Split & Trojir Croatia

April 23, 2012

This past weekend we went to Split and Trojir, Croatia with a small group of students and two other teachers as an optional trip.

We had to take an overnight ferry over to Split, Croatia.  We slept in bunkies, nothing compared to the luxury of cruise ships.  The room was quite small.  Forget about having a shower, there was no shower stall, only a handheld shower over the toilet!  I guess you could multi task and save plenty of time!

Our Palace on the Water!!!!

Wandering on the Boat - George is hoping!

Coming into Split

We arrived in Split early Saturday morning and dropped our bags off at the hostel.  Yes I stayed in a hostel; a new experience for me!

We went to the Saturday Green Market - full of fresh vegetables, freshly baked pastries and fresh flowers.  A little further away was a large fish market.  

One of the Vendors at the Green Market

Fresh figs dusted with icing sugar - 25 kuna per kl = approx $4.00 Cdn

Another Vendor at the Green Market

We toured around the Diocletian Palace.  The Roman Emperor Diocletian returned to his birthplace in Salona near Split.  He launced a ten year building program of his fortied retirement home.  When he finished it in 305AD the entire structure covered 31,000 sq m.  The remainder of the day the students went out to check the shops and we strolled through the narrow streets and walked along the waterfront. 

Outside of the palace and adjacent to a park is a huge statue of Gregory of Nin, a 10th century Croatian Bishop, who is famous for advocating that Croatians deserve to have their church services conducted in their native language.  Legend has it that rubbing the big toe brings one luck.

Down by the waterfront

Part of the Palace

Gregory of Nin

Rub his big toe for luck

George and I ate a wonderful local restaurant looking out at the harbor and the sea beyond.  We both had steak cooked to perfection.  George’s steak came with a blue cheese sauce and mine was a balsamic vinegar, plum and honey - delicious.  

Sunday morning we got up early and after having a delcious apple strudel with cheese for myself and a cherry strudel with with cheese and a cappucino down by the waterfront we took the bus to Trojir.  

Originally settled by the Greeks and followed by the Romans, Trojir was finally settled by the Coats in the 6^th C. Between the 10^th C and 14^th C, the Croats tried to fend off the Venetians until they finally fell to them. For the next four centuries, Trojir was occupied and inhabited by the Venetians until Napoleon dominated it. From then on it changed hands a few more times before it came back into the control of the Croats.

After a wonderful lunch with the two other teachers of Croatian cuisine, we explored the town for a few hours.  We returned to Split and boarded the overnight ferry to Italy shortly thereafter.   

Down one of the narrow alleys in Trojir

Sunday afternoon in Trojir - the local men are playing chess and bocce

At the top of the fort in Trojir

Students and teachers alike all agreed at the end of the trip that it was a relaxing weekend.

I still pinch myself for the wonderful opportunities we have been given and what I have learned through travel.  A great education in itself.

We look forward now to having Shelagh return to visit with us after finishing her second year at Acadia University before staring her summertime job.  She will accompany us on a school trip to Venice.  Following Venice, she and I plan to visit Milan for a few days.

Vienna, Austria

April 16, 2012

We had the opportunity of going to Vienna, Austria this weekend for the European International School Heads’ Conference. 

While George was attending sessions I toured the city on my own on the first day following Rick Steeves’ Best of Europe walking tour.

Vienna is the one of Europe’s cultural capitals.  It is the home of the rich Habsburg heritage.  Many of the buildings still today relfect 18th and 19th century elegance. Classical music is heard everywhere.  People nurse a pastry and coffee over the daily paper at one of the many small quaint cafes. 

My stops included the Opera House, museums and churches and cafes.  I went to the Spanish Riding School located in Hofburg Palace.  This is the home of the renowned Lipizzaner stallions.  I was able to go in and watch their morning exercise routine.

One side of the Opera House

Horse Stables

Morning Exercise

Hofburg Palace

St. Paul's Church

Inside St. Paul's Church

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Inside St. Stephen's

Since Sacher Torte is Austria home of this chocolate cake which is two layers of cake separated by apricot jam and covered in dark-chocolate icing, served with whipped cream, I decided to go in and have some for lunch.  It was pretty good. 

Later in the afternoon I met up with George and we went to the Belvedere Palace to see the Gustav Klimt exhibition.

Belvedere Palace

We had dinner out at a local Viennese restaurant.

Gates of a concentration camp/ a Jewish prisoner

Gates of destruction

On Saturday I went on a spouses tour which took in Dorotheum, the world’s oldest major auction house.  From there we went to the Austrian National Library which is the largest and to be considered to be the most beautiful library hall in the world.  Next was a visit to Demel, which produces the best chocolate and pastry in the world.  We had lunch at the opera house followed by a Viennese Waltz Dance lesson. 

Friedrich von Amerling - bidding starts at 80.000 euros

Inside the Dorotheum

The ceiling inside the National Library

Demel's - Chocolate Wedding Dress

Demel's

Waltzing Class

Later that night we had dinner out at another local Viennese restaurant.

Sunday it was back to Lanciano.

Buona Pasqua / Happy Paesach

April 8, 2012

Easter season especially in a small town like Lanciano is a very important.  In all of the churches, the alters are stripped in lieu of Easter related displays.

On Thursday evening there was a procession through the streets which is both medieval and sacred.  This procession marks the night of Jesus’ Last Supper and his arrest by the authorities. This was a procession of men wearing black medieval hooded gowns carrying candles. 

Thursday's procession

Thursday's procession

 These people are part of a fraternity that started about 400 years ago during the plaque.  Members of the fraternity took it upon themselves to gather the bodies of the dead and bury them.  The hoods were worn to protect the wearer from disease.

Good Friday evening there was a second procession marking the death of Jesus.  Again the procession led by chidren and including women who also wore black capes carrying candles.  

Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday

Of note with all the candles used in the processions Thursday and Friday, there is a line of wax on the cobble streets, hence, need to watch where you are walking as it could become quite slippery.

Easter Sunday was full of pagentry and joyous celebration.  In the main square there was a scene of the meeting of Mary, St. John and Christ.  Statues representing them were carried to the piazza and during the procession Mary learned of Her Son's Resurrection. 

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday

With each of these processions there was always a marching band.  

In particular on Easter Sunday, you couldn’t get enough of the marching band.  I couldn’t help smiling thinking of my parents.  They always loved marching bands and they would have been in their element.

Saturday was a nice day, so after going to the Mercato for our Saturday cappuccino and cornetta we headed out and took a drive through the countryside.  

We certainly have missed being home over Easter to see our family, but thank goodness for skype.  

Poppies

Poppies

March Break

We are now back in Lanciano after a two week March break.  We had the opportunity of travelling to Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Capri, Matera, Alberobello in Italy with one of our daughters Diane.  Then George and I spent a few days in Monaco with day trips to Nice, Cannes and Antibes, France.  Throughout the whole trip we enjoyed good company, good food, good wine and lots of walking and touring.  

Toby spent his March Break vacation with Maria & Tonino, a local couple who love dogs and love taking care of Toby and spoiling him.  I think Toby put on 10 lbs, so he is now on a strict diet.  We are so fortunate for Maria and Tonino to look after Toby while we travel.  

After picking up Diane at the airport we spent four nights in Sorrento.  Our hotel was located at the top of Sorrento with a great view of the Mediterranean Sea.  We used the hotel shuttle to take us back and forth from Sorrento.  The hotel driver looked like Robert DeNiro.  

On our first full day in Sorrento our plan was to take the train to Pompeii in the morning and then return to Sorrento and spend the afternoon touring the area. When we got to the train station we learned that the trains were on strike and no trains would be running that day.  Instead we decided to take the local bus to the Amalfi Coast taking in Revello and Positano.  We had a great lunch in Revello which consisted of fagoli (bean) soup. The woman who does the cooking is your Italian mama. She comes out with her apron on and her ankle socks and takes your order and kept trying to push food on us, wanting to make sure that when we leave we have full bellies. After lunch we went to our favorite ceramic store and introduced Diane to the owner.  He remembered us from our frequent visits before and gave us a discount on our purchases.  We then headed to Positano and wandered the streets before heading back to Sorrento. 

Having a cappucino at the start of our day

Amalfi Coast

The next day in the morning we set our for Pompeii.  We headed to the train station only to find out that the trains were not running again as there was another strike, but only for the morning.  We spent the morning touring and shopping in Sorrento. We then took the afternoon train to Pompeii. This is an ancient Roman city near Naples.  In 79AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted destroying and burying the town in 6 meters of pumice and ash.  It was discovered in the 16th century when excavation began in 1748.  Apparently volcanos are known to erupt every 2000 years and Mount Vesuvius is overdue.  As a consequence of learning this, Diane kept a watchful eye on Mount Vesuvius during our visit.

Mount Vesuvius

On our final day in Sorrento our plan was to go to Capri by ferry.  We took the shuttle bus down from the hotel when half way down the bus broke down.  We abandoned the van and then were taken down to the boat to Capri in the hotel owner’s car. 

While in Capri we went to Anacapri where we took in the Blue Grotto, the chairlift to the top for a magnificent view spoiled somewhat by fast moving fog rolling in.  

Heading into the Blue Grotto

Inside the Blue Grotto

Tile floor inside a church in Anacapri

Capri

The next morning we left Sorrento and headed to the heel of Italy and stayed three nights in Matera, an Unesco World Heritage Site.  We stayed in Matera’s ancient town called the Sassi.  The Sassi originate from a prehistoric settlement and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy.  The Sassi are houses dug into the rock, in otherwords caves.   Our hotel room was a cave.  Matera is where the movie The Passion of Christ with Mel Gibson was filmed.  We enjoyed our time hiking through the many valleys and exploring the caves in the area.

Sassi

Diane & George standing outside our cave hotel

Diane in a cave

Relaxing outside of our hotel cave room

Looking up at the bottom of the valley

On our last day we took a day trip to a town called Alberobello, also a Unesco World Heritage site.  This area is known for trulli houses.  Trulli houses are circular buildings with conical roofs.  The walls and openings are usually white washed and the stoned roofs have religious, pagan or magical symbols painted on them.

Trulli Houses

Trulli Houses

It was then time for Diane to head back to Toronto and get back to reality.  George and I then flew to Monaco for a few days.  How can I describe Monaco?  Bentleys, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lotus, MacLaren, Lamborghini, Mercedes everywhere you turned, private yachts galore, fashionable people at the Casino.  There is a outdoor cafe by the casino, you can get a hamburger for 27 euros.  We went to the Monaco Cathedral and the Palace.  Monaco is a beautiful country.  We also took day trips to Nice, and Antibes and Cannes. Each of them are charming in their own way. 

George's wannabe

Speechless

This yacht is from Nova Scotia, Canada

Monaco's cathedral

The Casino

Monaco

Breakfast one morning - cost us 6 euros each

In Cannes

Cannes

Antibes

We are now back in Lanciano, and feel so fortunate that we have travelled to many places in Europe in such close proximity...and our travelling days aren’t over!