Home Sweet Home

Home...at last! The flight home was thankfully uneventful and the attendants on the transatlantic Air Canada flight were particularly friendly and relaxed. The Ativan that Beth took for the flight helped keep her relaxed as well :).

We landed in Windsor on the evening of Good Friday and were surprised at the number of people gathered in the airport to see us. The ‘A’ channel news crew was filming and people were waving flags and banners. However, the only people in the crowd we that we recognised were Vicky, Joe, and Beth’s mom. As we moved closer we could read that the banners were, in fact, not welcoming us home from Europe, but rather welcoming troops home from Afghanistan. We joined the family and friends of the troops and turned to cheer as they walked off the plane. We might not have been in town to welcome Michael home from Afghanistan, but at least we could participate in the homecoming of two of his fellow troops.

The next night we went to Vicky and Joe’s for Easter dinner. It was great to visit with family again and, in that all too familiar way, it was just like we were never gone. We had a fun evening sharing stories over dinner, and after dinner the ladies drank a little too much wine as they sang and danced while the boys watched the Masters on TV. Later that night while Rob drove home Beth fell asleep in the car (not unusual, but the jet lag didn’t help either). As we pulled into the driveway at home, she woke up, looked at the house, and thought “Where are we?” ...One of the side effects from travelling for so long.

We spent the first days home visiting family and friends, searching for a place to get cappuccino, and generally ignoring all of our home responsibilities. However, we soon got around to our duties of unpacking, organising our home, spring cleaning, gardening...

Before we left Europe we were worried that when we got home we would regret our decision to return early. However, we are very happy that we are back. There really is “No place like home”. We had an amazing trip, we are looking forward to going back, but for now, we are enjoying being back in Canada.

Thanks to everyone who shared our journey with us. We appreciated the comments on the blog and the emails which kept us connected to home as we travelled across Europe and Northern Africa. Until our next adventure, adieu!

Although we were scheduled to stay in Europe until the end of June, we decided to go home early. Rob called Air Canada and Aeroplan and with a two hour phone call arranged for the early flight. We hoped that we would not regret our decision once we returned, but for the time being it felt like the right decision. We have loved our time in Europe and Africa, but we were getting tired. Additionally, although each country had some unique aspects, after so many months of travelling, we were noticing their similarites more than their differences. Also, we were missing our family and friends, our home, our country,... It was time to go home.

Things we will miss about Europe:

• Being outside for most of the day.
• Walking for our daily coffee and pastry...yum!
• The shoe stores!
• The challenge of learning & the opportunity to practise different languages.
• The art!
• Listening to CBC podcasts or reading during train rides.
• Climbing hundreds of stairs for the panoramic view of the city below.
• Interesting architecture.
• Efficient (for the most part) transit systems.
• Italian food!
• Meeting new people.
• Neighbourhood bakeries, ice cream parlours, cafes,...
• An excuse to eat out everyday.
• The ice cream.
• The stray cats.






Things we are looking forward to:

• Gardening! And the sounds of wildlife.
• Visiting with family and friends :)
• Meeting our friends’ babies that were born while we were away!
• Relaxing :)
• Being able to read labels on packages of food, menus, traffic signs, etc. without using a dictionary!
• Cooking some of our favourite foods from our trip.
• Sharing photos with friends and family.
• Resting our aching feet.
• Adopting a new cat (although Anna probably won’t like that too much...)
• Yoga and hapkido.
• Summer in Canadian cottage country.
• Designing and building a new deck for our backyard.
• Sleeping in our own bed (night after night!)
• The Mandarin Restaurant.
• Impromptu get-togethers with our neighbours.
• Good, friendly service by complete strangers in a multicultural community.
• Local produce :)








• Not being treated as a tourist (which, of course, we were).

Au Revoir, Europe. Until next time...

Paris in the Spring

We decided to spend our last few days in Europe in the City of Lights.  We visited Paris in November but we were looking forward to visiting some places that we missed the first time while revisiting others (ah yes, Paris in the spring).  It was a good idea to spend our last few days in Europe in a city that we were familiar with as we were distracted by the thought of returning home.

We were lucky with the weather in Paris - it was perfect. The days were sunny and mild which was wonderful for touring around. We revisited Le Louvre, the centre Pompidou, l’Arc de Triumphe, the hill at Sacre Coeur, and wandering many of the familiar streets.  It amazed us how many more tourists were present in April compared to November.  However, we were still able to avoid most queues and enjoyed the sights.

Armed with her acquired skills in internet searches of Europe, Beth honed into the best vegetarian restaurants this time round.  We learned from last time that Paris restaurants were not always reliable with respect to vegetable matter.  What an excellent idea to google vegetarian restaurants and what excellent food!

One of our favourite previously unexplored places that we visited this time was the Père-Lachaise cemetery.  This large, famous cemetery is reputedly one of the most visited in the world.  We purchased a map that identified the location of the most famous graves.  We visited the graves of Chopin, Jim Morrison (complete with a guard), Oscar Wilde, Pissaro, and Modigliani.

Although we skipped climbing the Eiffel tower in November because of the queue, we decided to tackle it this time.  We had a choice of walking or taking an elevator to the second level.  Of course we chose to walk the 680 steps. As expected, the view of Paris from the tower was good, however the Eiffel tower was missing in the cityscape, so it was surprisingly a little disappointing.

We also visited the Jewish Holocaust memorial which we were unable to do in November because it was closed due to security threats.  Although the memorial was open, it appeared that there was still a threat to the Jewish community.  Just down the road, at The Hôtel de Ville where there was a photography exhibit on the children of the holocaust, a group of police in riot gear were gathered.  Additionally, there were many police cars parked in front of the exhibit.

There was also unrest at the Gare du Nord train station.  We were standing in line one evening waiting to buy a train ticket when we heard a shot ring out in the train station.  A sudden hush from the typically noisy station followed by us tentatively asking the woman in line in front of us, “Was that a gunshot?”  She answered in the affirmative in a British accent and further explained that it was likely related to the riot the week before.  Apparently the riots that plagued the city last year were starting again.  Things were unsettled in Paris... as we were a little unsettled and excited about returning home!

Venice - the sinking city

Maybe it was a flagrant disregard for social graces. Possibly it was Rob’s ignorance of cultural practices which made him utter the words. However, once he uttered the sentences, “We’ve been really lucky with the weather all through this trip. It’s been warm and it has hardly rained.” Beth glared at him with full expectation for him to retract his statement.

“ What? What’s the problem?”, Rob inquired.

“You just jinxed us you idiot. Don’t say that!”

He could not understand why Beth, who has a scientific mind as well as being a sceptic when it came to religious miracles, held such superstitious beliefs.

After leaving Florence we travelled to Venice.  Everyone we knew who has travelled to Venice said it was beautiful.  Beth, after reading a couple of books set in Venice, was very excited to go.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast predicted rain and colder temperatures for the week... (no surprise to Beth). Gone were the days when we had a home base in Germany and could pick and choose where to go depending upon the weather forecast (and availability of cheap accommodations)...

Well, we visited Venice and, indeed, it rained for the five days we were there.  We tried to love Venice.  We really did.  But in the end, it was just another city with a lot of concrete and very little vegetation.  Throughout our time in Europe we were always overjoyed when we came upon parks and green spaces since they were infrequent occurrences and Venice was the embodiment of the concrete European cityscape.  There was nary a tree to be found...

On the other hand Venice is unique in that, as everyone knows, it has canals throughout the city.  Additionally, the narrow streets are only used for pedestrians and, as such, there are no cars or motorcycles throughout the city.  This was a wonderful surprise and likely contributes to the better air quality found in Venice, despite the lack of vegetation.

Other then the canals, the most prominent place in Venice is St Mark’s square. Surrounded by old buildings, a tower, and St Mark’s Basilica, the square was referred to as “the greatest drawing room in Europe” by Napoleon. However any traveller there would say the most prominent feature of this square is the pigeons (lovingly referred to as ‘flying rats’ by Rob). Venice is able to support a natural population of 10 to 20 thousand birds, but instead the population at times exceeds 100 thousand due to the lucrative pigeon feeding vendors that dish out popcorn seeds to tourists at 1.50€ per handful. Little do these tourists realize that Tweety is a carrier of disease, (such as salmonella) which can be transfered to their kids as the feed them and get shat upon. Just as pathetic is the fact that these birds are regularly culled to reduce the population problems. Instead of outlawing the feeding which would result in their population being naturally regulated, the administration chooses to create capital through tourist dollars, while turning a blind eye to the inhumanity.

During the rainy days we wandered around the city in search of risotto, pizza, pasta, and limoncello.  We also enjoyed taking the water bus along the main canal as we went touring around Venice perusing the plentiful glass shops.  Murano, one of the islands of Venice, is world renowned for its glass and it is displayed all over Venice.  The glass is beautiful and bright and they make sculptures, vases, jewellery, almost anything that you can think of, out of this glass.

We spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum.  The brightly coloured modern and contemporary art found there was in stark contrast to the neutral tones of the regal buildings lining the canals.  And, as always, we were in search of art that we had read or heard about.  In this case, it was a Sprit of the West song titled, If Venice is Sinking that boasts the line In a room that had a postcard on the door; of Marini’s Little Man, with an erection on a horse. Well, we found the sculpture in this museum and as soon as we saw it we realised that we had always misinterpreted the line.

After three rainy days in Venice we decided to take a day trip to Verona, a small town about 1.5 hours away by train.  Verona is best known as the setting of Romeo and Juliet.  However, this was not what drew us to this quaint little town but rather the fact that it was nestled in the heart of Amarone country.  We enjoyed our sunny day in Verona walking around the town looking at the beautifully maintained buildings in search of the nectar of the gods.  After buying six bottles we were ready to return to our hotel to consider how were going to travel with these heavy wine bottles around Italy, to Paris, and then back home.

Renaissance Art and Florence.

A trip to Florence is all about the art. And with city streets and squares named Michelangelo, Donatello, Carravaggio, and Bottecelli, it was hard to avoid it, even if one wanted to. For both of us who enjoy art, Florence was a blessing. Be warned travellers! A trip to Florence may also mean spending hours in long lines for galleries and churches waiting to see some of the best masterpieces in art in the world).

One of our excursions was to the Gallery Academia to see Michelangelo’s David. The gallery designed a room specifically to showcase this masterpiece in 1982 when it was brought indoors to protect it. David is kept at the end of a long hall that houses Michelangelo’s Slaves, (some of his unfinished sculptures), where it is bathed in natural light. Beth will tell you that David was well worth the time spent in line and the money. (To avoid the very long line we paid 3€ to reserve a viewing time which was in addition to the 6.50€ entrance fee.) Rob concedes that it is a remarkable sculpture given its sheer size and anatomical detail, which surely took the master years of intensive labour to chip out of marble. However, he feels that it is not worth the time and money since it is the only piece to see in this otherwise limited gallery. Rob suggests for people to save their money and time by going to Piazza Della Signoria to see great sculptures like Cellini’s Perseus in addition to a good copy of David for FREE!
The Uffizi Gallery was the gallery that Rob was looking most forward to. His reading of the biography of Leonardo Da Vinci got him excited about seeing the two Leonardo paintings that the gallery held. (There are very few in existence since he was involved in other endeavours such as inventing). These paintings are the earliest works that are known, and include the painting The Annunciation which is acknowledged to be his very first. As Rob entered the DaVinci room he quickly scanned the room to find what he considered the gems. Yes, Verrocchio was nice, and so was the Raphael, but NO! Annunciation! Where was it? There was only a poster marking the spot where it usually hung and an announcement that the original was on tour. Did they not know Rob was coming to see it? Later that evening we read that DaVinci’s Annunciation had safely arrived in a Tokyo Gallery that very day. It was the first time the painting left the gallery since 1962.

We also stopped at several churches that contained artwork. Beth was inspired to visit these churches because of the novel The Lost Madonna, which was set in Florence after the flood of 1966. Most notable among the churches was Santa Maria del Carmine, where we spent another 4.50€ each to see one frescoed chapel. Again, we needed to reserve, but this time it was because the chapel was so small that only twenty people were allowed in at a time. The frescoed walls were painted by Masolino and Masacci were very interesting to compare the techniques between the two artists. In the Piazza outside of the Church of Santa Croce, which contained both Galileo’s and Michelangelo’s tomb, there were markings showing how high the water rose during the 1966 flood. Although a lot of art and architecture was damaged in that flood, most was restored and we are among the grateful!

Scene- Passenger One and Two arrive at their hostel after a day’s walking and touring. They enter the room and take off their shoes to rest.

Passenger One: What’s that I smell? Is that your feet?

Passenger Two: I don’t think so. Let me check... (Passenger Two bends over to smell them.) It’s not my feet. I put these socks on fresh today.

Passenger One: Damn....

Passenger Two: What’s the problem?

Passenger One: I’m on day four.

Passenger Two: Oh...

The top predators that prey on tourists in Italy.

1. Pickpockets in Rome. Very sleek and often work with others. (titled 'Friendly and not so Friendly')

2. The Gypsies. They are everywhere! Their talents range from pick pocketing (never seen, only heard about), begging, to a not-so-successful attempt at ‘squeegeeing’ for money. During our fifteen minute vigil, all attempts to clean car windows, but one, were met with loud beeping, shouts, or angry hand waving. However, during green lights the gypsy girls were able to supplement their income by begging from pedestrians walking by.

3. Camera/Laptop “sales people” in Napoli. These men worked in the side streets where they eagerly showed tourists a laptop or camera to buy ‘real cheap’ complete with the original box. However, when the buyer opens the box at home they find that the camera or laptop has been substituted for an rock that has a similar weight.

4. Faux products salespeople. These people, (which look like recent immigrants to Italy) were everywhere in and amongst the legitimate open air stalls. The Gucci/Chanel sellers placed purses on a white sheet laid out on the sidewalk displaying their goods while others held belts in their hands. The eyeglass/Rolex watch sellers used a fold-up cardboard display table for viewing. The art poster sellers simply laid out the cardboard posters on the ground. All sellers worked together keeping an eye out for the police. Whenever an officer was spotted, the sheet would be lifted up, purses and all, and carried over the back (like santa) while the cardboard display folded up like a brief case (rather ingenious) and the posters were scooped up like a card shark lifting playing cards from a poker table. In unison they would then move on to the next block...

5. The guy in Venice who charged us seven extra euros for sitting on the patio instead of standing at the counter inside! We knew there was a sitting fee but the sun was shinning and the usual charge was two euros. So, we (well, Beth was cold, and the sun was so inviting) decided to sit outside to drink our coffees and eat our pastries. Ugh. Now that is organised crime!

Please don’t misunderstand us... we love Italy! The people are great. The food is great. The wine is great. The art is great!... Well you get the idea.