Plane crash in Turkey

We heard today that a plane crashed not far from where we are in Turkey. We just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe and sound.

Market Mayhem in Madrid

In Madrid, all roads lead to the Plaza del Sol, discovering this early in our stay made navigating much easier! We had become accustomed to the late night rhythm of Spanish life, going out for dinner at around 10pm and not getting home until the early hours. Despite the chilly nights, we had beautiful crisp sunny days in which to explore the city. Good thing because most of our explorations were outdoors. Madrid has a ton of green space including a large urban park reminiscent of central park in NYC. Our hotel was sandwiched between the palatial gardens and botanical gardens, so we took advantage of this and managed to get out jogging a couple of times (gotta keep the tapas off the waistline). The chilly nights also forced us to do a little shopping since we not prepared for the almost zero temperatures.
We toured the royal palace with its resplendent throne, ballrooms and ancient Spanish apothecary, (the royal family moved out some years ago because they felt the palace was a little over the top). Our wanderings also led us to some fun dining experiences, and oddly enough, a girl living in a small plexiglass box on one of the busiest corners in the city. After some research it seemed the girl is a violinist who was to live in the box for a week and compose a piece to play upon her release. The box contained a small kitchen, a bed, and a bathroom that was even transparent from the knees down- poor girl!

We were lucky to be around for the Sunday market “El Rastro”, which translates literally into “the stain”. The market street used to be the bottom of a hill of butcher shops and the blood that ran down the streets made a stain. It stretches out for many blocks and is now the largest flea market in Europe with everything from gas masks to underwear! After the market, families pour into the surrounding bars to drink vermouth together. I’m sure it makes Sunday dinner a lot more interesting!

Oh, and Adam finally got out for a haircut (in case you hadn’t noticed in more recent pics he was starting to sport a bit of a 70’s do).

Adios Madrid, “all aboard” the train for Valencia.

Oh my Gaudi!

You certainly don’t need to look very hard to find a good time in Barcelona, or in any Spanish city we were soon to discover. A quick flight from Rome and a smooth hotel check-in found us soaking up the nightlife within a couple of hours of arrival! The night started off with a great bottle of Spanish wine and some tasty tapas. A Spanish tradition, the word tapa means lid, this comes from medieval times when innkeepers would put a little snack (lid) on top of the glass of beer or wine that the horsemen would drink. This “lid” was dual purpose, it kept the bugs out of the drinks and kept the horsemen from getting too loaded before setting out to the next village.
Tapas come in a huge range but you can almost always count on jamon (ham), octopus, fried sardines, and patatas bravas (potatoes with spicy sauce) being on the roster for any given place.
Cave-dwelling, volcano climbing, and sheltering from the rain for the previous couple of weeks, we were overdue for a night out! So with our full bellies we set out on an exploration of the many great little watering-holes that pepper the center of town. We ended up meeting a couple of ex-pats from New Jersey and Coventry who ever so kindly gave us a ton of insider tips on Barcelona and even augmented our tourist map to include their favourites! It was most entertaining to hear their stories of adapting to the Spanish lifestyle. Diane and Sandra if you happen to read this thanks for the great company, tips, and for pouring us into a taxi at the end of the night!

Armed with our revamped tourist map and a hangover, we were off to see the sights the following day. This is where I will have to exercise some self control and not go into a huge blabbering speel about Gaudi… we had been warned by our newfound friends that Barcelona might find us “Gaudied out”. In short, Gaudi was one of the masterminds behind the birth of the moderniste style of architecture that is seen all over Barcelona. To enter one of his creations is like walking through a dream, a hybrid between organic, nature inspired forms and Alice in Wonderland zaniness but not as gaudy as it sounds (pardon the pun). Every detail was carefully created right down to the banisters and window and door hardware which are molded perfectly to the grip of a human hand. It really is genius and can only be seen to be believed. Hopefully some of the pictures will help. The last and largest of Gaudi’s works is the Sagrada Familia church, which is still under construction 80 years after his death. Look at the picture of the ceiling, which Gaudi modelled after a forest. It is amazing how the columns

resemble tree trunks and the skylights mimic the way the light shines through the forest canopy. BRILLIANT!! Check out the photo album if you want to see more pics. Despite the warnings we gorged ourselves on Gaudi and miraculously we didn’t end up “Gaudied out”! Just in case you want some more professional pictures and info:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Antonio_Gaudi.html

We also managed to fit in visits to the Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso exhibits and of course, no visit to a city is complete without a market excursion! Not surprisingly, in such an artistic city, even the produce market is gorgeous! Perfectly ripe fruit is carefully arranged in pyramids and there are fresh juices in a multitude of different combinations- also contributing to the flashy display. We quickly learned that when window shopping at the market it is best to steer clear of the butcher stands… too many heads, still attached to animals and sometimes just heads on their own.

The only thing I didn’t like about Barcelona? Leaving! Oh what a perfect ending that would’ve been, but it just jogged my memory… leaving and pickpockets!
We actually witnessed an attempted pickpocket. We didn’t understand what was happening when we got on the metro and there was an older man yelling at a younger man and holding on to him. When the doors closed we saw the man’s wallet on the floor, I grabbed it and returned it to him and then each of the men just retreated to opposite sides of the train and stood there in silence until the thief could get off at the next stop… no more yelling or abuse, they didn’t even look at each other!?
On another occasion on the metro, our suspicions were raised when three people unnecessarily crowded us when there was space elsewhere. We later read that this is a common tactic for thieves, but fortunately we had held on tight to our belongings and the group exited at the next stop empty handed.
An overall positive experience in Barcelona, in fact it is one of our favourite cities so far and we look forward to returning.

Rome If You Want To

Rome, the bustling capital and our last destination in Italy. So what did we do in Rome? Well most of all we attempted to stay dry. It rained four of our five days, and at times pelting down so hard that it was beat through the fabric of our umbrellas. Consequently, we didn’t go out more than we needed; but during the dry periods we did get around to the mandatory sights.

Since we are a bit behind on our chronology, here is a snapshot of Rome:

The Colosseum was as you would expect, spectacular.

Hard to imagine the thousands that died for entertainment. We snapped this picture of a couple of gladiators in the subway on their way home from work.

The Roman Forum is much larger than we had imagined and much too large to explore in the short bursts of sunshine we received. But we tried.

The Pantheon exceeded expectations because frankly, we didn’t have any. This Roman temple turned Christian church is remarkably well preserved, at least on the inside.

The Vatican was a zoo. Every day thousands walk through these buildings and initially I didn’t know how they managed to get that many people through. Once we finally made it inside their method became obvious….. we were herded through the halls like cattle past artistic treasures. The “shush” police in the Sistine Chapel were particularly amusing as they attempted to stop the throngs of people from talking and snapping pictures.

We also managed a glimpse of the Pope-meister during a couple of public addresses.
St. Peter's Basicila is spectacular. No other way to describe it.

Of course if you want to know the detail behind any of these places, our intrepid travelling companion Lisa chronicled Rome far better than we ever could, and she had better weather to do it in when she passed through town a month earlier. Check it out at http://lisafukushimablog.blogspot.com/2007_09_16_archive.html

As a footnote, when we are sightseeing, we always work on the proven theory that if you need lunch, never eat near a monument; but Rome having so many tourists seeing so many sights, took this to a new level. It seems that no matter how hard we tried, or how far we walked from any monument, our lunches were fraught with bad food, bad service, or both.

Before we knew it, we were on our way to the airport and destined for Spain. Time to learn a new language and give up the pizza.

Rome sweet Rome!

Setting out from Stromboli before sunrise, we had 26 hours of travel ahead of us before we would reach Rome. It was this day that my sinus cold chose to unleash it’s full wrath upon me. Deciding to play it safe we took the big, slooooowww ferry to Sicily where we would catch our overnight train to Rome. The big beast would be more reliable in the heavy seas but would take a lot longer than the hydrofoil (5 hours vs. one and a half).
Finally arriving in the Sicilian town of Messina, we had eight hours to kill before we boarded the train. Exploring the town laden with our packs was marginally less appealling than camping out in the diner of the train station (the headache and snotty nose tipped the scales in favor of the station). Besides, we had unlimited entertainment courtesy of the inebriated patrons from the nearby park wandering in to use the facilities.

Adam took on "mission impossible" by going on a search for sinus potion and Kleenex for me. Not an easy feat considering it was a Sunday evening (most places were closed) AND all medications are only sold through the pharmacies in Italy. Fortunately, my knight in shining armour returned with some good drugs (of the legal kind… or that’s what he told me anyway) and the only Kleenex he could find – a bulk pack of the little purse-sized packets! Ahhhh, blissful drug induced grogginess, clear sinuses, and an endless bounty of nice soft Kleenex…. suddenly the Autogrill was the happiest place on earth.

Finally at midnight we got to climb aboard our sleeper train and curl up in our cozy little bunkbeds. We stayed awake just long enough to watch our train being loaded onto the ferry to make the crossing to the mainland. Very cool system I must say! The lowest ferry deck has train tracks on it and the train is broken up into smaller pieces for loading, the engine is at the rear of the train and pushes each segment onto the vessel. The more ferries we travel, the worse BC Ferries starts to look… can you imagine them dealing with trains? They have a hard enough time loading automobiles and getting from A to B without crashing. We do still have Asia ahead of us though… opinions can change.

We had a good laugh at the marketing pamphlet for Trenitalia that we found in our cabin. We couldn't resist posting it.

Yes, the passengers are quite delighted to be stacked three high; yes, they hire conjoined-twins to efficiently cater to your every need; and yes, the man in the bottom bunk is watching little birdies fly around his head after the door was slammed into it. High density train travel IS wonderful! I especially got a kick out of the guy in the crisp, wrinkle free suit in the middle bunk.

Despite having a lot more space, we certainly didn't look as polished as he does when we arrived in Rome bright and early Monday morning; nevertheless, we were thrilled to have a "home" again! Once we got settled in, we took advantage of the fact that we were finally in a metropolitan city and went for the ultimate ANTI-pasta… Indian food!

Less travel, more Rome in the next post...stay tuned!

Holy Stromboli!

We need not have bewildered over the schedules of the ferries that service Stromboli, for as we soon found out, Mother Nature decides when and if you will get there. The ferries do not adhere to the posted schedules, they simply seem to go when and if they are able. Despite the rough seas and the skepticism of one of the English speaking locals that we met at our transfer point, our hydrofoil successfully bumped it’s way along to Stromboli.

One of a smattering of small islands above the toe of the big boot Stromboli is home to an active volcano. We were first enticed by the idea of hiking up to the crater and camping overnight – an experience that we had read about in the Lonely Planet. As of 2004 when Stromboli let out a great big spew of lava, the government has decided to add volcanos onto it’s list of dangerous things, right underneath irons and toilets. This came in the form of tighter regulations regarding excursions to the crater such as limiting the number of visitors and duration of visits to the crater. This meant that not only would we be without an iron in Stromboli, but also we would not be camping out in the warmth of the lava flow. We did sign up for an excursion to the peak but there were not enough people signed up and the excursion was cancelled.
We decided to hike to the highest point that is permitted without a guide. Prior to our journey, Adam researched the injuries and deaths that have been attributed to Stromboli and reassured me that most of the injuries happen when people are running away from the explosions and falling debris (except for the guy that flung himself into the crater in a dramatic and successful suicide attempt- honest!)… I felt so much better knowing that my course of action should anything happen, would be to stand perfectly still and admire the wave of lava and hot rocks showering down around me. We hiked up to the observation level (about the equivalent of the Grouse Grind for you Vancouverites- only more rollercoaster up and downs). Although we could hear the explosions every 20 minutes or so, we could only see burps of steam in the sunlight. Once the sun had set, the sound effects were accompanied by visuals- clouds of pinkish red – gorgeous and definitely at a comfortable distance. Not only did we have a great display from the volcano but the moon was bright and full too.
We made our way down the mountain and warmed up and filled up in a little pizzeria at the base prior to embarking on the rest of the journey home.
As you would expect, the beaches of Stromboli are made of fine, black volcanic sand. The ultra blackness of the sand contrasts so sharply with all the other colours around it that even on a cloudy day the brightly coloured fishing boats, white vacation homes, and deep turquoise of the Mediterranean seemed superimposed. The ultimate find… the remains of some bizarre berry plant, all in monochromatic, fisher-price orange!

A wrinkle in time

Astoundingly, we have managed thus far to escape any bugs, colds, or flues despite our exposure to public transport, grubby Italian bathrooms void of soap, and the occasional meal in establishments of questionable hygiene. The five trains, one ferry, 12 hours of travel, and chilly conditions however, proved to be the perfect storm needed to defeat my immune system. One of those five trains doled out the virus that would later bring my head to the brink of explosion… but you will hear plenty about that in later posts.
Our long journey finally found us in the seaside resort of Taormina.
After being cooped up on the train all day we were keen to get out into the air and get the blood circulating (plus we needed a drink). So we changed into some fresh but very wrinkly clothes and set out in search of “fresh air”.
Side note: We have discovered that the Italian authorities seem to be a little overprotective of the tourists… all hotel rooms (and public bathrooms) are equipped with panic strings that you pull in the event of an ablutionary emergency; but more annoyingly, it is “illegal” and “unsafe” to provide hotel guests with an in-room iron. As you will see in the video we did come up with a solution to disguise the wrinkles but beware this is a reality television show moment- you get to see how stupid we act sometimes. We did think twice about posting it but we figured a little self-humiliation was worth any amusement you may get out of it, so go ahead and have good laugh at our expense!



The next day we travelled up the cable car to explore the old city of Taormina. The major tourist attraction is the ancient Roman amphitheatre with it’s gorgeous view of the sea. The rest of the day was spent poking around the city. We finished off with a great dinner and made it an early night in preparation for another complex travel itinerary to Stromboli, the island of the volcano.

Troglodytes everywhere!

Ok, so you know your ancestors lived in caves but do you know what their address was? By chance, we stumbled across a whole town that does!
Until the 1960’s, the population of Matera lived in limestone caves in the side of a ravine, (Don’t believe us? Google Matera Italy). We are not talking a dozen or so cave houses here…. a couple of thousand cave dwellings and churches make up an area known as “The Sassi”.
Sure there were improvements over the 9000 years of occupation; doors, paved streets, some dwellings even had electricity, but town was poverty stricken, absent of running water and sewers and riddled with Malaria... the shame of Italy. The shame that eventually sparked the forcible relocation of the entire town to a new development atop the ravine.
Almost forgotten for the next 20 years, this town is so old and so unique it has featured as backdrop for a number of movies, most recently Mel’s “Passion Of The Christ” which was filmed virtually entirely here.

Such a unique place does not go undiscovered by tourism for long, so now artisans, a few restaurants, and hotels are beginning to refurbish the caves and make them liveable again. The hotel that we were in was one of these, you will see pictures in the Matera album. One chilly day we set off from our cave hotel to discover what cave living was like in the 50’s and 60’s. It seems that by then the average number of people per dwelling was 2 parents and 3 children, (Matera had a 50% infant mortality rate!). Inside the typically 2 or 3 room cave, there would be a small room for cooking, a general living area for eating and sleeping, (open the draws in the bedside chest and turn them into beds for the kids) and the third area would house grains and the family donkey (chickens live under the bed). With half of the town untouched since the relocation, we had a great day exploring the caves, many still containing remnants of their final occupants. A short but fascinating visit into recent history.

Leaving Matera early in the morning as a cold snap hit, we sat on the train platform realizing that we had seriously underestimated the chilly Italian autumn. We sat with all our clothes on, huddled together in a miserable attempt at keeping warm. Finally the first of many trains arrived, and we began to thaw. Matera to Sicily took about 12 hours and 5 different trains… some with as little as 5 minutes to transfer between them. Strangely enough, the trains all ran like clockwork and we made it to Sicily without missing a single connection!

Picturesque Pompei and Noisy Naples

We’ve all read stories of this Roman town buried by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius many centuries ago, but experiencing this excavated town makes me feel that Roman life was in many ways, not dissimilar to my life in Vanouver, (granted we have done away with slaves). Just like any other day, we started at the gym and then to the hot and cold baths for a relaxing soak. We strolled past numerous ancient “take out” restaurants, (This is me at my Pompei Pizza stand) then visited the bakery, checked out the vegetable market, made a quick visit to the law court, sat in the theatre and finished my day in one of the Brothels decorated with pictures of suggestive positions, (although the uncomfortable stone beds kept the visit short, it didn't deter me from trying to lure the camera woman in for a good time). All in all we walked this massive area for 6 hours and only managed 50% of a site the size of downtown Vancouver.

Next day was a different story.... Only 20 minutes by train and also in the shadow of Vesuvius, we made our way to Naples. The pace of this vibrant, noisy and gritty town resembles an older, poorer version of New York.

A morning wandering the museums conjured an appetite, and Naples being the home of Pizza, we figured we should research the best and most authentic Neapolitan Pizza available. Our quest took us past vendors pawning fake cameras and laptops, dodging cars that have no regard for rules, exploring back streets where we were eyed off by the mafia, down alley`s lined with vendors of large, complex and tacky nativity scenes, (mossy hillsides, minature buildings with motorized characters, running water and electric lights) and then, just as we were about to give up..... we found our destination, a tiny place on a back street where the buildings seem to be relying on a web of clothes lines to avoid collapse.

The pizza? Well frankly, it was not that great, but not to worry.... with another couple of weeks in Italy, and not much else on the menus, we had more than enough chances to find good pizza.