Summer 2014 - Part 1

Boating with the girls in Smoke Rise

On the lake with Karen & Tracey

Beautiful wedding in June in Lancaster, PA

Lisa & Karen, mother of the bride, with Don & I, Tracey, Lisa & I with photo bomber Paul,
at the magical barn, and our room at the Lancaster Arts Hotel

Hiking Gore Mountain & Dining at Lake George, NY

Jim & Angie Shand, a view of the lake from The Sagamore Resort

Ireland in Sep 2013: Cliffs of Moher & Galway

Ireland just kept getting more beautiful. The western coast is rugged and spectacular. After Dingle we drove north to the Cliffs of Moher. Again, we were lucky to have perfect weather and were able to enjoy our long walk along the cliffs.

This is truly an amazing coastline. The top photo is the first pano I've ever tried, looking north along the cliffs.
The photo on the left is looking south - we walked to the point where you can see a few people standing.
That part of the cliff is actually private property but they allow people to hop their little fence and continue along.

Later that day we arrived in Galway. It is a busy town - we thought it was busy due to the "Oysterfest" but that turned out to be a non-starter. We enjoyed a walk around town, along the river, across a few bridges, then over to a pub. All roads lead to the pub in Ireland.

Galway - Flags representing Galway families in Eyre Square,
street musicians, dinner in a pub, and the fun packed streets.

The following morning, we packed up our things and headed due east, back to Dublin. We spent the afternoon in a region just northeast of Dublin famous for the Battle of the Boyne, where we toured the Trim Castle and drove around the countryside.

By the time we arrived in Dublin, our car was a noisy wreck. It clunked and squeaked. We were so happy to return it, which we did after checking into our hotel and setting out on the wrong side of the road - seriously not fun. Safely back at the hotel we had a pleasant evening in the lounge with some girls sports team who obviously won their tournament and three lounge lizard singers.

It was bittersweet to be at the end - like any vacation. We will definitely be back, Ireland!

Ireland in Sep 2013: Dingle, Arthur's Day Sep 26

All across Ireland we saw banners and signs for Arthur's Day - a celebration of the man who founded Guinness in 1759. Apparently for the 250th anniversary, a Guinness marketing person came up with the brilliant idea to celebrate Arthur for a day. On that day, the festivities officially began at 1 minute to 6, which of course is 1759 on the 24 hour clock. It was so successful that first year, that it has become an annual event, with 2013 being the 4th Arthur's Day celebration. And we just happened to be in one of the best pubs in Ireland for the occasion - Dick Mack's in Dingle!

Dick Mack's - Once a Haberdashery and now a damn good pub!

We arrived at Dick Macs at about 1730 with enough time to get a few sips of Guinness into us after our adventurous day around the peninsula. At about 1755, a bus load of people descended upon the pub, got a Guinness and posed for the 1759 photo - another tradition - all the photos from pubs across Ireland are posted on some Guinness web page somewhere.

1759 - To Arthur!
The official photographer is on a ladder in the corner. Our yet-to-meet friend happened to catch us on the left side.

Then the music started up in the tent outside. We had met the band "Promise" inside and had a great time listening to them. They played a variety of good dance tunes. We took a few of our own photos but outside we met, Micki, a woman from California who had been taking photos all night and passed me her email address. She very kindly later emailed me a bunch of photos from that evening, so the photos I'm sharing here are hers.

Nancy & I and another woman, not our photographer friend, on stage singing something

With a very nice, friendly friend of the bands' - a nurse moving to Australia the next week

Mac, the nurse, me, Don

Nancy & Mac, Don & I
Others were dancing too - not just us fools!

It was so fun to have happened to be in Ireland for this revered event. To Arthur! Solange! (sp?)

Ireland in Sep 2013: Dingle

The highlight of our trip was Dingle - the town, the peninsula, the people, the scenery, the cows, the sheep, the views, the pubs - you name it, we loved it.

We stayed at an interesting B&B, Eileen Collins' B&B. It was well recommended and I'm sure that's because of Eileen - she was wonderful - and her place was right in town. It just had little oddities, which made for a colorful visit. We usually met out by the fish pond, pictured below. A rubber pond that didn't quite get buried deep enough that was visited by plastic and cement animals of all sorts and sizes. We loved it. From her place we could walk almost everywhere, which we did!

The first evening we walked around the harbor, found a fun spot for dinner, and watched a fishing ship unload by spewing fish and water into waiting trucks.

The next morning, after a private breakfast in the living room, we set off by car to tour the Dingle peninsula. First stop was a hike to the Eask Tower on top of the mountain across from the town of Dingle. We parked, and started up through fields of sheep and sheep dung. The views from the top were absolutely spectacular in every direction! 

After washing and scrubbing the bottoms of our boots at a nearby farmhouse, we hopped back in the car and continued the tour. We stopped at a beach, then a heritage center where we learned all about the Blasket Islands (very interesting), then continued our tour inland past rugged coastal mountains and many new-construction homes abandoned with the downturn in the Irish economy after the 'Celtic Tiger.'

As if that wasn't enough for a day, once we got back to the town of Dingle, Rick (as in Rick Steves) suggested a walk to the 'Castle' and lighthouse so off we went. It was a mostly flat walk across a grass path and muddy beach, where two people were exercising their horses in the shallow water (kinda cool to watch), and then past the castle to the lighthouse, which guides boats into the Dingle Bay. Again the views in every direction were beautiful. 

We had read about 'Fungi,' a dolphin who lives in the mouth of the bay and greets fishing boats as they leave and return each day. And just as we realized we had walked to the mouth, we realized the tour boats were going back and forth looking for Fungi. You can actually take Fungi Tours. We looked over and watched and lo and behold, we saw Fungi! Very exciting!

As we walked back to town along the path, we noticed the local cows had decided to rest on the path. Nancy thought they looked friendly enough to pet. Mostly they were disinterested in us. You can see that we had our sweaters and jackets off - it was actually quite warm in Ireland our entire trip. 

And, this particular day was Sep 26 - aka Arthur's Day in 2013 - a massive party day in honor of Arthur Guinness who founded his brewery in Sep 1759. We couldn't have been in a better spot to partake in the celebrations!  Another post.

Ireland in Sep 2013: Kilkenny, Kinsale, Kenmare

Continuing our journey through Ireland ...

Kilkenny

Rock of Cashel 

Kinsale

Kenmare

Ireland in Sep 2013: Dublin

Don & I went to Ireland where we met Nancy and Mac in Dublin. Our day or two in Dublin were filled with tours, pubs and lots of walking. Since I'm playing catch up, I will relay the adventure in photos.

One of the most interesting places we went was Kilmainham Gaol, which is one of the first "modern" prisons. Not only was the history of jails interesting but the history of Ireland came alive, especially standing in the area where many leaders of the Irish Rebellions imprisoned and some executed.

 The Guinness Storehouse was a must-see. A bit too over done, we were lucky that it was not busy. We had fun learning how to pour the perfect Guinness - its a 2-step process, by the way - and enjoying our free pint in the Gravity Bar, with its 360 degree view of Dublin, was the highlight.

That night we went on a musical pub crawl that was so interesting. The instruments are unique to Ireland, as noted in the photo of young buskers around Molly McGee on Grafton St. and everyone partakes whether you're good or not. We were told that "if you can't sing, just sing louder."

Florence

We arrived in Florence with enough time to check into our hotel, meet our friends Dave & Liz, and get to L'Accademia in time for our reservation ... our date with David! David in the flesh (stone), the REAL David, is worth the visit. After, we walked around, bought scarves (of course) and saw the 'other' David in the Piazza della Signoria, outside the Uffizi. We did not go into the Uffizi this time since we'd been in during our previous visit to Florence (2006).

In the Piazza della Signoria with Dave & Liz, Neptune and David. A view of the Arno flowing under the Ponte Vecchio.

Don & I overlooking the Arno. The four of us at ZaZas!  ZAZA!
The Market is in the background.

The next day we met Dave & Liz again and attacked the leather market. Mmm, does it ever smell nice! We bought a couple of handbags, more scarves, and belts. It was so interesting. Then we gathering our bags from our hotels and took a cab to the car rental agency. We got there about an hour earlier than planned, thinking we'd save time with paperwork before the others arrived to rent the second car. Fortunately we did because the attendant was about to close ... close a car rental agency at noon on a Saturday!!! We were just in the nick of time. Otherwise we would have had quite a different and unpleasant afternoon.

So we rented two cars and waited for Nancy, Mac & Sue who were arriving by train from Vernazza. We passed the time outside the car rental place, sitting on a park bench enjoying goodies from Liz - assorted Italian meats, cheeses and chianti. As soon as the others joined us we set off for a week at our Tuscan villa!

Portofino

After a full day in Monterosso, we hopped on the train to Portofino. We had a train change along the way that no one mentioned to us. Fortunately Nancy finally noticed we were the only ones still waiting for the train to move on! We leapt up, ran to another track, and were heading north to Santa Margherita about 10 minutes later. From Santa Margherita we ran to catch the ferry, which set off the second we all ran aboard.

As the ferry headed out to Portofino, the view of cruise ships anchored new the shore was so beautiful, then entering
Portofino's harbor was breathtaking. Sailboats, yachts and dinghies are jammed in to this small area.
Don, Nancy & Mac - all of us in our hiking gear still.

Per Rick Steves, we walked around the harbor then chose a sunny cafe for cocktail hour.
Above is Don & I at the cafe looking over the harbor (pre-wine spill!).
The bottom photo shows our view. 

Sue met us back in Santa Margherita where after much searching we found the perfect place for dinner - 
we call it "the restaurant that did not throw us out." Great waiter, free appetizers and delicious dinner! On the train back to Vernazza, we met an interesting guy who accompanied us into a local "sports" bar near the station where we had to again change trains. His English was excellent and he was very helpful.

The first photo above shows the men in this bar all turned to the one TV screen at the end of the room. In the circle
is Vincenzo, our new friend, talking with Nancy and Sue. The second photo shows us happily waiting for
our train for the final stretch back to our hotel ... a long day.

I said I'd drop Vincenzo a note from America, which I will do when I get a good ole USA postcard of NYC or Lady Liberty. We ended this long, eventful day with a nightcap in the piazza outside of our hotel in Vernazza. We didn't want the day to end, especially since Don and I were leaving Cinque Terra the next morning.

Monterosso

The next day we set out for Monterossa, the northernmost town of the five in Cinque Terre. The hike was about an hour and a half and this time we were with three of our friends who had arrived late the day before. We'd had a fun evening with them, enjoying happy hour on the shore watching the sunset (again) and later getting kicked out of a restaurant (shocking and embarrassing, we're chocking it up to a language barrier).

Start of the trail from Vernazza, looking south at Vernazza, coming around the bend for first glimpse of
Monterosso (2 towns: 'old first, then 'new'), coming into Monterosso - old town.

It was market day in Monterosso, which was why we planned to go this day. After a round of waters and coffees, Sue, Nancy and I strolled the streets looking at the shops and street vendors. After, we went down to the beach - this is the only town with an actual beach - and put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. The rock in the area is streaked with white, which is beautiful, so we gathered a few rock souvenirs. Then we met the guys, Don and Mac, for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach.

So nice to kick our hiking shoes off and cool our feet in the Sea.
Lunch at a great little cafe. (Sue, Nancy, Mac, Don, me)

Time to hike around the mountain to Monterosso, new town. What a difference! Lots more tourists, private & public beaches, a younger feel, and also home to the train station. We sampled the gelato and then caught a train for Portofino.

Hiking around and down to the other half of Monterosso. Mac & Nancy, Don & I, with Rick Steves, en route.

Hiking Cinque Terre

There are three ways to visit each of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre: on foot, by train or by boat. The area is well served by all three and we took advantage of all three. Notice I didn't mention by car. There is absolutely no room for cars! The Cinque Terre National Park maintains the trails and charges a nominal fee. Our plan was to hike between the five towns but a mudslide between two of them closed one stretch so we had to take the train. 

This map shows the five towns. We stayed in Vernazza. The blue coastal trails are the
ones we took, except between Corniglia & Manarola due to mudslides.

The trails are breathtakingly beautiful and at some points simply breathtaking - a bit of huffing and puffing - but nothing an amateur hiker can't do. One of the stretches, the Via dell'Amore (the Way of Love) is so popular with tourists that its practically like a stroll along tiled floors! But the other trails were much more rugged and therefore, less traveled.

Top left: Don above Vernazza's main street that runs under the train station. Starting the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia. Looking back at the Castelle and town of Vernazza. Vernazza disappeared behind mountain.

Approaching Corniglia in the distance and much closer. Corniglia is the only town in Cinque Terre
that does not have water access. Stairs leading from Corniglia down to its train station.

Manarolla. Don about to walk La Via Dell'Amore to Riomaggiore. The walk is decorated with graffiti professing
love forever. I added our little heart - shown in this very blurry photo. Had to take it quick to stay ahead of a bus group!
"Cathy & Don 2012" This almost coincides with our 27th wedding anniversary, which was last weekend.

And finally, Riomaggiore! End of the beautiful line.

From Riomaggiore we took the boat north to Vernazza and enjoyed seeing each of the towns again from the water. We had one more trail to hike and one more town to see, which we did the next day.

Vernazza

Cinque Terre is made up of five beautiful towns wedged into rugged bays along the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Portofino. Vernazza is the second most northern town and Rick Steves favorite so, of course, that's where we stayed!

On the train from Milan to Vernazza, we met some people who showed us a recent magazine article about mudslides that occurred in this area last October. Vernazza was deluged with mud when a rainstorm caused catastrophic mudslides. The magazine showed before and after shots. Somehow they have cleaned it up and there were back in business - there is only one steep road that runs through this town. There were signs of the mudslide all over, with construction and repair crews working in areas, gouged out sections along the river sides, and a large board of photos. Still, it was absolutely breathtaking.

Walking along the pier and looking back at Vernazza. Our hotel was on the
third floor of the red building in the center of photo.

Watching the sun set over the Mediterranean from a seaside cafe.

Photo taken by couple we met at the cafe.

I just googled images of the Vernazza mudslide. Click here if you're interested.

Milano

Now that Bryan's back, its our turn! We left for Italy on Sep 16. After a smooth flight via Heathrow we landed in Milano late Monday afternoon. We had received an email just before leaving that our hotel moved us to another hotel. Turns out it was in the area that we had hoped to explore - the Navigli - recommended to us by a friend whose sister used to live in Milan. Perfect! It was an easy walk to the Navigli for dinner. It was beautiful. Lots of people out walking and enjoying the outside osterias.

The Navigli in Milan - part of a long canal system lined with restaurants

The next day we walked all around the main downtown area of Milan. A workday for most, we watched business men and women buzzing around the roads on their vespas dressed in suits and dresses. They just pull up to the front door of their office tower, find a spot of sidewalk and flip down the kickstand. Nice and easy.

We toured the new Museo del Novecento on the square, walked around the magnificent Duomo di Milano (cathedral), window shopped in the Galleria and Via Monte Napoleone, waved to Leonardo DaVinci facing La Scala, and had lunch on the main square surrounded by guys in town for a football match!

Don in front of the Duomo, view from the museum of square & Duomo, entrance to the Galleria

That afternoon we hopped on a train to Vernazza in Cinque Terre. Post to follow.

A Day in the Hamptons

Last Saturday Don and I took off for the Hamptons - about a 2-1/2 hour drive from here IF traffic is good. Fortunately, traffic was good and the rainy weather we left in disappeared as we headed east. First stop was Southampton where we had a nice lunch and strolled around town.

There was a Long Island fire fighters field day going on in the park where local depts were competing in all kinds of events, like tug-of-war, shooting water out of the hoses, rowing in the little bay, etc. It was oppressively humid so not sure how they managed. We also toured a local museum (god, we're getting old - now touring the sleepy museums!). It was actually interesting!

Despite the humidity the beaches were mostly deserted. Such beautiful white sand!

After leaving Southampton we headed east to check out a winery but it was closed for an event. There are few wineries on the south fork; most are on the north fork. We then drove north to Sag Harbor, which is such a cute little marina town. 

Don at the Sag Harbor marina - very nice yachts!

Looking along the beach & Little Peconic Bay at North Sea

Along the drive home we drove through the town of North Sea and took a little detour north to the bay between the two Long Island forks. Wish we had the kayaks with us.

Toronto & Mississauga weekend

We spent the Memorial Day long weekend up north with family, friends, and Animae people. We stayed near the airport and there happened to be an Animae convention. We were surrounded by people dressed up as cartoon characters - actually pretty creative, but a tad odd too... okay, very odd. (To each his own.)

First stop, of course, was to see my Mom and Dad. We had a good visit and delicious dinner compliments of Chef Helen upon our arrival. It is always nice to see the amazing gardens all around my parent's condo. On our walk around the grounds we decided to help some unsuspecting golfer with his putt - I'm sure he appreciated the audience:

Mom & Dad

We were able to celebrate my mom's birthday a week early and help her to eat her dessert:

Birthday dinner with Mom and Billy Miner pie @ The Keg

When we weren't with H&B, we were tourists around Toronto, visiting the ACC, Yonge St., the old Maple Leaf Gardens (now a Loblaws), the Beach for breakfast and a boardwalk stroll, the Distillery and the Eaton Centre. Have to say that we missed a bit of excitement (thank goodness) with a flood in Union Station occurring a few days after we left, and a shooting in the Eaton Centre a week later exactly where we bought a few things at Sport Chek. Bryan and Carolyn watched a Toronto FC game at the BMO Field one night while Don and I visited with his ole Nestle gang at a backyard party in Oakville.

A few more photos:

Artsy photo of the ACC (current home of the Maple Leafs)
with CN Tower reflection

Red dot marks Maple Leaf Gardens centre ice in aisle 25 at Loblaws!
With lots of memorabilia they have done a great job of using the space.

More travel news: Just 1 hour ago Bryan boarded a plane bound for Paris, his first stop on a 7-week gadabout Europe armed with a EuroRail Pass and a hostel app. I'll post some of his news and photos as (if) they come in. We wish him a fun, safe, eye-opening adventure!

2 Hours in NYC

Don and I try to pick a different neighborhood every time we plan a walking day in NYC. Last Saturday it was the Lower East Side. After 2-1/2 hours of driving in, inching along Canal Street, and looking for parking, we finally found 2-hour street parking.

The first thing we did, of course, was eat. Was found a great little corner restaurant called Sauce. It was a delicious lunch - salad and lasagna for me.

After, we hit the streets! One of reasons for choosing the Lower East Side was that I had heard the Tenement Museum was worth visiting. Of course, we didn't plan ahead and all the tours were booked. There is one tour of the actual tenement that houses the museum, and a walking tour of the neighborhood,which was home to almost every immigrant group that entered NYC during the hey day of immigration. We were able to sit in on a 20-minute video presentation that was really well done, giving us a good introduction to the neighborhood, an appreciation for the hardships of arriving in NYC then, and an appreciation for the community and its contributions to NYC life.

With about 30 minutes left on our parking ticket, we then walked east to Clinton St, then up to Houston where we turned west and found Katz Deli, which had a line up out the door and down the street about a half block! Across from the deli was a gelato store ... impossible to pass up. So we spent our last 10 minutes savoring gelato before we dashed back to our car just in time: 2 hours on the dot.

Tenement Museum - Orchard St.

Dark cherry & chocolate combo

We decided to drive by the World Trade Center to see what we could see. Not surprisingly, you can't get very close by car. They are making progress on the Freedom Tower, which we first saw taking shape from our cruise ship in August as we sailed down the Hudson R. Another time, again we will plan ahead, we will sign up for tickets to see the 9-11 Memorial.

The Freedom Tower through our windshield

After winding our way through lower Manhattan, and catching a glimpse of the WTC area, we headed home via the Lincoln Tunnel. We got home about 1-1/2 after leaving our parking spot. With 3-1/2 hours of driving for 2 hours of neighborhood touring, it was still a worthwhile adventure.