Volterra, Italy

Our apartment is quite close to Volterra, which has recently become famous as a result of the Twilight series.  Here is the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volterra

We highly recommend visiting Volterra.  Aside from the Twilight fame, it has many artisans that work with alabaster, which is mined nearby.  They create some amazing pieces, including classical sculptures [like marble], chess sets, and plates.  We took some photos of the artisans at work:

Here is a quick video:

There was also a touring exhibition of torture devices, which appealed to the kids.  http://www.torturamuseum.com/  It was interesting, but resulted in an awkward discussion about genital mutilation that you do not foresee having with your 7 year old.

During WWII the Nazis occupied Volterra and, in order to halt the allied advance, they proposed blowing up the etruscan gate to the city.  The citizens protested and, instead, they uprooted the stones that were paving the street and placed them in the arch.  This convinced the nazis to spare the arch.  It is an amazing example of how stone weathers when it has been left to the elements since 800 BC:

We did not run into the Volturi while we were visiting, but there were some pale goth looking kids wandering about clutching Stephanie Meyer novels.

Ella was enchanted by the head of a wild boar [the local specialty] and thought she would give it a kiss as we excited the city.

Finally here is a picture from the archway up towards the middle of the piazza and the cathedral:

Running in Barberino Val D'Elsa

I realize that this is slowly turning into a running blog.  I cannot help it.  My runs have been a great way to explore new areas.  We decided to take it easy today and so I went on a long run this morning.

This is truly farm land and has many "agriturismo" locals, which are farms that have been turned into hotels.  In this area they are vineyards and olive farms.  They are located off the beaten path and are sometimes quite a drive down gravel roads.  I ran to Spinosa Vineyards [Cindy left us a bottle of their wine, which was amazing], which is 3 km from our apartment, straight downhill.  I then ran back up and took another road to an abandoned church undergoing a renovation.

[I will post the other video later, the Cafe is closing]

After the run we bundled the kids up and went to an agriturismo olive farm that had a swimming pool.  The owner of our property has an arrangement with the owner of the agriturismo that allows us to use the pool. The drive to the agriturismo was a bit scary, as it was straight uphill on a single trail gravel road.  Cristin was pretty leery about what we would find at the end.  When we reached the place there were two palatial old houses with amazing infinity pools overlooking huge olive groves. [for some reason I did not take a picture of the pool; rather, I took this picture standing beside the pool]

Barberino Val D'Elsa, Italy

This morning we packed up, drove through the South of France, Monaco and followed the coast around to Genova.  We then cut over to Firenze and down 20 minutes to the Hamlet of Barberino Val D'Elsa, in the heart of Tuscany Chianti.  http://www.barberinovaldelsa.info/

The drive was really great.  We drove through the Alpes-Maritimes and saw some spectacular walled towns and cities.  Once we passed into Italy the landscaped changed to a more agrarian culture, gardens, green houses, olive groves and grapes.  The drive into Tuscany was breathtaking.

We arrived at Barberino Val D'Elsa and met Cindy Harding, the owner of the apartment.  Cindy is a published author [http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/tuscan-life---food-tales-recipes/15990424] and has lived in Italy for many years.  She was a delight and invited us to her place in Firenze, which we will visit later this week.

The apartment is the top floor [more stairs] of a building in the walled city.  We are next door to the Cathedral and jump ever hour when the bell tolls.  Here are some pictures:

This is the view from our bedroom window:

The internet service is a mobile broadband, so I am down in the Cafe across the street typing this and drinking cappuccino.  My caffeine addiction is starting to rival my internet addiction.

I am excited to map out a run for tomorrow.  This area is farmland and we are a 1/2 hour from any large populace.  Every hilltop you see has a small village and a church spire.  We instantly felt relaxed here, unlike the hustle and bustle of Paris, Girona and Villefranche-Sur-Mer.

Running in Villefranche Sur Mer, France II

I went on another long run this morning [Sunday morning!!].  The goal today was to run through town to the light house on Cap Ferrat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap_Ferrat  I saw the beacon last night and thought it would be a good run.

The first thing that struck me when I hit Cap Ferrat was the size of the estates.  The houses were massive, extremely well guarded and the drive ways looked like exotic car lots.  I have run through some fairly affluent communities in Europe so far, but Cap Ferrat was a whole new level.  I tried to get some pictures of one stunning estate [Villa Maryland, which turns out to be owned by Paul Allen: http://realestalker.blogspot.com/2008/04/brangelina-on-moveagain.html], but my pictures did not turn out.  I also peeked into Villa Leopold [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Leopolda].  The Belle Époque architecture is amazing.

The run was a gradual climb to the center of the peninsula and then a descent to the bay [about 10 kms one way].  There were several runners and I joined up with an older french runner, who was very strong [you can see him in the video below].  We ran together talking in "frenglish" for several kilometres, when we parted ways he said that keeping up with me with tiring him out, which was good to hear [I thought he was tiring me out].

After returning from my run [I pushed the last 5 km, as it was by the beach and I had to keep up appearances] I went up to the apartment and found Ella waiting for me with her running gear on.  She was ready to go.  I had already logged in 20 km, but another 3 km was fine with me.

I had some other video footage of Ella and I running by the beach, but upon review it was a little x-rated due to the topless sunbathers littering the background.

La Zucca Magica, Nice

We took the kids out to dinner at La Zucca Magica: http://www.lazuccamagica.com/

Cristin and I found this vegetarian restaurant [with eggs, cheese and legumes] in 2006 when we celebrated our 10th anniversary in Nice.  It is a set menu each evening and thought that it would be a good experience for the kids, even though they are picky eaters.

The host did not speak any english, but was very gracious.  He was a hit with the kids.  We reserved our table early in the week and there were 3-4 parties turned away while we were eating.

The first course was a stuffed tomato with spinach, nicios olives, garlic, olive oil, tomato, and a cheese [like feta, but not feta].  There was a small egg flan on the side that was also very cheesy.  Ella devoured the innards of the tomato, Quinncy ate the flan.  [I felt like I needed to "clean up" their plates a little, which was not a wise decision and haunted me later in the evening when I hit the fourth course].

The second course was a delicious minestrone.  It was not a tomato base, but was heavy on the beans and vegetables [and covered in fresh parmesan].  Here is Quinncy eating "the best soup he ever tasted":

The next course was a leaf of swiss chard wrapping up ricotta cheese with perfect el dente zucchini pieces [the seeds removed].  It was in a cream base.  Ella ate it all, Quinncy balked at the swiss chard.

The fourth course was tomato, ricotta, and artichoke pressed in a form and served in a tomato broth.  I was starting to feel a bit ill from over-eating and rich food.  Ella was also starting to slow down, but she advised that she had room for dessert.

Dessert was a fruit tart with homemade vanilla ice cream and a meringue cookie [the patisseries in Nice sell meringue cookies the size of your head].  It was delicious.

We went for a walk afterwards in order to aid digestion.  It was a great food experience.  The first of our trip.

The Principality of Monaco

We wanted to take the kids to the Institut Oceanographique in Monaco.  Is has a great aquarium and many interesting exhibits.  The building itself is pretty amazing:

It was a really hot day and the hike from the train station to the aquarium was exhausting.  The kids were happy when we arrived.  Here is the octopus sculpture out front:

The first exhibit of interest to the kids was an early submarine [Quinncy looks like a 1920's newsie with that hat]:

Ella was amazed by the size of the whale skeleton:

We signed the kids up for an education class with a touch pool.  Unfortunately, it was taught entirely in french.  Ella was fine, she just copied what the other kids were doing:

and Quinncy copied what Ella was doing:

On the coast of Monaco there is a concrete platform where people snorkel and sunbath.  I was very tempted to jump in, as it was smoking hot.  Instead we posed at the top.

Afterwards, we took the kids to a street fair on the boardwalk in Monaco.  Quinncy had his picture taken in the F1 car sculpture:

The kids then decided to try a few of the venues at the street fair, including the trampoline/bungee:

and the Roman jumpy house [which the kids rated the best jumpy house they have ever been in].

That pretty much sacked the kids out for the day.  We caught the train back to the apartment and spent some time on the beach before calling it a day.

Running in Villefranche Sur Mer, France

The town starts at the Mediterranean Sea and climbs up to the top of a mountain.  There is a huge cliff in the middle of town and I felt the need to explore it:

[This is an 1860 painting in the foreground, you can see the cliff in the background]

I started out running at about 6:30.  The town was fairly quiet and I did quite a bit of uphill exploring to try and get to the base of the mountain.

Here is a better shot of the cliff in the middle of town:

Here is the top, a little anti-climatic.  The mansions and armed security guards forced me to turn around.  I was actually being followed by a van with 2 guards for a couple blocks.  I am not sure who lives up there, but it is someone who wants privacy.

Here is a a picture of Nice from the top of the mountain.

It was a pretty fun run.  On Friday morning I am going to run up to the fort that you can see in this picture:

It was built in 1500's and here is a brief history [in french]

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_du_mont_Alban 

Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France [Plugged]

Our apartment in Villefranch-sur-mer is very spacious, which is nice.  There was a storm the week before we arrived that knocked out the internet, cable, and telephone.  This was not good news.  We have been relying on internet to plan our days and communicate with landlords, bank, etc.  It was like we were thrown back in the stone ages [a whole block away from the internet cafe].

Here is a picture of the apartment:

There are a few minor annoyances, the sewer gases are coming up through the shower, which is quite pungent.  The town also turned all the free parking into paid parking.  This has resulted in many residents parking in crazy spots [e.g., the sidewalks] and we have to plug the meter each morning [although I have managed to escape a ticket by paying 3 E a day.  Many others do not pay anything].

The beach and the water are amazing.  We have been taking day trips to Nice and Monaco.

Plugged In!!

It is 8:00 on Friday night and we have internet again!!  Both Cristin and I are on computers at this moment.

Running In Nice with Ella

Ella has been very interested in joining me on my morning runs.  Quinncy has not.

After a long day of driving from Girona to Nice we decided to run together in the morning.  Our first night in Nice we stayed in the Hotel Suisse.  Cristin and I saw this hotel when we vacationed in Nice in 2006.  It overlooks the main strip and the beach.  Here is a photo from our hotel room:

I got up at 6:15 and went for an hour run up and down the strip in Nice.  It was a pretty flat run, so I decided to run up to the Chateau overlooking Nice.  I thought it was a 9 metre ascent; however, it was about 20 minutes of stair running.  Here is a video just prior to starting up the stairs:

I also shot a quick video of the Chateau at the top of the hill:

When I came back down Ella was ready to go for a run, here she is, bright and full of energy.

Ella was an excellent runner and we even stopped on a bluff overlooking the Mediterranean and did some sit-ups and push-ups.  As you can see, she is getting quite buff:

We had a great breakfast at the hotel and gorged ourselves on boiled eggs, yoghurt, fruit and toast.  The kids ate free, which was a grave miscalculation in Ella's case, as she ate more than I did.

We took possession of our apartment in Villefranche sur mer at 4:00, so we decided to drive to the location, find parking and spend the day on the beach.

Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain

It took some convincing to get the kids into another museum in Spain.  We inadvertently exhausted their attention span for fine art during our stay in Paris.  We thought that the Dali museum would reinvigorate their interest and we were correct.  The museum is excellent and it appears that Dali had a hand in designing the museum layout.  Here is a link to the website: http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/figueres/en_index.html

There were several Dali paintings and some of his jewelry designs.  Here are a few photos:

[You can see Abe Lincoln in this photo, but it is very difficult to see him standing in front of the photo]

Here is a photo of the outside of the museum with Cristin and the kids.  The surrealism genre was a big hit with the kids.  Hopefully they will be up to the Chagall Museum and the Matisse House in Nice, France.

Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France [Unplugged]

We are day 4 without an internet connection.  It is making it difficult to keep up with blogging, facebooking, banking and CBC.  Hopefully we are back up tonight.  I have had some fun runs in Villefranche.  We went to Monaco today and I lost our nest egg playing baccarat [not really, I could not get in with my attire].

There is a big antique market in Nice this weekend.  We are quite excited!!

Hopefully I will be posting again tonight or tomorrow!!

Stay Tuned

We made it to Nice, but there was a storm that knocked the cable, internet and phone out of our apartment. Otherwise we are great.  The apartment is right off the beach and Cristin is nursing a brand new sunburn.

Blog posts ready to go:

- Day with Salvador Dali
- Running in Nice with Ella
- Villefranche-sur-mer, France

Biking in Girona

This morning Quinncy and I went searching for the bike rental shop in Girona.  It was hidden in the labyrinth of streets in the medieval district.  The owner met us out front and he was from the UK!! No awkward spanish/english discussions.

I have to plug this bike shop, the owner, Dave and his wife [and 4 month old daughter] were great.  They provided us with bikes, maps, helmets, repair kit, and best of all, good advice.  Here is their website: http://www.gironacyclecentre.com/

The price was pretty good as well.  15 E each for the day. [around 40.00 dollars].

Quinncy and I started off the trip excited and full of breakfast and energy.  I knew from experience that this would be short lived.

The bike path system is excellent.  Only an idiot could get lost [which I did, twice].  The paths are sandy gravel and well maintained.  It was a 40 km bike to the mediterranean sea, which was not our objective for the day. [I would love to do this again on my own and bike to the sea, swim and lunch, and bike back,  Our goal was 20 km out, lunch, and back.  The topic of lunch was raised within the first 1/2 hour; and ever 5 minutes thereafter until we found a market where we bought a baguette, cheese, Pepsi, and fruit.  Quinncy is happy again and we are off!!

We got lost for about 20 minutes, which was unfortunate, as it we went uphill needlessly.  We committed the cardinal sin of hiking/biking, backtracking downhill.

We biked for another hour and took a Pepsi break.  I had a secret weapon [note the fine print]:

Unfortunately the "extra cafiena" did not have the desired effect.  The following took place 2 minutes after our break:

Fortunately, that meltdown was short-lived and soon we were back on the trail.  We came across an odd hillside with ruins all the way up, which is a little difficult to capture with the camera:

We also came across an old abandoned house:

We hit our 20 km goal and turned around to head back to Girona.  It seemed like it was down hill all the way home.  I promised Quinncy gelato when we got back, which was a great motivator.  He did not complain once on the way home.

Quinncy took a picture of me near the end [I had a glossy sheen from 3 applications of spray on sunscreen]:

We returned the bikes and went back to the apartment to pack for Nice.  We leave in the morning.

Running in Girona

I thought I would post a running entry for Girona, which has been a hill training mecca.  I am going to rent a mountain bike tomorrow and head off road.  I will blog that as well.

This video was shot early this morning [videos mean less typing]:

The first stop on the run:

Here is a photograph of the fortress:

I journeyed upward to the pinnacle and I apologize for the huffing and puffing.  I did not recall being that out of breath:

Barcelona

We trekked into Barcelona today.  We caught the train in Girona and an hour later we were in downtown Barcelona.  It was a little overcast and rainy today.  Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia

I have wanted to visit Gaudi's masterpiece since art history class at Red Deer College.  I was not disappointed.

The details in the architecture was amazing.  The passion of Christ, created by artist Josep Maria Subirachs, was my favorite, as it reminds me of the artwork of Mike Mignola [creator of Hellboy].  Here are a couple photos, I would be interested in the thoughts of those of you who "get" my vague reference to Mignola [look at that skull at the base of the cross]:

The rear of the basilica was just as amazing:

I also climbed up on the back of a lion at the Monumento a Colon.  It was a little scary climbing up, which was captured in my awkward grin.

Notice the guy in purple taking my photo, I am wildly popular in Barcelona! [I suspect his photo caption refers to an "idiot" who almost fell to his death climbing a statue].