Just a few of my travel pictures
Cabin – October 2014
Pat came over for thanksgiving and was a big help for us with our deck repair. Had a great thanksgiving meal over at my parents cottage as well as cocktails with Bert, Patty and Bert’s sister and her husband. Nice weather all weekend.
July 24th
Day in Milan. Story to follow.
Nearing the end of or trip. We spent the day at the Milan cathedral and window shopping. Also had time for good eats and art.
This really is the fashion capital of the world. The art is not bad either.
July 25th – Milan Italy We spent a beautiful sunny and hot day at the museums of Castello Sforzesco. A 15th century castle built by Francesco Sforza the Duke of Milan. It includes Michelangelo’s last sculpture (which as you can see was unfinished) and da Vinci painted one of the rooms ceilings. Da Vinci’s painting was later painted over, but restorers are now working to bring da Vinci work back to life. I found the museum furniture pieces to be spectacular.
Well the longer we stay, the more we discover and actually really like this area. We got off to a poor start, but much has changed since. Sunday the 20th was spent exploring the immediate area as well as relaxing. We managed to get to the car by 8am so that we could pay for day parking, (which is a real nightmare in Rappallo). After fixing the parking issue for the day, we checked out the town, before it started to rain. Therefore we ducked into a cafe for some internet. After some lunch which we ate at the local park near the castle (which was build at the waterfront) we discovered some old hotels which are run down and closed. This town much have been quite the place at the turn of the century. Now the hotels are just good for picture taking. As it was Sunday lots of stuff was closed and since it was cloudy and raining we passed on the beach cabanas . We came back and sat on our balcony with the amazing views and did lots of reading in the rain. Dinner was pizza bread, cheese, salad and blueberry square. We were able to move the car to a spot outside the apartment. Monday we returned the car by driving all the way back to France (to save the 650E added to a one way drop fee). Getting thru Genova was a bit conjested but we made good time after that. The roads are pretty much all toll and you an see why. They are constant tunnels which are well maintained. So the 30E fee is understandable. The Italians are much more aggressive and poorer drivers than the French. We returned the car to Menton just over the border, a lovely little town and it was nice to be able to communicate again. Took the train from Menton to Ventimiglia in Italy (just 13 minutes) and then checked out the local market to pick up food for lunch. Had lunch in the park before boarding the very slow train back to Rapallo. The train ride was quite a slog and I had certainly had a better time than the poor woman in the seats across from us. Her husband was very drunk and kept drinking from his “clinking” backpack. She seemed a very respectable lady and was visibly embarrassed at his behaviour. He ended up so drunk that he went and peed between the cars, returned to his seat with his pants don and the conductor had to ask both of them to leave the train at the next stop. We were also entertained by a young guy (reminded me of Pat) who got on in Genova and spent the whole ride practising his rubrick cube (4 column one). He was constantly timing his 3 column one which took him on average 8 seconds to solve. Very impressive. He seems to be oblivious to the two lovely young girls across from him.
Had not had internet for last few days so just getting around to posting some picks from Nimes France and rappalo Italy.
When we get home I will fix up pictures properly and get Audrey to add some descriptions.
We arranged to meet Paul and Lucy at 10:00 to see the other Roman sites so Monty and I hit the market early, (it is so wonderful). Bought makings for omelettes, fruit and danish and I cooked. Paul and Lucy were no shows so we eventually headed into the Temple – Maison Carree which has great history – not only is it a main building but was once part of a larger square. The Celts built it in honour of Caesar and the gods in 1AD. After a fine, but slightly cheesy film we headed to the gardens around the holy “spring”. The original religious center for the Celts who joined the Romans to expand the empire. The focal point of the gardens (apart from the still productive spring) was the tower. Now only 2 of the 3 sections remain and the original core was destroyed in search of treasure, (Click for details). The view from the top was still very impressive, and the gardens were amazing. Included in the gardens was the monument to Diana (now quite decayed). In the park we hooked up with Paul and Lucy (Dan is a great spotter!) and arranged to meet for dinner for our last night. Had a great dinner and then it was adios to PK and Lucy. Quite sad but we will do it again in two years.
Today we took the train to Le Gau Du Roi for 1E each way which is ridiculously cheap. All six of us (Dan, Suz, Paul, Lucy, Monty and Audrey) met at the train station for 10:30 for the 1 hour train ride to the beach. There was an open piano in the train station lobby and we were treated to a performance by a very talented young girl. Monty caught the tale end of the performance on the gopro camera. Click here to see it. Great beach day. On the return trip back, Paul and Audrey trounced Monty and Dan much to their chagrin. In the evening, after a great meal Paul and Lucy returned to their place and the four of us checked out the market around the temple.
Clear hot day in Nimes. Paul, Lucy, Dan, Suz, Audrey and I headed to the Nime’s version of the Rome Colosseum. It is still used today for concerts and other events. In fact Elton John is playing there later this week. After the tour, Paul and Lucy suggested that the three couples go out to the market and purchase food for a little wine and cheese party at our room rental. It was a great day all around and it gave us a little time to recoup from our hectic pace so far.
Again just a quick blog post before I get some real time to do photo editing. Crazy concert going on outside of our room right now…… Carcassonne rocks!
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