin, you just pick a spot and spread out, and go to sleep.<br />
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I set up my sleeping mat and sleeping bag and at around midnight drifted off for a refreshing 4 hour nap.<br />
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I woke up early and watched some "The Good Life" on my computer, then had a coffee and a brioche, and walked around a little more. Pretty soon it was starting to get light out, and I headed out to the top deck.<br />
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Other people were starting to filter up, mainly for a smoke it seemed, but as the coastline appeared I snapped this very grainy first look at Sardegna.<br />
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After a bit of a dance with another ferry that was just arriving, we slipped into the port through the very narrow entrance channel to Olbia, and eventually arrived at the dock.<br />
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We tied up, then got off.<br />
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I asked if there were any busses headed to the station, but they were not leaving for another 15 minutes, and as I had a train to catch, I headed off on foot.<br />
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Walking away, I snapped this picture of Moby Wonder.<br />
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The port of Olbia is stuck way out on the end of a causeway in the bay, waaay out.<br />
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I made it to the end about 2 km away, and quickly found the station, bought a ticket, hear the conductor whistle last call, ran madly across the tracks and jumped on just as the doors were closing.<br />
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Much more exiting than calmly arriving on the bus that pulled up just as we were leaving.<br />
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The train was a small one, almost empty on a sunday morning, and I found the conducter as I had not validated my ticket. She stamped it and I settled in for another 2ish hour journey.<br />
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The landscape of Sardegna is unlike any I have ever seen. If I were to try and describe it, it would be like the afican savanah, mixed with the scottish highlands, with a little bit of southern tuscany thrown in just to be different.<br />
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Here are some really bad photos taken out of the train window as we were whizzing along.<br />
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As the island of sardegna is not nearly as densly poputalted as the mainland, the train system is not nearly as developed. There are only a few main lines that run up and down the island, so I got off in Macomer, the closest station to my destination, Bosa.<br />
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As it was sunday, there were not very many busses, so I waited until about noon in the bus station.<br />
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Finally the bus came, and it was time to take the 30 some odd kilometer journey to the sea.<br />
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The bus went up out of the valley that Macomer is located in, onto a very flat rocky plain. The number of man hours that have gone into building stone walls is just phenomenal, they run on for kilometer after kilometer.<br />
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Eventually, the bus with only 3 passengers started the descent into Bosa, and I was treated to my first view of this idylic looking town.<br />
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As it turns out, the place I am staying is right near that spot on the road so I walked up there, and took a photo of the scene.<br />
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I am once again living in an olive grove with a lovely english family.<br />
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My home for my stay here is a lovely litte caravan set up in the grove. The landscape around here, and the plants are so different, lots of cactus and all sorts of flowers that I have never seen before.<br />
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I have been helping with all sorts of things like painting in the studio downtown, and moving out of another house.<br />
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Here are some pictures from just walking around this evening.<br />
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Today was a crazy day. It was the beginning of carnivale, a crazy celebration whos tradition runs deep in this town.<br />
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Everyone dresses up, everyone, young and old, and takes place in a parade that winds its way around the town.<br />
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There are flags up everywhere, and singing danceing, loud music. The floats are aweseome, and the whole atmosphere is just brilliant.<br />
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Here are some assorted pictures of the first event of carnival.<br />
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All in all, I am having an amazing time.<br />
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This island is so different from the rest of italy that I have seen so far. It reminds me a lot of mexico in fact.<br />
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It is amazing, and I will be sad when I have to leave when that time comes.<br />
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I will try to make my posts a little more frequent than what I have been doing, but no promises!<br />
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Cheers!Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-56310406770154002742011-02-07T12:48:00.000-08:002011-02-07T12:48:38.205-08:00Tiles, Trees, a Giant Pinocchio, Hot Water, and 5 Towns Perched on CliffsWow, it sure has been a long time since I wrote last. I have been so busy just living life here in tuscany that time has just flown by.<br />
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Pescia is a very nice town, located just an hour or two away from everywhere, full of nice helpful people. The family I am with is great too.<br />
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I have been helping out on their olive grove during the week, and on the weekends heading out somewhere to visit a new place.<br />
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During the week, I have been doing lots of different things all around. I started with dragging wood down the terraces, and still do that sometimes, but for now I am working on pruning the hundreds of olive trees spread over the hillside. Last week, I finished off a cool project which was creating an irrigation system for the vegetables on the lowest terrace.<br />
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I diverted some of the water out of the stream that runs down one side of the property, and dug several channels across and down the terraces to bring water to the bottom. To improve the flow, I lined the bottom with broken bits of tile.<br />
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After a lot of fiddling, the whole thing works!!<br />
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Here are a bunch of photos from walking around the property, looking at the terraces.<br />
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The weekend after we went to Lucca, we made bread. Now, for most people, that would not be a huge thing, but for us it took all day. Not because we didn't know what we were doing, but because of the sheer quantity of bread we made.<br />
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We used 14 kilos of flour, and made around 45 loaves.<br />
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It was my first time making bread, and make bread we did.<br />
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That was about half of the bread we made.<br />
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The next day, we headed off to find a giant pinocchio. We found one in the next town over, Collodi. It is apparantly 30 meters tall. It was one of the strangest things I have ever seen.<br />
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No people were around, and all the cafes were open.<br />
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In an amazing display of italian driving, a car pulled into the parking lot, and parked in the only spot in the entire lot that was not a parking space. If it had been a full lot, ok, but there were 4 cars in the lot, and at least 200 open spots. Funny stuff, anyways here are the pictures.<br />
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After looking at the monument, we hopped back in the car and went up the side of the valley, on the way we randomly encountered an ostrich, then the view over the valley below.<br />
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The next weekend, this past one, was a very busy one. On saturday, the family, plus Simon and I piled in the car and headed about 2 hours away to some amazing hot springs. They are on the side of a river about 40 minutes away from Sienna in the direction of Grossetto.<br />
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We got there around noon, and didn't leave until after 6. We spent the whole time lounging around in the various temperatured pools.<br />
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It was truly amazing.<br />
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We had a very tasty supper of chile.<br />
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The tuscan landscape as the sun was setting.<br />
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It was a very nice day.<br />
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The next morning, Simon and I got up early and to head out to the coast. We were heading to Cinque Terre. I had seen it on the internet, and Simon had been there once before.<br />
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It was truly amazing.<br />
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We headed from Pescia to Viareggio, To La Spezia. We walked down to the waterfront there. The day was sure a beautiful one.<br />
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From there, we walked back to the station, and hopped on the train.<br />
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We got off on at the first stop. We took the trail around to the second town, an amazing walk with such amazing views.<br />
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We walked around past the second town.<br />
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In the little harbour, we enjoyed the veiws.<br />
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The path was closed about halfway to the next town, so we walked back and caught the train to the third town.<br />
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It is perched on the top of a cliff. We had a deluxe lunch in a nice restaurant just to treat ourselves.<br />
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After eating, we headed down to the little cove down this amazing staircase. There were no other people there, and it was just lovely in the afternoon sun.<br />
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We went back to the station to wait for the train to the next town.<br />
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Looking back at the towns before just as the sun was beginning to set.<br />
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We got to the fourth town just as the sun set.<br />
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It was a truly amazing day, and has been an astoundingly amazing time so far in tuscany.<br />
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This place is amazing.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-86013116113031511972011-01-23T03:18:00.000-08:002011-01-23T03:18:53.168-08:00PesciaThis past week has been a busy one. I have done everything from sledding, to chopping wood, to trying my hand at roman engineering. I have started living with a lovely british family who have an olive grove here. It is a beautiful place, the trees growing on terraces built by the romans, the house probably older than my country, the driveway in-fact a roman road. <div><br />
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</div><div>The town itself is lovely too, it is the first real italian town I have stayed in. All the others have been either super rich, touristy, or german. There is a real sense of community, and the people are so nice. Unlike most places, if you go into a store here and ask to use the washroom, they will let you, even if you don't buy anything, just as an example.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>Although the nights are cold, the days can be warm, and actually the bulbs are just about to bloom. We ate lunch outside a few days ago in t-shirts, a welcome change from the negative temperatures of the north.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>I have basically been helping out around the house, and the farm. They have about 600 olive trees, plus every kind of fruit tree you can imagine, from apple to orange to pomegranate to lemon. </div><div><br />
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</div><div>When they bought the place a few years ago, it had been abandoned for many years, and it has been a huge amount of work to bring it up to a working level.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Last weekend, we headed up to Abetone, a ski mountain an hour and a half from here. The road there was amazing, very windy, but with nice corners all the way there. There was not much snow, but we found enough to go sledging.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Just yesterday, Simon, the other guy who is staying with the family, and myself went to Lucca for the day. It is a very beautiful place. The wall around the old city is a very impressive work of engineering. </div><div><br />
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</div><div>As it is not the tourist season, many of the shops and restaurants were closed.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We wandered around for a while, mainly in circles it seemed, but eventually found the as Simon said "round square". It is one of the piazzas in Lucca, and it is in fact round, which makes it funny to talk about in english.</div><div><br />
</div><div>A little bit of wandering later, we found the tallest tower in the city, and paid the 2 euro student price to go up to the top. The climb wanders through several different staircases, eventually ending up on the top of the tower.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>It is a bit strange in that it has trees on the top of it. The view was great, although it was not sunny, and we hung around up there for a little bit.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>The rooftops of the city, ancient as it is are very interesting to look at. There are buildings and roofs all jammed together, with little additions that have over the centuries made a convoluted mass of buildings. Neat to look at in my opinion.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>From the top of the tower, you can see outside the city walls to the roman aqueduct a few kilometers away.</div><div><br />
</div><div>After descending, we wandered for a while, looking for a place to eat, and eventually found a tasty pizza place.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We soon wandered back to the train station, and took the train back here.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Last night, Simon and I had helped Chris, the owner of the house, figure out how to get the tractor he had bought out of the box van he had transported it in.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Not an easy task.</div><div><br />
</div><div>There was nothing at the house we could use as ramps, so we headed out to find something. </div><div><br />
</div><div>First we went to a garage just across the valley, but the ramps they had were still to short and created much to steep a ramp. We continued up the valley, eventually spotting a toilet paper factory that had a loading bay.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We went down to it, and asked if we could try, and they said we could, but only for 10 minutes because a lorry was coming in then. The place was perfect, but we could not get the tractor started in the confined space of the truck.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We had to give up and drive off to find another place.</div><div><br />
</div><div>After several tries at places that were all gated up at 8pm on a friday night, we found a street with a bank off the side that seemed like it would work.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We were smart this time, and after backing up to it, we simply took off the handbrake and pushed it out onto the grass. We left it there under the confused gazes of the neighbors on the other side of the street.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Chris had managed to drive it back while we were in Lucca, and it was on the bottom terrace with the vegetable patch when we got home. We all got to take a turn driving it. Lots of fun.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>This morning, I cooked breakfast. Scrambled eggs with fried tomatoes. There are no electric stoves in the house, so instead of lighting the wood cooking stove, I used the barbecue.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Standing outside in the chill morning air, on a terrace of an olive grove in tuscany, cooking eggs on a barbecue, being pestered by a feisty goat named Dommy, being serenaded by the many churches in town, I kept thinking that this is why I am here. This is why I left home to come traveling. Experiences that cannot be had anywhere else.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TTwLtFYbY3I/AAAAAAAAA-c/YDppxvnrnZw/s1600/DSCF8159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TTwLtFYbY3I/AAAAAAAAA-c/YDppxvnrnZw/s320/DSCF8159.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div>Said feisty goats:</div><div><br />
</div><div>Later today I am going to walk up to a church perched up on the other side of the valley.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Tuscany is amazing.</div>Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-87024627077573258862011-01-14T10:38:00.000-08:002011-01-14T10:39:54.764-08:00Toscana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Trains. I love them, but sometimes they just take to long to get to where you want to go. I am sitting on my third train of the day right now, and I still have two more to take before I get to where I am going.<br />
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I left the house at 9 this morning, and I will not get to my new house in Tuscany until after 7 this evening.<br />
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After a wonderful time this christmas and new years, I am finally moving on to the next part of my trip.<br />
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I am now a volunteer.<br />
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For the next little while, I will be living with a family in Tuscany, and spending my time pruning olive trees. I am looking forward to it, and have actually hoped it would work out since before I left Canada.<br />
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But for right now I am on the train.<br />
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Before I get to much into talking about christmas, I would like to extend a warm thanks to all that have made my trip what it has been so far. Thank you so much for all you have done, and I hope to find a way to repay you in the future.<br />
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Ok, I want to take you back to christmas. The tree was up when we arrived back from Verona, and it had a few decorations on it already. It was not until the late evening of christmas eve, that it got decorated fully.<br />
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The way it works is this. The whole family pitches in, and all the real decorations come out. The tree is decorated in full, including real candles, gingerbread stars, and all sorts of other beautiful things.<br />
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After the tree is done, everyone exept the mom leaves for a walk. This takes about an hour, and in that time, Astrid has laid out all the presents, and some champagne, and lit all the candles on the tree.<br />
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Real candles on a christmas tree are really amazing.<br />
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After a song, sung all together, and a toast, it is present time. I am used to taking turns with one person opening a present at a time, but this christmas it was like a shark feeding frenzy, with paper a-flying, and everything.<br />
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Then there was dinner. It was truly amazing, with no less than four seperate drinking glasses at each place, all used for a different drink.<br />
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Many courses later, tummy stuffed, wine consumed, it was time to call it a night.<br />
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We have just left Verona. It is kinda gross out now. It was really nice most of the way here, but we went through a tunnel a while ago, and when we came out it was all cloudy and yicky.<br />
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Anyways, back to where I was.<br />
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The 25th is not a special day at all it seems, and nothing really special happened exept for more sumptous food.<br />
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New years was the next big event.<br />
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THere were a few cousins over, and after an afternoon of fun, and yet another truly astounding supper, we had to entertain ourselves until midnight.<br />
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We went sledding.<br />
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We went to this big gigantic pile of snow that the snow cats had made for the cross country skiiers, and first went down the part that is nice for the skiiers, but soon decided to go down the almost vertical sides.<br />
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It sounded like one of those ideas that sounds like a bad one, and then ends up even worse, but it actually worked out very well. The vertical drop, with a jump at the bottom was very fun, and only a little bit dangerous.<br />
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After returning to the house, and a short wait, it was time.<br />
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We all went outside, all with champagne, and waited for the countdown. It hit, and after clinking glasses and hugging everone, there were fireworks. They were pretty cool, but a minute later, a display started from the top of a nearby mountain that kinda dwarfed ours.<br />
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The craziest thing of the evening was this yelling we heard that sounded like it was coming from above. It turned out that it was. There was a guy who was in a paraglider circling around right at midnight. Kinda cool.<br />
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On the radio when we went inside was a waltz, and everyone grabbed somebody and waltzed in the new year. Very special.<br />
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I went to bed after a few hours, but the others went out to the bar down the road to continue the celebration.<br />
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A few days later, we went on our adventure to Firenze and Venezia.<br />
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I dont think I finished talking about Venice, but I think I will leave that for another day.<br />
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What I am not going to leave for another day is something that I saw yesterday. It was a hot air ballon festival.<br />
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Astrid and Poldi and two others went on a ride in the ballon. It wasnt just any ride either. They took of from Toblach - Dobbiaco, and headed over the alps towards, and in fact almost to Venice. They said it was truly amazing.<br />
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I was amazed just watching the balloons prepare, and leave. There were about ten I think, all lined up in a row.<br />
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When we arrived they were just pulling them off the trailers, and arranging the baskets.<br />
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Then they started testing the burners.<br />
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I watched and took pictures as their balloon was prepared. It was quite interesting.<br />
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After a long time of setting up the basket, it got tipped over so that the balloon could be attached and inflated.<br />
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First, there is a big fan that blows air into the balloon to fill it up. That takes a while, and during that time, there needs to be people holding a line that comes off the top of the balloon.<br />
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During this time, I got to go inside the ballon!<br />
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Very cool.<br />
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After it reaches the biggest it will get with the cold air, the burners are turned on, and the fan off. This is when it starts to get warm inside the balloon, and produce lift.<br />
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Eventually, it slowly tips up, and the passengers get in.<br />
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It takes quite a lot of time from this stage to heat the air up to the temperature it needs to be for the balloon to lift off, especially if it is a long trip with lots of weight.<br />
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Eventually thoug, the balloons started lifting off, and heading away with the wind.<br />
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I watched for a little longer, and took a few more pictures, before heading off to take the train back to the house.<br />
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I think it is getting grosser outside now if that is possible.<br />
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It is sad because after it stopped snowing this morning it was so nice.<br />
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Well I am going to stop typing now, as train seats really are not designed for it, and seem determined to make you remember that with every letter.<br />
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I am no longer sitting on the train, and I actually wrote that all yesterday, but thats ok.<br />
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Tuscany is amazing. I am living in a house built by the romans, on the side of a hill, with terraces filled by olive trees. It is amazing.<br />
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Will write more later.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-78423019497411611812011-01-10T02:36:00.000-08:002011-01-10T02:36:28.401-08:00I Must Return!!Venice is amazing. To anyone who thinks it is merely an overhyped tourist destination, they are wrong. There is a reason why so many include the ancient city in their travel plans. It is truly the most remarkable place I have ever, and probably will ever go.<br />
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Returning there for a longer stay is a must. I am on a computer in a library right now, but when I can use my computer again, I will post more pictures. The trouble is, the pictures do not do it any justice. We have all seen pictures of Venice, but to experience it is something else.<br />
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I am going to have to keep this short, but, that city has entranced me, like so many before, and before I leave this continent, I have to go back there.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-79075373525382098222011-01-07T00:12:00.000-08:002011-01-07T00:12:32.852-08:00Venice!!! Finally There!!!I have long dreamed of someday visiting this city. As with many others the idea of a city rising up from the water is a fascinating and almost entrancing concept. Well, I am here now, and I can safely say that I am both fascinated and entranced by this city.<br />
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The "streets" are narrow, so narrow in some places that two people passing must turn sideways. There is no way you can walk in a straight line to where you are going, there are so many twists and turns that it would be easy to get lost. Even the "main streets", the ones leading from the Rialto Bridge to Piazza San Marco, are convoluted and just as twisty and tiny as the rest.<br />
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To get around, one must either plan a route meticulously with a map, and follow their progress at every turning, or just set off in the general direction, and let your intuition guide you. I prefer the second method, and it seemed to work last night, although it was not always the fastest path we took.<br />
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We stepped off the train at 4.30, and arrived in a station that looks exactly like every other station in europe, but, when we stepped outside, we were definitely not in just any city.<br />
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We stepped out onto a piazza that ended in steps going down to the taxis, in this case, boats. It was soooo cool.<br />
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We asked one of the taxi drivers how much it would be to our hotel, and it was going to be about 40 euros, so we decided to walk. If we had known where we were going, we would have made it there in about 10 mins.<br />
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It is so beautiful in a completely unique way.<br />
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As it turns out, we ended up in the right place, but we had drawn the little dot of where the hotel is on the wrong side of a little bridge. It never even occurred to us to check over there, and after a while of looking decided to call the hotel for directions.<br />
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After mistakenly calling the hotel in Florence, where the guy was understandably confused, we got a hold of the hotel in Venice, and the guy came out the door and called us over.<br />
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It is a very nice hotel, again, a B&B thing too.<br />
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Here is my room, which was for once, actually like the one on the website!<br />
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After a quick rest, we went out for pizza nearby, then walked to Piazza San Marco. On the way we passed over the Rialto Bridge, and the view from it is amazing.<br />
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That second picture is the one street in Venice, however it does not really lead anywhere as we found out later.<br />
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We found our way to the piazza, aided every once and a while by the signs leading the way. It is a beautiful square, even though a few of the buildings are covered up with scaffolding for repairs.<br />
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We walked back over the Rialto Bridge, and stopped at an osteria for an aperitivo. Soon, being tired, we wound our way back to the hotel, taking a long, but easy route back through the piazza where we had eaten.<br />
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This morning, as I am typing this, see this out my window.<br />
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It is so amazing that I am actually here. It is one year almost to the day that I decided to come to europe, and here I am, in this ancient city, eating breakfast served in my room.<br />
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Looking out the window, there is a bridge I can see, that looks in the picture, like there is some distortion of the view going on, but no, it is just like that.<br />
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None of the bridges here are straight. They all angle to the next gap in the buildings, or morph out to lead to a doorway or two, or even seemingly lead nowhere at all.<br />
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I love this city already, and am going to go out and explore some more, take my camera for a walk, and see what I can find.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-30248601296622083762011-01-06T08:56:00.000-08:002011-01-06T08:56:43.074-08:00Can't Think of a Name for This PostSo, I have not written in a while, as you have no doubt notice. It was not in fact because I didnt want to, but more because of the abscence of one of the key ingredients in a blog, the internet.<br />
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I am sitting here now on the train, a nice one, a Eurostar Frecciargento. We Just left Firenze a few minutes ago, and are heading to Venezia, just a couple hours away.<br />
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Firenze, or Florence as many people know it is a beautiful city. It has such a long history that it is kinda ridiculous. From Ponte Vecchio with its jewlery shops, to the Duomo with its massive dome, the city has landmarks coming out the ying yang.<br />
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Today, and in fact for the past few days, Sophia and I have be on a trip. We set out early early on the 4th, and caught the train to Firenze. We stayed in a little B&B Hotel mix thing, which was actually quite nice. The guy was so friendly and helpful, and the location was great.<br />
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After checking in, we walked the 10 mins to the Duomo, and were instantly dwarfed by its massiveness. It is huge! The outside is this crazy tiled patern that is almost too much, but the inside, unlike most other duomos is white. There is only one fresco, and that is on the inside of the dome itself.<br />
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It would be an amazing acheivement to build it now, let alone in the 1400s when it was built. It has the largest brick dome ever consturucted, and it is just massive.<br />
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We decided we had to go up to the top, if only to take the classic photo of yourself with Firenze in the backgound.<br />
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There was only a short line, and we headed in, and instantly were confronted with the first of the 463 stairs leading to the top. Now that would be a ridiculous number on any stair case, but this was no ordinary staircase. It twists and turns, goes spiral for a while, does a weird square spiral thing, and eventually ends up at the base of the dome. That part was not bad, as it was only the up staircase, there is another for going down.<br />
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There is a little balcony that surrounds the dome, and you go out on it. Great view.<br />
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The next section is the difficult part. There is only one staircase for both the up going and down going people. Now, I am not a huge person, but the staircase was still narrow for me, and when you added crowds of people trying to pass it became crazy. Now, it starts going up fairly straight like a normal stairway, but, since it is in-between the two layers of the dome, it eventually starts going sideways, the ceiling/walls slanting more with every step.<br />
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Finally, it turns and goes straight up the last section, and there is an almost ladderlike part to get out onto the cupola on the top of the dome. It is definatly worth it.<br />
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It is crazy how high it is. Utterly amazing.<br />
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I had Sophia take the obligatory photo, and after some gazing about, we headed back down.<br />
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It was a fight against the tide for the first bit, but eventually the stairs sepertated and it was a smooth climb down.<br />
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Next on the list, and yes, there actually was a list, was Ponte Vecchio. As the name suggests, it is an old bridge. It is not just a bridge however, it has shops along it, and not just any shops, it has jewlery shops. Probably 2 or 3 dozen of them span the river.<br />
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After some wandering, lunch, and a quick stop at the hotel, we were in line at the Uffizi.<br />
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It is a huge museum, absolutly crammed with paintings. Absolutly crammed with them.<br />
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We had reserved online, a free service that, is advertised as letting you "jump the que", "not wait in line", stuff like that. In fact, you just stand in a slightly shorter line that moves slower than the normal lines.<br />
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We split up for an hour or two, and wandered around. My favorite was the Birth of Venus, a very famous painting.<br />
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We just crashed after that, ate dinner at a pizza joint and went to bed. We had been on the go since 4 that morning.<br />
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Yesterday, we just did our own things, Sophi shoping, and myself taking my camera for a walk. I took pictures of a lot of things, but my favorite was the people pictures I took.<br />
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It is exhilerating getting in peoples faces and blatantly taking pictures of them. Some of them turned out very well if I do say so myself.<br />
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After a lazy afternoon we ritired to our rooms for the night. Today, we spent the morning wandering Palazzo Vitto, and its formal gardens.<br />
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We just pulled to a stop in Bologna Centrale, heading to Venezia. Very exited to finally see the city of canals.<br />
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But that is now, and you are probably wondering what I have been doing since I last wrote from Verona. Well, I have not been doing a ton, to answer what I am guessing is your question.<br />
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I have in fact been doing just normal everyday things that one does when wintering in the italian alps. The family, and in fact the whole region is very into hockey, and so we have been visiting several of the outdoor rinks in the area. They rang frome lakes to flooded 400m tracks, to proper rinks. It is quite different skating on outdoor ice than indoor ice like I am accustomed to.<br />
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Also, it was my first time actually playing hockey, and all were dissapointed because they thought that I would be good, being Canadian and all. Yay stereotypes!<br />
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We also went sliding a few times, always fun.<br />
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I did a lot of reading, and watching American College Football, which is seemingly inexplicably always on, no matter what time of day you want to watch it, it is there for your veiwing pleasure.<br />
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There were a few truly memorable moments, such as christmas, and newyears, but it was more of just the experience of life there.<br />
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I am going to talk a little about life there, and maybe next post I will go back and write about christmas or newyears, as they are worth describing.<br />
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Snow is a big part of life there, or rather what one can do with snow is a big part of life there. For the most part, the white stuff goes completly ignored with tasks like driving and walking carrying on completly unchanged, but when it comes to skiing, it is loved by all.<br />
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There are large ski resorts all over the alps, but in addition to that, all the little towns have their own little ski lift. Most of them are really tiny, but a few of them are actually pretty nice, like the one right by the house.<br />
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That is all well and good for downhill skiing, but some may be thinking, what if I want to go cross county? Well, there is a solution for that too. Each of the towns also has a snow-cat, and they maintain every night dozens of kilometers of trails winding up and down the valleys. They are used to the full extent, and even have lights along large stretches to allow for skiing at night if you so desire.<br />
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In short, as much as they seem to completly ignore any amount of snow whilst behind the wheel of a car, a lot of their life seems to revolve around other ways of sliding fast along the snow.<br />
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I am kinda running out of things to say right now, I did not get much sleep due to skype, and Top Gear, so I am going to quit while I am only a little bit behind, and end this post.<br />
now.<br />
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Hopefully the hotel in Venice has internet, and I can post this promptly.<br />
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It does have internet, I have posted it proptly.<br />
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</div>Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-83952718776418454092010-12-17T05:53:00.000-08:002010-12-17T05:53:28.075-08:00Schools Over...Today was the last day of my language school. I had a great time here. Today we shared some champagne, and the two classes united for the second half of the day to play some fun italian learning games.<br />
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I have met so many interesting people from all over the world at this school, and had a lot of fun doing it.<br />
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Once again today, the weather is not so great, in fact it is snowing. This time it is sticking to the ground, and although it is not building up much, it is definatly snow.<br />
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I am leaving Verona on sunday, and going back up to the house in the mountains for christmas. It is very difficult to get to the internet from there, but I will write posts and then when I get the chance, I will put them online.<br />
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This is a nice short post, I have been getting a bit long winded lately with posts that go on forever. For now, basta.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-21189389670255129562010-12-16T04:28:00.000-08:002010-12-16T04:28:32.161-08:00Night Time in Verona<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>I was looking through the pictures I have taken thus far last night, and I came across one I took in the Minneapolis Airport. It is of a sign that was outside a bar near the gate my flight left from. <br />
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Now I have been know to be a litte picky, and overly precise at times, but this time I think it is justified.<br />
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Look at the picture. There is a map on it. Now look at where the lines are pointing to; nothing wrong so far. Now, take a gander at the place names at the ends of the lines. Nothing wrong with North America, though the choice of where the lines end is a little strange. <br />
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Move over to Europe. Expting France, none of the lines arrive anywhere near the country they say they are from!!! Even the french one, which is the closest, ends up somewhere in Switzerland! And it is not like this sign was in a little tiny town somewhere where nobody knows the difference. This was in one of the busiest airports in the country, in a place where thousands of people see it every day!<br />
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Gahhhhhh!!! <br />
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I guess the sign did it's job though, I have just writen at length about it, and posted a picture of it on the internet.<br />
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Anyways...<br />
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With that tirade out of the way, lets move on. <br />
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Today, another nice day by anyones standards, I took some time in the evening to take my camera for a walk. It definatly liked the exercise, and produced what I think are some fairly decent photos.<br />
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I will start where I started walking and post in the order that I took them.<br />
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The first picture is of one of the gates in the old city wall. As you can see it is quite the wall, and continues for a fair ways in very good condition.<br />
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The next picture is of Piazza Bra, this time with the market that was there yesterday all packed up and gone.<br />
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There are a bunch of these huge christmas trees all over the city, all sponsored by Bauli, one of the makers of the amazing and fairly magical dessert the Pandoro.<br />
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As you continue across the piazza, you encounter the most prominent shopping street in Verona, Via Mazzini. It is a pedestrian street with all the most prominent names in fashion present from Dolce & Gabbana to Gucci, to Ralph Lauren, and all sorts of others. Right above the street in the first picture, the tallest tower in the town can be seen lit up with blue lights. It is at the other end of the street in Piazza del Erbe.<br />
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I see these all the time, but this is the first time I have stopped to take a picture. They are based on scooters, and are so tiny.<br />
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Here is the afformentioned tower in all its glory, along with a little bit of Piazza del Erbe. This piazza is just about only for tourists, and filled with expensive resteraunts and shops.<br />
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This is the market that is in the center of the piazza.<br />
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From there, it is just a few meters to one of the most famous balconies in the world, that of Julliet. Even though the story is fictional, it is in fact set in Verona, and in fact on this very balcony.<br />
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The entrance to the street is covered in writing. On both sides there are phone things in all different languages that you put money in and I guess get talked to about love or something, I did not really read it carefully.<br />
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Here is some of the writing that covers the whole passageway.<br />
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From there, I walked to the library across the river, and on the way back, I took this picture looking back towards the city center. The tower with the green lights is the one in the previous photos.<br />
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Finally, on the way back to the apartment, I walked by the arena with its gigantic shooting star. It is really quite huge, and actually looks quite nice.<br />
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That concludes today's tour of Verona, I hope you enjoyed!Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-9392886479143760172010-12-13T10:31:00.000-08:002010-12-13T10:31:52.584-08:00I Love This CountryBack to Brunek. It seems like I am always either going to or coming from Brunek. On friday, the word of the day was going to Brunek.<br />
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I had school in the morning, and afterwards went to the coffee bar with my classmates as usual. I was aiming to catch the 1.42pm train, as I had nothing else to do in Verona, and I thought it would be nice to get up there in time for supper.<br />
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Coming home and getting packed only took a few minutes, but I decided to head to the station anyways, as I like watching trains. I spent a good half hour watching trains come and go at the busy station. Unlike many main stations in cities, the station in Verona is not a terminus station, meaning the tracks go out on both sides of the station and don't simply end in the station like in Paris Gare de Nord.<br />
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Soon my train pulled up. It was about three minutes late. That does not seem like much, but on the busy Italian railways, any delay tends to compound itself. By the time we had reached Fortezza, the station I had to change trains in, the train was nearly a half hour late. It happens because the trains are so closely schedualed, that if you miss a signal, you get all messed up. We ended up having to wait for ten minutes on a siding for a freight train to pass that would have passed us in a station if we were on time.<br />
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Anyways...<br />
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The train was very full, having come from Venezia (Venice for those of you who don't know the real name of the city), and heading to Innsbruck. I had to stand in the little area between the cabin and the door to the next car. It was actually not that bad, although a little cold.<br />
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I was able to look out the widows on both sides, and took some pictures. It was the first time I had taken the train in the daylight up to Brunek, and it is quite a nice route, you can see a lot more than from the highway.<br />
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Here are the pictures I took.<br />
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In the last photo, all the little white specks at the bottom of the mountain are the buildings of a town. The mountains look small in the photos, but they are actually very abrupt and huge.<br />
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After that, when the valley starts to get narrow, it had gotten to dark to take any pictures.<br />
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There is a tunnel along that route that seems to go on forever. I timed it and it took us just over 7 minutes to pass through it. I figure it is about ten kilometers long. which for me is kinda cool.<br />
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Once I got to Fortezza, I got off, bought a ticket to Brunek, and looked at the schedual outside. As soon as I had determined that I had a 20 minute wait, a train pulled up. I asked where it was going and everyone said Brunek so I hopped on. It was an Austrian train again.<br />
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I got off at Brunek, and after a little wait in the bitter cold, Jake picked me up and we drove home. Nothing special happened that night, we had very tasty panini for as a quick supper.<br />
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In the morning, I just hung around for a while, then in the late morning helped Mathias with the recycling.<br />
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In the afternoon we went out, and as I described in the last post, had an epic sliding adventure. After that, I had the choice of going home with Jake, Mathias and Sophia, or staying with Poldi, Astrid and Lawrence and going to the theater. I chose the theater, not only to see the movie, but also because of the fact that it was in Austria.<br />
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We drove out past Toblach to the border. It is so cool that the only way to tell that we were in another country was a litte sign with the word Austria on it surrounded by the European Unions stars.<br />
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We stopped at a gas station, and I stepped out onto my eight country. I got a huge chocolate bar, and we continued to Lienz to the theater.<br />
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The film as Megamind, in German, and it was pretty good, even though I could not really understand the dialogue.<br />
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Heading back to the house, we again crossed into Italy, and again the only thing to mark the entrance was a little sign. There is not even a "Welcome to" sign. It is just a little blue sign with yellow stars and the word Italia.<br />
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In the morning I helped clear the snow off the trampoline, and a little later wrote the post before this one. We had a really good lunch with all sorts of different things you put on bread as well as a soup.<br />
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One of the things we put on the bread was this mixture of all sorts of herbs with raw beef all cut up into little tiny peices untill it resembles a spread. Very tasty.<br />
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Jake, Mathias and I had to head back to Verona that night so we went to the station to catch the train at 20 to 7. After a transfer in Fortezza, we ended up in a very cold train car all the way to Verona, finally arriving at a few minutes after ten.<br />
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One steak/pork chop later, I went to bed.<br />
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That brings me to today. It was sunny today for the first time in a while. I took my camera to school with me, and after school headed to the library, along the way taking many a picture.<br />
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The sunlight here casts such a beautiful light on the buildings. It is unfortunate that I do not have the skills as a photographer to capture the effect fully, but here is my best try.<br />
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The first three pictures are of Castle Vechia. It is a castle near my school. The next few pictures are from the bridge that spans the river from the back of the castle.<br />
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From there, I headed to Piazza Bra, the largest piazza in Verona, and the one with the roman arena. Right now there is a christmas market thing going on, so the whole piazza is stuffed with tents selling everything from traditional foods and cheeses to light-bulbs and wonder mops.<br />
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The star represents the star that the three kings followed to find the baby jesus and give him his gifts.<br />
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A narrow street.<br />
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Looking across the river towards the library I use.<br />
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Locks on a light post.<br />
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This week I am staying in Verona, and going up to Brunek again on friday or saturday. It is my last week of classes this week, so it is also probably my last week in Verona.<br />
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It is a Very nice place, and if the weather holds tommorow, I will walk around with my camera some more, and take in more of the wonderful sights and sounds of this ancient hub of humanity.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-14017521275906588762010-12-13T05:16:00.000-08:002010-12-13T05:16:09.721-08:00Wow, What a Week!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This past week was a little bit weird, any time I was able to get on the internet, I did not have my computer with with me, so that made it a bit difficult to write a post, and put pictures in it. Anyways, I am writing this on sunday at around noon, back up in the mountains again.</div><br />
Last saterday, Astrid and I went out for a walk just after breakfast. We took Tobi with us, as well as Tillo the dog. We headed out into the beautiful morning light, and grabbed a pair of sleds from the barn. When I say sleds I mean legitamite sleds. The kind I had only seen in movies.<br />
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We went to the end of the driveway, then slid down the steep road a hundred meters or so to the bottom. The sleds are so awesome. They are very fast, and smooth. <br />
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Once at the bottom, we headed along a tiny tiny road that winds its way further up the valley. It was all uphill, and dragging both sleds with me made it a bit of an effort, and I soon was no longer the least bit cold, despite the negative temperature.<br />
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It is hard to describe how beautiful this place is. It is not just that there are amazing views, and there are, it is more that everywhere you look is a beautiful view. It is impossible to look anywhere and see anything but an amazing vista that people travel from all corners of the world to see.<br />
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We kept on going up the road for nearly an hour. When we finnaly reached where we would start from, by no means the top, we took a bit of a rest. There is a little resteraunt there, and it marks the start of many hiking trails. Just another hour or so away is Austria, and Astrid said that in the summer she walk with the dog there. <br />
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Looking up I saw a little brown speck way up on the mountain above, and it turned out that it is another resteraunt way up the trail. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TQXY-27mRVI/AAAAAAAAAw8/98XPjH2lM3c/s1600/15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TQXY-27mRVI/AAAAAAAAAw8/98XPjH2lM3c/s320/15.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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We soon got ourselves oriented on the sleds. Astrid pushed off first, and made it look easy. It is actually really hard to get used to. It seems that if you follow your instinct, and lean into corners, you actually turn the other way. I tended to use my feet as differential brakes, and that seemed to work, as well as slow me down, which was good, because it was actually quite a slope we were going down.<br />
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When we got to the bottom, and I caught up with Astrid, we started walking back up to their house. I really like sledding.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Those are pictures out the kitchen window of the house. Just absolutely stunning.<br />
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Just yesterday, we all piled into two cars, and headed out to go sledding in another valley at a longer track. We got to the place at the bottom, and rented sleds, then, so we did not have to take both cars to the top, we tied the sleds to the back of the jeep, and got pulled up. <br />
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Now one would think that towing 4 people on sleds would make one drive a bit slower. Nope. Totally wrong. Poldi, Jakes dad, was drifting around corners, and there are a lot of corners when the road is switchbacking, and it was really crazy, because it was very difficult to look forwards because of all the snow and ice shooting out of the tires, so you had to close your eyes or look sideways, which I must say is somewhat disconcerting.<br />
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Everyone survived all the way to the top, and we untied the sleds. It was a really nice trail, nicely groomed, and just the right steepness. Some of the corners were a bit hairy, but I made it all the way down to the bottom. <br />
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It was really fun.<br />
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Back to last weekend.<br />
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We were supposed to have gone skiing that day, but everyone chose sleeping in instead, all of them having gone out the night before. Jakes birthday party was that night, so he, and a few of the others headed out to Antermoia to prepare. <br />
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Evening light from the bedroom window.<br />
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I stayed at here, and in the afternoon, we headed out to a nearby town called Toblach. We were there to see the Krampus (not sure on the spelling). They are people dressed in these costumes of devils, and other crazy, and totally evil creatures. <br />
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They all have big bells attached to them, and when they run and jump around, they make quite the sound. There must have been at least two or three hundred of them in the parade, along with a few decked out tractors with evil colored lights, and fires burning in trailers. It is one of those undescribable experiences.<br />
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The Krampus come over and pick people out of the crows to hit with their whips made of sticks. I got hit a few times. here is a video of one of them coming over to get me, as well as one of the tractors.<br />
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There were many different kinds of creatures, and here are a few of them.<br />
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My favorite is the last one. with the big horns.<br />
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Here is another little video.<br />
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</div>We left about half way through, because one, we had to get to Antermoia, about an hour and a bit away, and two, it was really cold. When we got back to the car, the temperature gauge said -14.5 C. Cold, but not as cold as Antermoia.<br />
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We left Toblach, about ten kilometers from Austria, and headed through Brunek to Antermoia, picking up one of Jakes friends on the way. <br />
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Winding up along the crazy road at night in the snow is another undiscibable experience.<br />
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We got to the house, and I glanced at the temperature, and it was around 10 degrees colder than in Tobach. <br />
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Astrid dropped Sophia, Myself, and the friend we had picked up in Brunek off at the house. When we got inside, we found out that only one of the rooms had heat, and the rest were just as cold as outside.<br />
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We had a lot of fun.<br />
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We Woke up fairly early, all piling into the one warm room from the freezing bedrooms, and headed next door to the resteraunt to have breakfast. After cleaning up, we all piled into the cars and drove back to Bruneck. Once there, as there was not nearly enough room in the one car that was going all the way out to the house, we split in half, and some took the train, and the rest of us drove. <br />
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Once everyone had arrived by their various methods, we started an epic culinary adventure that lasted for at least 5 or 6 courses over almost 4 hours. Different pastas, fish dishes, salads and deserts were brought forth from the kitchen at a startling rate. It was soooo good.<br />
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Just after lunch, at around 4.30pm, it became apparant that the others were not heading back to Verona that day, and in-fact, were seriously considering not going back down at all that week, due to there being no school on wed.<br />
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I am not going to go into it, but the logic was, as far as I could tell, completly flawed, but I didnot point that out, and insted decided to head back down myself.<br />
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I got on the train at 6.37. It was an Austrian train doing the loop from Lienz to Innsbruck.<br />
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Travelling with me was Jake and Mathias' friend Samuele. We talked, him in english, me in italian for most of the journy, reverting to our natural languages when we could not find the words. <br />
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We changed trains after an hour or so in Fortezza, and after only five minutes, were on our way again. <br />
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We got into Verona at about ten, and headed our respective ways. I got to the aparment, and as I was unlocking the door into the building thought, haha wouldn't it be funny if they had locked the bolt that I don't have the key for, hahaha.<br />
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I got to the apartment, unlocked the door, and it did not pop open like it usually does, instead it did not move at all. I tried again, and again, and it turns out that it wasnt so funny after all that they had locked the bolt that I don't have the key for.<br />
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I kinda just stood there trying with the keys I had for almost an hour, and then decided I was not going to be getting in that night, and sized up my options.<br />
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I could have headed back to Brunek, but I nixed that right away. There was always a hotel, but I did not want to spend any money. Breaking in was an option, but I did not really want to do that. The last option that I could think of was to just sleep there, and wait for Thomas to come down the next day. I chose that option.<br />
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It was not the most pleasnt place to sleep. The floor was cold marble, the air was not heated, the lights were bright, all I had was a travel towel as a blanket, my sleeping bag being about 20 feet away inside the apartment. <br />
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I toughed it out though, and made it though the night.<br />
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I got up early, and headed outside. I knew that the coffee shops opened at 7, and they are warm, and there is coffee there, so I headed to one of those, and stayed there until eight. I then went to my school because I knew it was open, and I could relax there more than in a caffe.<br />
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After school, it was not until 5 that Thomas finnaly showed up with the keys. Making myself the cup of tea that I had so dearly wanted the night before, I settled in and got cozy and warm finally. <br />
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I slept very well, not having had a good sleep in the past two nights, and was ready for school in the morning. <br />
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Everything was closed on wed, due to a big festival, so school was cancelled, and I stayed in and just hung around the apartment. I made myself a gourmet curry for dinner.<br />
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Very tasty I must say, and the presentation makes it taste so much better for some reason, and does not take any real effort.<br />
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The week continued as normal, well, normal minus all the other in the apartment, Thomas only having stayed one night, until friday, when I came back up here.<br />
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I will leave that for another post, as I have been writing for a while now, and you have been reading for a while now, and I just think that the world would be a better place if this post ended now.<br />
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Until next time, Ciao!Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-38690685760315511832010-12-06T07:36:00.000-08:002010-12-06T07:36:35.886-08:00Back to BrunekIt has been a little while since I have written, and since I don't have internet here, I don't really know where I left off. I am going to start on thursday of last week.<br />
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It was Jakob's birthday this weekend, and I knew we had plans to go to Brunek. I though we were going up there on friday, but it turns out that was not the plan at all. Thursday morning I learned that we were heading out at noon that day.<br />
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I left school a litte early and got back to the apartment at around noon. We left shortly after, Jakob's mother driving down to pick us up. Once in the car, we picked up a friend of theirs in Verona, and headed to the highway.<br />
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Once on the highway, I knew that last time we had changed highways where the signs pointed to the airport. As we approached the exit, still three lanes over, we were making no motions to get into the correct lane.<br />
I asked Jake if we were taking the same way as we had before, and he said yes. I asked why we had not taken the exit, and he said it was still up ahead.<br />
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About 45 minutes later, still on the same highway, it finally became apparent that I was right, and in fact, instead of heading north, we were heading west, a good chunck of the distance to Milano already behind us.<br />
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We got off the highway, made a bunch of circles and finally ended up back on the highway, retracing our steps. Instead of going all the way back to Verona, we took the exit to go to Lago di Garda, and joined up with the correct highway there, after circling a round about a few times trying to figure out which was the correct path.<br />
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As soon as we got into the mountains, there was snow on the ground. A couple hours of driving later, we arrived in Brunek.<br />
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While we waited for Jakes mom to get some groceries, we all had hot wine, a local tradition. It is very tasty. Red wine with orange, and cinnamon, all steaming hot.<br />
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The town had put up all the lights and it looked truly wonderful.<br />
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Eventually, we ended up a the house, 35 minutes outside the Brunek. There was almost half a meter of snow on the ground.<br />
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Dinner was prepared, and eventually we went to sleep. A very nice and quiet sleep.<br />
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In the morning, after breakfast, we piled into the car and headed off to town. The two cars we took both need to go to the shop, so Jake and I dropped ours off at one of the mechanics and walked to the town center.<br />
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I only had running shoes, not very good for snow, so We went to the Timberland store and got some real boots. In Brunek, they are the shoe that everyone wears. When I say everyone, I actually mean everyone. At one point this weekend, there were twelve of us and every single person was wearing the same kind of shoes. They are so comfortable, warm, waterproof, and indestructable that they are definatly worth the cost.<br />
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From there, after a coffee, we got picked up and were on the road to Antermoia. They have another little house there, and the next night were were going to be having the birthday party there, so we wanted to make sure everything was in order.<br />
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Now, I have seen a lot of roads in my time, and some of them have been pretty hairy, especially in Mexico, but the road we took to Antermoia tops them all and then some. At less than a lane and a half wide with the snow, the road goes up up up with switchback after switcback. It is so steep, and the corners so sharp that it is necessary to take up the whole road to get around them.<br />
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It was crazy, but also amazingly beautiful.<br />
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Before the climbing starts, there are a series of tunnels that over a distance of 6 kilometers add up to 4.8 kilometers.<br />
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Then the road goes up.<br />
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The speed at which they drive along it is frightening.<br />
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There are little towns all along it, perched in unexpected places amidst the steep slopes.<br />
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We finally arrived in Antermoia, and made our way to the house. The deck looks out over a ski area, and the town, then the beautiful mountains.<br />
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Ping Pong anyone???<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>After a hearty lunch of traditional food, we headed home for a relaxing second half of the day. I decided to stay in when the others went out that night, and I had another amazing sleep in the alps.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-39960735930017876212010-12-01T05:03:00.000-08:002010-12-01T05:03:12.775-08:00Its Sunny!!! No, Wait, Whats All That White Stuff?Ok. So that whole thing about Italy being a nice place to spend the winter with less rain, no snow, lots of sunny days was kinda shot to bits today. It definitly snowed today, and snowed with a vengence.<br />
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I woke up and saw that it was raining, but by the time my toast had popped out of the toaster, and I had a cup of tea in my hand it had changed to snow. At first it was just really wet snow coming down really fast, but it turned into big fat fluffy snowflakes, coming down like there was no tomorrow.<br />
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Yesterday was quite the opposite. The sun made a brilliant appearance in the morning, lighting up the buildings with beautiful winter sunlight. Unfortunatlly, the sun was gone by the time I was out of class and had time to take many pictures. I did get a few right around the school.<br />
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Just for comparison, here is virtually the same picture taken 24 hours apart.<br />
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It is now just drizzling a bit, any snow that was sticking having been washed away.<br />
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I think I will go back a bit now, to last week, because I did a few things worth mentioning.<br />
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On wednesday, the two classes at the school had a walking tour organized with the art history teacher. We walked from the school to the Roman Theater, quite a ways away as it turns out.<br />
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The sun was just setting, and of course, I had not thought to bring my camera, so the beautiful sight will just have to be imagined.<br />
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We crossed over the ancient roman footbridge to the other side of the river. The theater, around 3000 years old if I remember correctly was built into the side of a hill, and originaly held 3000 people.<br />
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It is now a lot smaller, having been buried, had houses constructed on it, and many other things over the centuries. The original extent can still be seen however, parts of it are covered up with a 1000 year old church, and a 700 year old monastary.<br />
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The view out over the city as the sun was setting was just magical. I will have to go up there on another clear day to take some photos of it. The monks cells faced out, away from the cliff, and looked out over the city, straight towards the beautiful sunset.<br />
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The monastery has been converted into a museum of sorts, and houses many statues, and mosaics, and other assorted artifacts, impressive in their own right.<br />
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It was a very nice place, and if ever you are in Verona, the roman theater and monastary at dusk is a must see.<br />
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The city itself is amazing. The mix of old and ancient is truly astounding. Many old buildings have bits of ancient buildings sticking out of them. The arena is very impressive, as is the huge wall that runs through the city.<br />
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Near the school is a castle, and it too is amazing.<br />
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Even just the sidewalks, almost all made of marble slabs are a reflection of the traditional wealth of this city. Even more so than anywhere else, there are clothing stores galore. Banks too also make up a large percentage of the storefronts.<br />
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In one place, you can see 6 banks with one sweeping view.<br />
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My favorite thing is how they eat here. Even living in an apartment with university students, each meal is a culinary experience. Last night for example, we had wine, a salad with fresh greens and mottzarella, and a traditional dish of the area Jake is from called knifle or something like that. They are balls of bread mushed up with garlic, and cheese, and all sorts of other tasty things, then boiled, then dipped in some kind of sauce.<br />
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Or a few days ago when we had salad with grilled turkey fillets.<br />
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The italians know how to eat. They have made an art out of it, and it is a much more organic activity than in Canada, just a little of that, some of this, no recipes, more just what feels right. I like.<br />
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Anyways, this weekend all the others went home exepting Jake and I. It was quiet around the apartment. I made some curry, and discovered that food of all kinds seems to be a lot cheaper here.<br />
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Classes changed this week, I no longer have a private class, but I have a conversational class with one of my other regular classmates.<br />
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Rangel went back to Brazil, so we are down to three in the class, but it is still very fun and for only having studied it for 8 days now, I feel pretty good about my skills.<br />
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We have a coffee bar we always go to down the street from the school, and I brought my camera along yesterday.<br />
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That is Julia and Beni in at the counter. We all get cappuccinos and I get a little sandwich. We take turns paying, so it is a nice little treat.<br />
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Thats the good stuff. Sooooo tasty.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I am going to sign off now, and go home for some lunch, so until next time, Ciao!Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-40041930924139896772010-11-30T04:56:00.000-08:002010-11-30T04:56:14.375-08:00Finally in VeronaThe people of Verona like to drive. The traffic seems heavy all night long outside the apartment window. I woke up a bit earlier than I meant to, climbing out of bed at seven. I went to the kitchen to have what would become a routine breakfast; toast with nutella.<br />
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That first morning, in addition to getting to the school, I actually had to find it as well. I thought I knew how to get there, and as I had no map, or internet, I would have to rely on what I remembered from google earth.<br />
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I set out about 45 mins before the beginning of class as I had no real sense of how far a walk it was.<br />
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After making one short detour, I managed to find the street I was looking for, and proceeded to walk up and down it for about half an hour, looking for a sign indicating the school. Eventually I went into a building that seemed to be some sort of educational institute, and immediately saw a sign for the school. I followed the signs, through the lobby, down a long corridor, up some stairs, back outside onto the roof, and across a bridge thing.<br />
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I entered the school, and a lady popped her head out of the office, asked if I was Graham, and disappeared again. Seconds later, my teacher walked out, and directed me to a small classroom to begin my first private lesson.<br />
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She was very nice, and as it turns out, is my conversation class teacher now. The hour long class seemed to whip by in no time at all, and I soon found myself directed to a larger class where in just a few minutes I would meet my classmates.<br />
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Pretty quickly, the three other students entered, Julia, Rangel, and Beni. The teacher followed a few minutes late in, as I now know, a classically italian fashion.<br />
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We introduced ourselves, and learned where we all hailed from. Julia is Danish, Rangel Brazilian, and Beni Indian. The classes are conducted 100% in italian, so giving your full attention is kind of a necessity. The first hour and a half of class passed without any sensation of time, and we found ourselves with a half hour break.<br />
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The four of us students headed outside, and down the street a little ways to a bar. By bar I mean coffee bar, it has no real translation. It is a bar, but different. We all got cappuccinos in what would become a tradition, and little sandwiches.<br />
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Talking in english, we got to know each other a little bit more, and a bit about where we come from and why we are here.<br />
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Back in the school, we had another hour and a half of class, then we dispersed to our respective homes. I stopped along the way and got a nice bun on which to spread nutella.<br />
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After a quick lunch of pasta, Jake and I walked to the library thereafter to go on the internet. It is a 2 km walk in each direction, so it is a bit of a haul. We stayed there for a while, and eventually I left to head home.<br />
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The next few days saw me settling into a routine pretty much like that. I do a ton of walking, eat lots of pasta, nutella, and bread. I found one of my favorite kinds of tea in the grocery store on the weekend and I have had around ten cups a day since then.<br />
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I have timed my walk to the school at 11 minutes and still, I am always the first one to arrive, even though I step through the door only a minute or two early.<br />
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Today I took my camera out for a walk, and I got some nice pictures, and I will put those up in the next few days, as well as writing a bit more about the past week and a half.<br />
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Ciao!Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-41740301457686564892010-11-30T04:28:00.000-08:002010-11-30T04:28:46.050-08:00Back to VeronaMy second day in Brunek was a lot more laid back than the one before. Getting up and lazing about for most of the day seemed to be the plan of action.<div><br />
</div><div>Lawrence, Jake's little brother, and I shot arrows at an apple for a while. First we put the apple on the railing of the barn, but once we went to retrieve the arrows, we reconsidered and put the apple far from where they could get stuck.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>We lost 3 arrows to the barn, having to snip them off where they entered the wood.</div><div><br />
</div><div>After lunch, all us young folk started watching Iron Man 2, initially in german, but eventually in english for my benefit. About 3 quarters of the way through the movie Jake got up and a few minutes later called out to ask if I was coming. When I enquired where, he said Verona. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I replied yes, and having been prepared for this kind of situation, grabbed all my stuff an headed out to the car.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We were not driving back to Verona, but instead taking the train. In fact, it turned out that we were heading to an aunt an uncle's house first, where Jake and I were dropped off. We ate pizza, and after an hour and a bit got into the car with another aunt and uncle who live nearer to Verona. They gave us a ride to a town just south of Bolzano where we caught the train to Verona.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We arrived late that night, and I went to bed for my first of many sleeps in Verona.</div>Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-18613405411315466002010-11-27T05:49:00.000-08:002010-11-27T05:49:02.517-08:00A Day In BrunekWaking up on saturday the 20th, I looked out the window and saw the picture perfect mountain scene that had been obscured by darkness the night before.<br />
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The light dusting of snow on everything, settling on the trees like iceing sugar, and the sharp lines of the treeless peaks, as well as the traditional colors and shapes of the mountain houses made the scene unforgettable.<br />
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I went downstairs and found much of the family already up in the kitchen/sitting/breakfast/snack room. I had tea, and wonderful bread, as well as a whole range of tasty goodies.<br />
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We all just sat around for a bit, talking in a multitude of languages. Jake and slipped out to the TV room and started watching Robin Hood, the new one. It was not bad. As soon as we finished, it became apparent that we all of a sudden had to leave to go to town.<br />
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It has been my experience, and my families before me that with this family, everything is humming along, and then with seemingly no warning, they reach a critical mass, and whatever was going to happen happens right then.<br />
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In this case, Jake got up as the movie was ending, then a minute later called me. I came over to find him half way out the door, all ready to go to town. I got ready quickly and we were on our way.<br />
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Another thing with Italians in general is that they seem to keep doing whatever they are doing for as long as they can, and then have to rush to get to the next thing, and the next, and so on. It is an interesting cultural thing.<br />
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In this case, we were rushing to town to get our hair cut. It is about a half hour drive, even going super fast like the Italians do, and we arrived right on time at the salon. They seemed to know Jake at the upscale establishment, and we were ushered in to the seats.<br />
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With ample hand gestures, and a little help translating, I got accross what I wanted. The first stop was the hair washing place. The seats were massage chairs, and for the 15 mins or so that I had my head massaged with shampoo and conditioner, I had my back warmed and massaged by the chair itself.<br />
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Back in the chair, I was given the choice of tea or coffee, and a selection of magazines to choose from. I chose a car one, and looked at the pictures as it was all in german. After the cut itself, the woman who had been cutting my hair gave me a soothing face massage with some kind of cream.<br />
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It was much different than what I am used to in barber shops in Canada.<br />
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Sophia met us there, and we walked back to the car, then rushed back to their house for lunch.<br />
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Oh what a lunch it was. I think there were four courses, pastas, salads, breads, wines, treats, and much much more. These Italians sure know how to eat. Their food is just amazing. Everything about it is just about perfect.<br />
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The most amazing desert was the Pandora cake thing. It is a funny shaped cake with icing sugar sprinkled on it, and it is just soooo good. There are no words to describe it.<br />
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After lunch, I got ready to go, as I knew we were heading into town soon to play laser tag. It turned out that I was right on time, as we soon left, 5 of us. We picked up Jakes girlfriend Julia, and we headed to the laser tag place. It was really cool. So much fun.<br />
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After however long of playing, and our time had expired, we got score sheets. I won, but there was a close second. It gave all the data that one could want on it. It was really cool actually. I like things like that.<br />
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We went next door to the sports bar and had a drink, then piled back in the car to head back to their house.<br />
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There was no formal dinner, but there were lots of snacks and little dishes and desserts to choose from. Sophia, myself and her uncle played a game of cards for a while.<br />
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Sophia, Jake, Julia and I were going out that night, and we left fairly late. We parked the car, and went into a bar.<br />
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The night went on, and it was a lot of fun. We went to a few different places, and met a lot of Jake's, Julia's, and Sophia's friends.<br />
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At 2 o'clock, Sophia and I headed to the bus station, Jake staying at Julias house in town. We had to take the nightliner bus back out towards their house. Getting on was an experience, and the bus was totaly packed full.<br />
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It took a long time to get out to her valley, almost at the end of the line. By this time it was past three, and we had to wait a few minutes for the next vehicle, this time some sort of taxi van to take us up to her house.<br />
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We got dropped of right at the house, and went quietly to bed.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-2617136260724142432010-11-25T08:06:00.000-08:002010-11-25T08:09:23.254-08:00The Train To ItalyTo set the scene, I am sitting in the deserted upstairs lounge of the Paris Bercy train station. By this time, I had been waiting for around 2 hours. I got up and went in search of a bathroom, and, in doing so found the first class lounge. I went in and asked, and the nice man said there was one in there.<br />
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I was allowed to sit in the nearly empty lounge with nice chairs for about an hour an a half. It started to get busy then, and I headed out and downstairs to the platform.It was about half an hour or so before the train departed, and people were finding their way to their coaches. Mine turned out to be the last one of the train, just a few meters down the platform.I got in, and saw that it was the stereotypical train car. It had a narrow passage down one side, and there were compartments coming off of it with fold out beds.<br />
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I found mine, and stowed my bag. Other people started coming in, and by the time the train left, all 6 beds were full. None of them spoke english, so I did not talk much with any of them.<br />
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At the strike of 20:33, the train started pulling out of the station, perfectly on time. I stood in the back of the car, where the door to the next car would be, and looked out at the receding station. I like things like that so it was really cool.<br />
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Standing there for the next 30 mins or so as we left Paris, I watched other trains slide past us in both directions, and all sorts of cool things you don`t see looking out the side of a car.<br />
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Settling down into my seat, I read for a little while, then headed forward to the dining car where I purchased a sandwich. It was the first Italian I had to speak as the train was a TrenItalia service.<br />
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A few hours later, we converted the compartment to sleeping mode, all 6 beds folded down, and the seats non existent. with the lights turned out, I slept for a while, waking up whenever we stopped in the stations along the route.<br />
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At around 5 in the morning, I decided I was not going to fall asleep again, and I got up to watch the world go by. We soon pulled into Milano, a huge station with many trains going in and out even in the early hours of the morning.<br />
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To my surprise, when we started moving again, it was in the opposite direction. Milano is a terminus station, so we had to go back the other way for a bit to get onto the track we wanted, but it was sure a shock until I figured it out. We were now the first car in the train, a locomotive having attached itself to our car.<br />
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I watched the black morning sliding by, slowly getting brighter and brighter. Eventually, as we were approaching Verona, the sun came up.<br />
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The train by this time was about half an hour late, and we pulled in to Verona Porta Nouva at 7:55 instead of 7:25.<br />
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The first thing I saw after stepping off the train was a palm tree brightly lit by the sun. Quite a difference from Rouen the morning before. I went out the main exit and found Jakob, who was just arriving himself.<br />
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We walked out of the station, and accross the expansive bus terminal, and into the city to his apartment.It is near the station, and in fact, near to just about everything in Verona. The downtown area is quite compact, and walking everywhere is possible.<br />
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The first thing I saw upon entering the appartment was the most massive jar of Nutella known to man.<br />
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That is a 1 liter jug of milk beside it. The behemoth weighs in at 5 kilos. It is awesome.<br />
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I got a tour of the flat, quite expansive, and very nice, then we headed out to town to go to the library. We took a little bit of a detour to see the main square, Piazza del Erbe, and eventually ended up at the biblioteca.<br />
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The library is the only place were there is internet that I have found so far, so to go online it is a half hour walk, then another to get home. Welcome to modern Europe.<br />
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The city is amazing. Totally different than anything I have seen so far. The roman arena, and old city wall, as well as the churches and cathedral are all made of red brick. We walked past Juliettes balcony and saw all the messages people have written on the walls.<br />
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After an hour or so in the library, we had to head back to the apartment as we were going to Jakobs house in the afternoon, and his mom was already in Verona. It was my first time meeting Astrid, although the whole rest of my family had.<br />
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I also met the other three people living in the apartment, including Jake`s brother Mathias. We went out again, looked at a piano store, then went to eat lunch. I was introduced to my first real Italian food, and it was amazing. There were 4 courses to the meal.<br />
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It started with litte open faced sandwich things, then went to some pasta soup stuff, then to a vegetable and meat dish, then finnally an amazing dessert. Also present were a few glasses of wine, and some mineral water.<br />
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That completed, we went back to the apartment and to the car. Jakob drove us out of the city, towards the autostrada. Once on the highway, we started accelerating. It is quite the experience.<br />
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By the time we got up to cruising speed, we were going faster than I had ever gone in a car, around 160kmh cruising speed, and still were getting passed. When that happened, we moved over into the right lane where the trucks are, all traveling at 80kmh, then zoomed towards the truck in front, then zipped back over into the left lane.<br />
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Crazy drivers.<br />
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We soon entered the first of the different kinds of valleys we would that day. This one was wide, with a flat bottom, and many fields stretching accross it.<br />
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The valley got narrower and narrower, until it no longer had any flat places in it, and the highway crisscrossed from side to side, weaving in and out of tunnels, and crossing many bridges.<br />
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After a few hours, we got off the highway, about 40 km before it enters Austria, and turned into another valley. The road was now narrow, and really curvy. By this time, the valley was just a narrow cleft in the folds of the earth, the land dropping off to one side of the road, and soaring up to the other.<br />
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We eventually reached Brunek, or Brunico in Italian. The native language in this part of Italy is German, as well as many many local dialects. We spent quite a time in Brunek, dropping off the flatmate we had given a ride, picking up Sophia and Tobi, the two who had visited our house in the summer, and eventually getting Jakobs girlfriend as well as another of his brothers.<br />
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When we finally got on our way again, another half hour of driving ahead of us, it was very dark, and the road was even curvyer. After turning off into another valley, it headed up, gaining probably a couple thousand feet of altitude.<br />
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The road in this valley was strait for long sections because although the valley has no flat in it really, it is fairly strait. Right at the end of the valley, starting up the hill towards the mountains, and past the last town is their house.<br />
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As I stepped out of the car, I stepped down into a thin layer of snow. Quite a change from just a few hours before.<br />
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I finally met the rest of the family after having heard about them for about two years. We had a marvalous supper of lasagne. They are the kind of family that just absorbs any extra people and makes them feel a part of their life.<br />
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I settled in for a nights sleep in the perfect silence of the mountain air.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-63755724114973521502010-11-23T08:37:00.000-08:002010-11-23T08:37:15.384-08:00Galette, Gaufre, Guimauve, and Other Adventures.If I lived in France, I would probably have a sugar overdose within a week. Not only do they have more desserts than you can even imagine, the have them with lots of sugar. They even, get this, put sugar into their hot chocolate!<br />
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</div><div>On sunday, I met up with a good friend of my sister. Anais, who is from just outside Rouen, picked me up from where I was staying, even farther out in the country. This was the first time we had met, and it was really nice to meet her, as I had heard much about her from my sister. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Her mom drove us downtown, and she showed me around the town. I happened to have arrived during a 2 week long fair that comes to town every year, bringing with it many rides and food stalls.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>We walked though the throngs at the fair, heading downstream along the Seine. The fair stretches for quite a ways along the river. I tried a crepe with Nutella, very tasty, and we walked some more. Anais got me guimauve, a candy with a taffy like consistency, but a flavour that is quite unique. It took me almost an hour to eat it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Just as we were leaving the sun made a brief appearance, shining down on the cathedral.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>We crossed back over the river to the Rouen side, and I saw the place my sister came to sit with her friends. We walked and walked all over for quite a time, seeing all there is to see in Rouen, including Jean d'Arc's place of captivity, and where she was burned. </div><div><br />
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</div><div>We took the bus out to her house, a little ways away, up out of the river valley. I met her brother, then her sister, and he mom again. Her sister speaks english, and we all sat down and talked, well her sister talked, and we tried to get a word in, until it was time to get a ride back out to my host house in Isneauville.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Dinner this time was a lot more relaxed and quiet. No dancers to be seen. We had quiche Lorraine. That is a very very tasty dish. Afterwards, I tried some cheeses, and found that there are some I really really don't like. I had a hard time getting the Camembert to stay down. </div><div><br />
</div><div>After a chat on skype to my family, I went to bed.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Sleeping until 10 is a very nice feeling. I woke up and found that the sun was shining, and the clouds were all gone. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I had lunch when Jean Claude came home at noon, the leftovers of the previous night's dinner. Heading into town with my camera, I set out to take advantage of the rare sunlight.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>It turned out that it was not sunny for very long, the clouds rolled in pretty quickly, so I did not get to much in the way of photographs. I did however find something very tasty. "Pain au Chocolat" is the name. Basically a square croissant with chocolate. Mmmmmmmm......</div><div><br />
</div><div>At 4 I met up with Anais when she got out of school, and we went right to a bakery and got a baguette for me to eat.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Finishing it on the bus, we got off about half way to her house. We walked and walked all through Mont St Aignon, visiting a beautiful park next to the golf course I had been to, and eventually ended up at her house again, and this time made started making crepes. The first one turned out horribly, but then Anais's mom showed up and corrected our rookie mistakes. They turned out great after that, and we had them with all sorts of dessert toppings from chocolate, to jam, to honey.</div><div><br />
</div><div>A ride back to Isneauville later, I was having supper. I can't really remember what we ate that night, but I am pretty sure it was tasty.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Tuesday morning brought with it fog, and lots of it. I had lunch with Jean Claude again, and spent the early afternoon writing the post before this one, and figuring out how to get it onto their Mac that is the only thing connected to the internet.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I eventually succeeded, and headed to out to meet Anais once again at her school. At her house again, her mom made us something kinda like a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, but very different, and all together more French, and we sipped some of Normandy's famous cider.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Anais and I got a ride into town to a little bar where we sat amidst very funky decorations. We each had the little bartender's secret recipe, beer with a touch of vodka and lemon added, and although very skeptical at first, having tasted it, it is an unlikely but quite pleasing combination.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>In the morning, having got a ride back to Isneauville after leaving the bar, I got up a little early, and went to town to meet Anais at noon. We went to a cafe and had galettes, myself choosing the Tuscan one with mozzarella, tomatoes, and various herbs.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We went across the river to get dessert. We both got gaufre, a special waffle with many choices of toppings.</div><div><br />
</div><div>After walking towards the bus, we decided to visit the fine arts museum. There were many many amazing paintings, and some of them were huge. Absolutely mind blowingly huge.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>The coolest thing was one of the staircases. I was painted with seemingly random patches of orange, going in all different directions, and all different colors, but when you looked at the convex mirror placed in one of the corners, the orange formed perfect circles. It was not just standing in one spot that it occured either, you could stand anywhere in the stairwell, and the reflected image was always of perfect orange circles. Very cool.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>Once we got off the bus at her house, we went in and watched tv for a while, talking all the time. I had to leave early to get back to Isneauville. After saying goodbye, and promising to come back soon, I took the bus back to Rouen, then to Isneauville, getting in just after dark at around 5. </div><div><br />
</div><div>We were heading to the neighbor's house for supper that evening, and we left shortly after I got in. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Dinner was cous cous again, and afterwards we played a fun game where there were cards that had clues in french, and one person read those out, and the rest tried to guess the english phrase or band name, or place, or whatever. Lots of laughs.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I said goodbye to the family then, as I would not see them the next day.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Waking a little earlier, I packed and made sure all of my travel plans worked. I was taking the train to Paris early in the afternoon, and then in the evening getting on the night train to Verona. All of the schedules still looked the same, and after heading to the post office to send off requested gifties, I went to Rouen for the final time, headed to the Gare, and bought my ticket. </div><div><br />
</div><div>After a little wait, I got on the train, a non stop to St Lazare, and settled in. I started writing this post then, but didn't get too far as I was too interested in looking out the windows.</div><div><br />
</div><div>In Paris once again, went down into the metro and took line 14 towards the Paris Bercy station. Line 14 is an automated line, and it has very few stops, so the distance was covered quickly. </div><div><br />
</div><div>A bit of a walk put me in the Paris Bercy station. It is where the night trains to Italy, as well as the auto/sleeper trains leave from. I bought my ticket and sat down. By this time it was around 4, and the train did not leave until 8.30, so I went to look for a quieter place to sit than the main lounge. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Going up the stairs, I found a deserted waiting room, and down a long hallway saw another that would have a view of all the tracks going into Gare de Lyon, a very busy station. I got into it, and was surprised to see that all the seats were pushed to the sides, and it looked like it was not really in use.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I sat down anyways, and for nearly an hour sat undisturbed, several employees coming out of a door, looking surprised to see me and walking away. The view of the tracks was very good, and I saw many many TGVs going in and out of the station.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Eventually I got asked to leave, and behind me they locked the doors and put up a no entry sign. Sitting in the deserted lounge for quite a time, I read my book quietly.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Next post will take over from there, and should finally catch up with real time.</div>Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-86736196767515315552010-11-19T01:25:00.000-08:002010-11-19T01:25:26.620-08:00Not Your Routine MealIt sure knows how to rain in Normandy. When I woke, the view out the window was all funny because of the rain. I have seen a lot of rain in my life, living in one of the rainiest places on earth, but this rain was intense, co;in out of the sky with immense vigour, like all the water in the air longed to be on the ground all at once.<br />
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After a breakfast of fresh bread and nutella, Gheslain and I headed out into the rain to get apples for the dessert she was making. We donned our jackets and scarves, and by the time a minute had passed, my goretex jacket was soaked through.<br />
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The market we went to, just down the street, had all kinds of goodies. Stalls selling fruits, vegetables, breads, pastries, flowers, meats, and more covered the little square.<br />
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Back inside, I watched the preperations for lunch. It was going to be a special meal, as it was the birthday of Marianne, the daougher of the family. She was coming in from Paris on the train in hour or so, and after preparing the apple tarte that was dessert, we went to Rouen to pick up a gift for Marianne, as well as Marianne herself.<br />
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Walking in Rouen for the first time in daylight, I saw many more amazing buildings. The town is spectacular, the spire of the cathedral reaching many tens of meters into the air.<br />
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None of the buildings seem to have straight lines in them, and they just bulge out to occupy as much space as they can, or sag due to the centuries they have stood. There are all different colors, with the wood crossbeams usually a contrasting color. It is impossible, no matter how hard you try, to recreate the scene in a photograph.<br />
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Back at their house, the meal was fantastic. It was veal with green beans, and bread, cheese, and ham, with wines to choose from. The apple tart dessert was fantastic.<br />
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Later that day I was to head to the other side of town to another of my sisters host families. I did not have the phone number or address of the family, and as the day progressed I was trying to contact my mom, and my sister in Canada as they woke.<br />
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I eventually did reach them, although it did not help much, they did not have any of the information either.<br />
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I did know where the house was, my sister having showed it to me on Google earth, so the plan was that we would head out there and see what happened. I finally managed to get their phone number, and we contacted them, and everything was all right.<br />
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Having heard from them a month or so ago, I knew that there was some sort of little party going on that night. I thought that it was going to be a few friends over or something like that. It turned out that we were heading to their golf course for a dinner party. The theme was to be Morrocan.<br />
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Now when I pictured a dinner at a french golf club, I pictured quiet music, peacful views, subdued tones. As it turns out, I was dead wrong. As wrong As I could be.<br />
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When we arrived we put our coats away in the back room. In the entrance area, there were probably around 90 people, all sipping wine, and talking, many dressed in Morracan garb. The music was turned up, and a few people were pretending not to be dancing.<br />
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Pretty soon, a magician arrived. He set up a little table, and the space around him quickly filled with curious faces, young and old. He started off with coin conjuring tricks, and the ones with cups and balls underneath. He was pretty good. After doing that for a wile, he moved on to cards.<br />
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He was really good at cards. He was making things appear and dissapear and change in ways that I could not figure out, and usually I can figure these tricks out. He finished, and moved to another spot. I followed him and made sure I was watching not the hand he was doing something with, but the other, to try to figure it out. I could not. He moved again, and I took up a spot behind him, and still I could not understand.<br />
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That magician was very good. Funny too, and I could not even understand what he was saying!<br />
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We moved into the dining room after a little while, tabes for 10 set out with many glasses, knives, forks, and candles. I regretted allready that I had not brought my camera. I was seated at a table with 20 somethings who spoke english. Mostly they talked in french, but it was still fun. The wine arrived, Morrocan, both a rose and a red.<br />
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Eventually the cous cous got there. It was simply amazing. The taste was exquisite. About half way through the meal, the lights dimmed and the music got a lot louder. We all looked around, trying to find the reason.<br />
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As laser lights turned on, two girls dressed with sequins and jingly things came out and started dancing throught the tables. It was very bizzare. It went on for three songs, and then they left.<br />
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After the dessert course came out, so did the dancers again. This time, after the first song, they started pulling guys up and dancing with them. Finally, at around midnight, the family came and got me and we left to go home, the party anything but winding down.<br />
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It was a strange, but very fun second night in Rouen, but it was nice to get to sleep.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-9671035260639934472010-11-17T01:41:00.000-08:002010-11-17T01:41:58.047-08:00To Paris and BeyondWaking up in Paris, a city often touted as the most beautiful in the world is a wonderful feeling. I woke up late, around 10, and after preparing for the day, and re-packing my bag, I went downstairs and checked out.<br />
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The hostel has a secure store place for luggage, and I left mine there.<br />
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Wanting to see the Eiffel Tower, I hopped on the metro, and after one change of lines I got off at Invalides. As it turns out, that is quite a walk from the tower. It was a bit cold, and raining a little, but it was nice to just absorb the sounds and sights of France.<br />
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After catching a small glimpse of the top of the tower from the metro station, it was invisible until just a few minutes before reaching it. It popped out from behind the buildings in its immense glory.<br />
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It is huge. Framed agains the grey sky it looked like a beautiful black and white painting. The tower spreads its massive bases over a huge plaza underneath, crawling with the tourists absent so far in my trip.<br />
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To take in the whole tower properly one must walk away from the river towards the military academy. I sat on a bench and just stared for what must have been half an hour.<br />
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To build such a structure is a feat of engineering, even today, and it was built so long ago, and in addition with a grace that is unmatched anywhere in the world.<br />
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I did not go up into the tower, however I did walk back under it again, braving the mobs of souvineer sellers.<br />
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Walking towards the military academy again, I took the customary self picture in front of it, and stopped to take a picture for a couple with the magestic structure as the backdrop.<br />
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Deciding that instead of walking around Paris then, I would wait until the spring and hope for better weather, I headed back to the hostel.<br />
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The night before when I had originaly found the hostel, I had used the correct exit, and found myself pointing in the right direction. This time I most certainly did not.<br />
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I walked and walked and walked for around half an hour until I finally found the correct road. As it turns out the metro station I was using had 5 exits, all widely spaced.<br />
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Back at the hostel, I retrieved my bags, and read for some time.<br />
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At around 3 I left for Gare de St Lazare. Upon arrival I found the ticket booth, and after purchasing my ticket I went inside to find the platform. To my surprise the ticket had no platform writen on it, and it appeared to work the same as a metro ticket, you validated it when you want to use it.<br />
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I wandered around with my big pack for a while, looking at all the departure screens for Rouen. I finnaly found it, and walked over to the platform. I validated my ticket, then walked along the train a ways to find a seat. What seemed like a kilometer later, I entered the lower level of the double deck train, and sat down.<br />
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Soon after, right on time, the doors slid shut, and the train rolled out of the station. Just like the Eurostar, this train was so smooth, and once out of the station area and its multitude of junctions, there was once again the feeling of gliding over the rails.<br />
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It sped up to its remarkable cruising speed, and soon emerged into the countryside. Sliding through France at what seems to be hundreds of kilometers per hour is quite an experience for someone who has never experienced it before, and my face was glued to the window the whole way until it got dark.<br />
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There were only 3 or 4 stops before arrival in Rouen, the terminus of the train's service.<br />
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The riders of the train and I all piled off and up into the terminal building. I was to be picked up by my sisters host mother from last year, but I did not know when or where, or even what she looked like.<br />
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I parked myself in the main hall of the building with my pack, and sat down to wait. Just ten minutes later I was hailed from across the hall. We introduced each other, and it turned out that I was just where I was supposed to be, right at the right time.<br />
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As I dont speak french, and she doesnt speak french, the ride was quiet for the most part, although we were able to communicate a bit with our very limited command of the others language.<br />
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It was my first experience in a car in Europe, and man was it ever crazy. They do not seem to have any regard for lanes, or signs, or pedestrians, or anything outside the car. It was somewhat hair raising, but it was really cool to see a little bit of the city my sister loves so much.<br />
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I caught a glimpse of her school, and of several churches and the cathedral. The architecture of Rouen is just amazing, the city being many centuries old.<br />
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Arriving at her house on the other side of the river, I met her husband, and was shown around the house. Arriving later in the evening was their son Guillame, who speaks fluent english.<br />
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I settled in, and spoke/gestured with my hosts. They have a very nice house, small, but with everything tucked away in neat ways.<br />
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Guillame arrived an hour or so later with his girlfriend, also fluent in english, and we all sat down for appetizers. I had my first french wine, a very strongly flavoured one as it turns out.<br />
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Soon after we settled in for dinner, potatoes, ham, and cheese mixed together in a dish called Tarteflete, or something like that. In any case it was very tasty, and we had desert of ice cream.<br />
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The three of us young folk headed out to Rouen at this time, already after eight in the evening.<br />
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We stopped first at a friends house, and spent a little bit there before heading into the city.<br />
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Finding parking was a bit crazy, the winding streets filled to the brim with cars already. We eventually found a spot, and walked towards Rue de Gros Horlage, the most famous street in the city. It has a big clock on an arch about half way down, and ends at the cathedral.<br />
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The buildings are amazing in Rouen. I looked at the date on one and it read 1630. A 380 year old building with a clothes shop in the bottom and apartments above. None of the buildings had straight sides, all of them bulged out in odd directions. They seemed to be just squished in between the others, all depending on the one beside for support.<br />
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We stopped at a bar, by this time our group numbering 14 with many other friends having joined us.<br />
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Even with the language difference, it was a lot of fun, and we managed to communicate with our limited vocabularies and with our gestures. Lots of fun to be meeting my sisters friends from last year as well.<br />
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Eventually we headed off, back to the house we had visited earlier to watch a very odd tv show in which the mother of a grown man chooses between several women trying to be his wife. Strange.<br />
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In bed I fell asleep right away, my second night in france having been tons of fun, with lots of new people, and new sight sounds and smells.<br />
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I was sleeping in the bed my sister had last year, and it was nice to see it in real life after seeing it so many times on skype.<br />
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Paris was nice, but Rouen with so many people to connect with was so far, a lot of fun.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-66835278537089252252010-11-13T07:28:00.000-08:002010-11-13T07:28:31.980-08:00The Tube, The Train, The MetroAfter a such a wonderful time in London I had no desire to leave. But, alas, it had to be done. I woke and packed my bag, made difficult by the fact that my bed was so close to the ceiling that I could not stand it up to put things in, and also the fact there were so many people sleeping still.<br />
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I managed to do it, and after leaving my room for the final time went to the luggage storage room. Paying my 2 pounds I headed out to Tesco for breakfast.<br />
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When I got back I really didn't feel like going anywhere at all. I just sat in the common room for a while watching the music video channel that was on the television. Eventually I went and got my computer and started writing my blog, but eventually gave up and started talking to a guy from eastern England.<br />
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At about one I decided I should probably start heading off as I had a long ways to go. I went down to the tube for the last time, heading for the first time to St Pancras Station.<br />
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I purchased a ticket for the 14:02 train to Paris, and after going through the security and border control sat for a short wait in the lounge.<br />
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Soon, the train was opened for boarding. It is soo huge. it seemed to stretch out of view in both directions when I got up to the platform. They are marvels of engineering. I walked to the back end of the train, snapped a picture, then went into coach 4 where my seat was.<br />
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I was sitting beside a french woman, and neither of us spoke the others language at all so we didn't really talk at all. The train left right on time, pulling out of the station perfectly at the strike of 14:02.<br />
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It was such a neat experience. I am used to the train on Vancouver Island which does not even begin to compare in any way to the amazingness of the trains here. There is no feeling of the rails, it just feels like floating across the ground.<br />
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We soon descended into the first tunnel that took us most of the way out of London. Through the countryside and industrial areas we went, zooming by at hundreds of kilometers an hour. Really really fast!<br />
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We had a short stop just before the Chunnel, and soon we were hurtling along it. It was really not all that exiting, it was just a dark tunnel that went on for a long time. there was no sense of what had just been accomplished when we emerged into France.<br />
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The sun had set by then, and the clouds made it very dark. I read until arrival at Gare de Nord.<br />
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That was my first real experience with a busy train station, and it was quite amazing. So amazing that I forgot to take any photos at all.<br />
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I followed the signs to the metro, and after buying my ticket, headed off to the platform I wanted.<br />
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I had to make a change to get to the hostel, and that was accomplished without any problems. I got off the metro at the stop nearest the hostel, and after a careful check that I was headed in the right direction I set off on the ten minute walk.<br />
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I found it with no problem, and headed in. I got my room and headed upstairs.<br />
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It was a 3 bed room, and one of the beds was empty, just myself and another man staying in it. <br />
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After a quick meal of an omelette and fries, I tried to connect to the internet to no avail. Deciding to give up I went upstairs and read for a bit before falling asleep.<br />
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It was a long day, and I was sad to say goodbye to London, but also exited for the new wonders just a sleep away.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-27568280947699061462010-11-12T17:05:00.000-08:002010-11-12T17:05:06.236-08:00More of London, More of Klass and AnneI am a little behind on the posting of things. I was right on top of it, and then for inexplicable reasons, the internet simply would not talk to my computer. Strange things.<br />
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Anyways, Wednesday brought with it the promise of clear, sunny skies. I woke early and headed out for a walk. I took my big camera with me, and wandered down from Piccadilly to the Thames, going just on the east side of St James Park.<br />
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I walked east along the river, then headed over the bridge at Embankment station. I walked back down the other side of the river past the London Eye, and to Westminster Bridge. Across the bridge and past Big Ben I went into a Tesco, a store where you can get cheap anything, and got some breakfast.<br />
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From there I went up to Trafalgar Square, and got on the Tube, going only one stop, the cold finally having got to me.<br />
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Here are some of the results of my early morning photo walk.<br />
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I met up with Klaas and Anne, and we had some tea in the common room, then went out to the tube. We were heading out to Chelsea to see how much tickets to the football game were.<br />
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We took 3 different trains to get there, having to change at several stations.<br />
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The stop we wanted exited into a mall, and as we were leaving we saw a Starbucks and decided to stop there on the way back. We got to the stadium, and walked around to the ticket booth, and got in the short queue.<br />
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When we got to the front, we learned that the seats were going to be 64 pounds, and they were way way way up in the top section. Definitely not worth it.<br />
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A stop at the Starbucks, and we were on our way again.<br />
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We went back to the hostel for a quick rest, then were off again, this time in the opposite direction. Heading east on the District line we got off at Tower Hill. Walking out of the station you see the Tower of London, hence the name.<br />
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Another tower related thing there is the Tower Bridge. We walked out along it, and then payed the 5 pounds to get the tour. The elevator takes you to the walkways at the top. The view is pretty cool.<br />
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We walked down after exploring the top for a while, and took a tour of the engine room where they used to open the bridge from.<br />
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After walking back across the bridge, and back to the station, we took it one stop to Monument, a tribute to the damage caused by the London Fire.<br />
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The monument itself is a giant column with a viewing platform at the top, reached by a 311 step spiral staircase. That is quite the climb. The view is worth it though.<br />
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At the bottom, they give you a certificate that you have climbed it, and survived. A neat touch indeed<br />
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From the monument we went to Piccadilly Circus again, this time staying in at the fountain. I had arranged with my family that I would be at that certain place at a certain time, and that they would at the same time look at the webcam of Piccadilly Circus.<br />
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To make sure I was identifiable, Klaas, Anne, and I held up a Canadian Flag. We had several people come take pictures with us which was funny because Klaas and Anne are not Canadians.<br />
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After the appointed time had come and gone, I went back to check if it had worked, and they went to find some food. I met up with them shortly, and we ate quickly by the fountain.<br />
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A short time later, we were on the tube again, this time heading to Adlegate East. It was not quite apparent what we were looking for, so, after walking in a big circle, we got back on the tube and continued on to Liverpool Street Station, where Klaas and Anne's train to the airport departed later that night.<br />
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We found a pub for later and went back to the hostel one last time.<br />
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In the common room, we met Bruno, from northern Spain. He was a hoot to talk to, and a while later when we headed to Oxford Circus to go shopping, he tagged along with us. We walked and walked and walked, and finally found the store, a discount place with amazing prices.<br />
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Anne was the only one who wanted or needed anything, so the three of us followed her around.<br />
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She ended up getting the most ridiculous pajamas ever. A fleece one piece with a funky pattern. It was awesome.<br />
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We headed down Central line to the train station, and went into Dirty Dicks Pub across the street. I dared Anne to wear her PJs to order, and for the rest of the time we were there, and she did, with 5 pounds of encouragement that is.<br />
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We said goodbye much to soon after. Them leaving to Stanstead for the flight home, and myself and Bruno to the hostel again.<br />
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I will miss them, and hope to see them soon in their home town in Holland.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-87709962372037531632010-11-12T15:59:00.000-08:002010-11-12T15:59:29.237-08:00London With Klaas and AnneIn just a few hours I will be alighting from this city which I have come to love. The Eurostar will take me to Paris later today, but until then I have some time to think, and to rest my feet.<br />
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</div><div>As the stories go, it rains in London. Always. On tuesday, those stories sure seemed to have some truth to them. Leaving the hostel after breakfast, it was pouring. My new friends Klaas and Anne and myself wanted to go see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. We did not want to walk, so we went out the door a hundred meters through the cold rain and wind and into the tube station at Piccadilly Circus. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNvUj7kfmJI/AAAAAAAAAl4/I0E5THSDg3s/s1600/DSCF0919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNvUj7kfmJI/AAAAAAAAAl4/I0E5THSDg3s/s320/DSCF0919.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div>We took the Bakerloo line two stops to Embankment, right beside the Thames, and as it turns out, much further from the palace than anticipated. It was in fact further than the hostel. We walked up the river to Big Ben, then went up into St James Park, and walked down the south side to the palace.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>We got to the palace just before the change of the guards. The coolest thing was their hats. They didn't really do much. They just marched in then marched out. It might be because of the rain, but it really wasn't really very exiting. The hats were sweet though.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>We wanted to get back in the as soon as possible, but we couldn't find Victoria station. We ended up walking all the way to Charring Cross at Trafalgar Square, and ended up freezing and soaking wet by the end of it. After drying off for a bit at the hostel, and heading back to the tube, we headed to Covent Garden to go to a store that Klaas wanted to check out. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The store is called Forbidden Planet, and if you like sci-fi, fantasy, comics, or action figures, it would be a dreamland. It had two huge floors jam packed with everything you could think of, and a whole bunch you never would.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>That was just a small selection of the Harry Potter wands they had.</div><div><br />
</div><div>From there we headed to a pizza joint and had 2 for one pizza. It was pretty good, although the server was defiantly not from Italy, or even western europe in general.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Two stops on the tube later we were back at Piccadilly. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Klaas dropped of what he had bought, and we were on our way again, this time to St John's Wood. Just outside the station is the Beatles Coffee shop. They also have tons of shirts and stuff too. We all got the same Abby Road hats, and headed out on a pilgrimage to the famous crosswalk.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We were the total knob tourists, and loved it.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>That was awesome. We signed our names on the wall of Abbey Road Studios, and headed back to the tube. </div><div><br />
</div><div>From there we went to Notting Hill. Anne was looking for a pet shop to buy a hat for her dog. We walked and walked and walked. Along the way we found a Poundland, the UK version of Dollar Stores. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Notting Hill is one of the prettiest little places I have ever been. The main street winds around and on both sides there are eclectic shops painted in nice colors.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>We eventually did find a pet shop and an appropriate hat, but by this time we had walked so far that we had no idea where the closest tube station was. We asked the clerk at the pet shop, and an other kilometer further we finally found it. </div><div><br />
</div><div>We went right in without looking which direction we were getting on, and ended up heading further out. We had to get out at the next station, and cross over to come back.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We got off at Paddington which also has a huge train station. The connection to the line we wanted was literally another kilometer away through the station and down and around and down some more. It is crazy how deep some of the lines are. When I first got off at Piccadilly, I walked up some stairs and expected to see the exit around the corner but it was the longest escalator I have ever seen, then at the top of that the next corner yielded another escalator the same size. Then still more stairs to get to street level, and that is not even the deepest line at that station.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We ended up back at the hostel, and said bye for a while to go do our own stuff for a bit. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I met an Italian guy from Puglia, a state I want to spend some time in later in my trip. He and I went out an walked for a bit before settling in the Duke of Argyle. Near the hostel, it is a nice English pub with a nice atmosphere. </div><div><br />
</div><div>We had a drink, then headed back to the hostel as neither of us could really understand the other. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I met up with Klass and Anna again, and we ended up, after a bit of a walk, back at the Duke of Argyle. That was not before we went through Soho though. That is really funny.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It is full of peep shows, table dancing clubs, and xxx video stores, all with a booming business. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNvVQaKlDLI/AAAAAAAAAmo/OyRu-Nq7w_I/s1600/DSCF0967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNvVQaKlDLI/AAAAAAAAAmo/OyRu-Nq7w_I/s320/DSCF0967.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div>Even the Telephones are decorated with xxx advertisements.</div><div><br />
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</div><div>We sat in the pub until it closed at 11.30, then went for another walk. After much pondering we ended up at a club that was very loud and crowded.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We sat down at the downstairs bar, and Anne found a Pink Ladies jacket from Grease.</div><div><br />
</div><div>That about wrapped it up for the night. It was quite a day.</div>Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-43447714701190502622010-11-09T01:53:00.000-08:002010-11-09T01:53:32.351-08:00LondonLondon, for Canadians, or at least myself, holds some sort of almost mythic place in ones mind. We see it in our history books, hear tales of it, see it in movies, and for the lucky people who make it here, It lives up to the high expectations. It is bustling, full of people at every hour, jam packed full of history, and mythic in proportions.<br />
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The grandeur of the city is magnificent, and the sights are all even better than they are in the movies.<br />
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Getting on the tube, the classic "Please mind the gap" you hear in shows Actually is like that. It is a city that I had high expectations about, and it has so far much more than lived up to them.<br />
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Here are a bunch of pictures from my random wanderings just after getting off the tube.<br />
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After wandering for a bit, and checking in to the hostel I found, I went into the common area of the hostel, and met two people from Holland. We talked for a bit, then went out to find some food. After much wandering, we ended up in an Italian place. I had the best pizza I have ever had, plus some Italian beer which I drank out of a wine glass.<br />
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We wandered around together for hours after that, went to a pub, and wandered some more. We finally ended up at the hostel around midnight, and I decided that I might want to get some sleep.<br />
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It was kinda funny actually, I went to bed at twelve, then I woke up, had a shower, got dressed, everything, then I asked someone in the hall for the time, and it was 1.45 in the morning. I then realized how dark it was, and that all the other people in my room were still sleeping. I went back to sleep, and woke up at 7.30<br />
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I am going to have some tea now, maybe some breakfast too.Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5967746464109659049.post-7129434417601000482010-11-09T01:08:00.000-08:002010-11-09T01:08:06.518-08:00To London I Go Part TwoI left you hanging somewhere over the North Atlantic, lets fix that.<br />
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</div><div>So, we are going along, I have put away my computer from doing the last post because it is almost out of batteries. I am looking out the window and at the screen with the map on it. </div><div><br />
</div><div>After another hour as passed, we are getting mighty close to landfall in Ireland. I see us approaching on the map, but with all the cloud, I cant actually see. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Then, there was this little gap in the clouds and I saw waves and rocks, and I had officially seen Europe for the first time. A picture was impossible as the gap went by too fast to get my camera out. My first opportunity to do so came just a few minutes later.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp0TLct5I/AAAAAAAAAkA/NiJYVYUw_DU/s1600/DSCF0821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp0TLct5I/AAAAAAAAAkA/NiJYVYUw_DU/s320/DSCF0821.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I was pretty exited. The flight attendants were serving drinks at the time, so everyone else was looking at that, but I was peering out the window, my face pressed to the glass the whole time we were over Ireland. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Looking down at all the farms I could already tell that it was so different than what I am used too. The towns had no apparent layout, and just had streets going every where. It was pretty cool I have to say.</div><div><br />
</div><div>We then passed the shore again to get over the Irish Sea. From there all the way to London it was totally cloudy so I couldn't see much. The clouds sure looked nice though.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp3_BmTdI/AAAAAAAAAkE/WgMmnpUxdwY/s1600/DSCF0835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp3_BmTdI/AAAAAAAAAkE/WgMmnpUxdwY/s320/DSCF0835.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had to hold for a few minutes, and we mad several circles over the south of England before turning to head towards Heathrow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The descent into the clouds was quite dramatic, and instantly what had been a very smooth flight became bumpy. There was also the fact that you could not see the wingtips sometimes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp64xnBKI/AAAAAAAAAkI/dz8Wk0O4nb4/s1600/DSCF0837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp64xnBKI/AAAAAAAAAkI/dz8Wk0O4nb4/s320/DSCF0837.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bye the time we hit the clouds, we had descended to about 8 thousand feet, so we were not in them for too long. Pretty soon, I could see England out the window.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp93O3kWI/AAAAAAAAAkM/WR09KyX5o4A/s1600/DSCF0838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgp93O3kWI/AAAAAAAAAkM/WR09KyX5o4A/s320/DSCF0838.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just seconds later, we touched down, and we were in Europe. Pretty cool feeling I must say.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We taxied off the runway and had to hold for a few minutes as a string of departures prevented us from crossing the other runway to get to terminal four.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had arrived on time despite leaving an hour late, holding in the air, and holding on the ground, and we disembarked fairly fast. I snapped this picture of the machine that took all the passengers 6600km across the Atlantic Ocean.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgqEzFybwI/AAAAAAAAAkU/bOFwr_NPkqk/s1600/DSCF0842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNgqEzFybwI/AAAAAAAAAkU/bOFwr_NPkqk/s320/DSCF0842.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The airport was fairly deserted, so there was hardly any lineups at all. I went through customs and border control, got my pack, and went out of security. I was officially on English soil.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Feeling thirsty, and needing change for the tube, I bought some water at the store, then headed down many stairs to the Underground.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNkPMNVOtVI/AAAAAAAAAkw/_7GZkxgP6j4/s1600/DSCF0843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P0rVXOUH8tM/TNkPMNVOtVI/AAAAAAAAAkw/_7GZkxgP6j4/s320/DSCF0843.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am going to leave off this post now, and start another with pictures from walking around London.</div>Graham Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558520999432712441noreply@blogger.com0