Vienna & Bratislava

Max and I took a trip to Vienna, Austria for a quick 4 day vacation. We'd been planning the trip for a couple of months and the timing worked out well as we seemed to need some time away, especially since Max's work life has gotten a bit more hectic lately. The first place we checked out was the Belvedere Palace (above).

Belvedere Palace was the home of Frenchman and military leader Prince Eugene of Savoy (the same Savoy, I think, as the region we live in now). Currently the palace houses art, most famously that of painter Gustav Klimt, of whom I am a fan. We got to see one of his most notable works, The Kiss, and it was certainly a highlight of the trip.

The food in Vienna was very good. If you are a meat and potatoes person who enjoys a good beer, then you'd be set in Vienna. We had wienerschnitzel, bratwurst, strudel, potato salad, and then some. Yum.

The next morning we headed downtown to see the Hofburg Palace and Imperial Treasury. We learned a lot about the history of the Habsburg monarchy and empire. For six centuries, members of the Habsburg family ruled Austria and many were also rulers of the Holy Roman Empire (which was massive by the way). The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, started WWI and ended the Habsburg rule.

Ever wonder what the world's largest emerald looks like? This 2,680-karat emerald is just part of the Habsburg family jewels. The entire collection is just ridiculous. Considered to be the biggest and most important collection of royal jewels and artifacts, the Treasury documents the political and spiritual power of the Holy Roman Emperor.

That afternoon, we went to see Stephansdom (Saint Stephen's Cathedral) in the city's center. It was difficult to see the entire cathedral since much of the exterior is under construction and entrance to the nave cost a fee, which we weren't up for paying. It was still impressive.

Saturday morning we took the hour train ride over to Bratislava, Slovakia. Max's grandfather had come over from what is now Slovakia, so we thought it'd be neat to see a little bit of the

country from which he came. Bratislava reminded us a lot of Tallinn, Estonia, which makes sense since both are recovering from communist rule. Above is the last surviving tower in the city, St. Michael's Gate.

I understand zero Slovak, but here is my rough interpretation of this sign in the bathroom: "Here is your chance to get some toilet paper before entering the stalls. Should you pass up this chance, no other toilet paper will be provided for you. Have a shi**y day."

Throughout the city, there are several cannon balls lodged in the walls of buildings from Napoleons’ siege on Bratislava. This one is located just to the left of the big window on the Old Town Hall.

We hiked up to the Bratislava Castle to see it and to get a view of the town. This once military fortress was transformed into a royal residence for Maria Theresa, the only female ruler in the Habsburg dynasty. She was also the mother of 16 children (the youngest being Marie Antoinette) whom she married off to other royalty to increase the family's power.

This is a view from the castle of the old town and modern Bratislava. It was a very interesting city. It certainly is no Vienna but it definitely had a charm of its own. Travel writer Rick Steves refers to Slovakia as the "West Virginia of Europe", which it maybe, but it was still worth us exploring and we actually spent most of the day there.

Vienna was great. The people were really nice, the food was delicious, and the culture was really interesting; the dish display in the royal apartments was even interesting, that's right dishes. Our tour to Bratislava added a certain flavor that would have been missing had we not gone. With Max's vacation running low, this may be our last trip for a little while but we'll keep you posted.

One-Third Done!

So, its been a little over a year since I started my major undertaking of a cross stitch project. I have just finished the second row! There are six rows total, so I am a third of the way done. Trying to stay excited here. I'm just kidding, I do enjoy it.

Just in case you forgot, since my last update was so long ago, this is what the finished picture should look like, in about two more years. Bonne travail, as my thread lady says.

Pont du Gard

On the way back to Chambery from Cannes, we took a little detour and stopped by Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge in the Provence region. This is the second highest standing Roman structure, the Colosseum in Rome being the first.

Pont du Gard is part of an aqueduct that transported water over 30 miles to the town of Nimes, at a rate of about 100 gallons per second. Most of the aqueduct is on or underground, except at places such at this where a bridge was needed to transverse the gorge. It is another amazing example of Roman ingenuity.

A Day at the Beach

While it was still warm outside, but after the kids went back to school, we took a short, relaxing trip down to the Riviera. We stayed in Cannes, the city known for the Cannes Film Festival which happens here each May. Above is the Palais du Festival where some films are played.

Some (older) celebrities have left there mark here. The date on the lower right hand corner is from 1987.

In the morning we took a ferry from Cannes to Ile Saint Honarat, an island about 4 or 5 miles off shore from the mainland. Here's Max waiting on the rocky shore of the Vieux Port (Old Port) for the ferry.

This is Ile Saint Honorat. It is the smaller of the two islands in the archipelago known as the Lerins Islands. Both islands are still part of Cannes though Ile Saint Honorat is privately owned.

Visiting Ile Saint Honorat is somewhat of a religious experience. There is an abbey, a fortified monastery (above) and seven churches on the island. Some of the churches date back 15 centuries. Here is one of the churches below.

There is a sense of calm and peace here. There are no motorized vehicles on the island, minus a tractor or two used by the monks to tend to the vineyards. There were hardly any people around, so very quickly you feel surrounded by nature.

Here these boats have found the calm waters between Ile Saint Honorat and Ile Sainte-Marguerite.

This is the life! We spent the afternoon on the beautiful sandy beach. The weather could not have been more perfect and it wasn't even crowded. The water was a little cool, but felt pretty fine once we got used to it. It was hard to drag ourselves away.

We had a really great weekend in Cannes and would maybe go back if there weren't so many other places we wanted to visit! We've reached the half way point to our stay here, as far as we know, and I think we're starting to realize how much we still want to see.

A...u...g...u...s...t

Not much going on here, seriously. August is a REALLY slow month in France. Everyone is on vacation and many of the shops and restaurants have closed for the month. It even seems like the postmen are on vacation; we only got 1 piece of mail in 2 weeks time. I thought they forgot we still lived here. The cafeteria at Max's work site closed for 2 weeks too. My usual routine has been put on hold; the pool I go to is closed, my friends are out of town, and my AVF group has dispersed until late September.

(Reads: Annual closure, month of August 2010. Closed July 31 at 6:00pm, reopens Sept. 1 at 2:30pm. Happy vacation...)

Max and I usually stay pretty close to Chambery during this time of year too, since the roads are so congested with travelers. Needless to say, I've been getting a lot of cross stitching done, in between climbing the walls. I was really looking forward to the quiet time, but now I'm ready to start traveling again and to get back into my “normal” routine. That will all happen again before I know it. Do I really know what I'm asking for?!

Max's Trip to India as Told by Max

At the end of July, I spent one week in India for business. I was there to support a manufacturing plant located just outside of Mumbai. It was a very interesting trip. This time of year in Mumbai is the monsoon season. The monsoon starts in May or June and goes until late September. During this time, the weather is almost the same everyday, it rains about 1-2 inches per day in periods of light and heavy rain. We were lucky and almost saw the sun one morning. The upside to the rain is that everything is green and growing and it keeps the heat down to 80-90 degrees. The downside is that it is very humid and often muddy.

My Indian colleagues were very friendly and welcoming. They welcomed us with a traditional ceremony that included placing a red dot on our foreheads, lighting a large oil lamp and presenting us with flowers.

While the people were extremely nice and welcoming, the amount of poverty was striking at times. There are people everywhere. We were located some distance outside of Mumbai and all along the roads were small tents or simple concrete buildings were people live. The amount of construction and road traffic was amazing. Large apartment buildings were being built everywhere and many road projects underway. However, with all of the rains, the conditions of some roads were poor at best. Often drivers would drive into oncoming traffic to avoid large potholes. As one of my Indian colleagues put it, if you can drive in India, you can drive blindfolded in the US. As you can see in the picture below, you are looking at the front of several trucks and our rearview mirror on the front windshield of our car. I am just glad we had a driver.

And on top of worrying about the trucks, there were many of the these 3 wheel minicabs on the roads. They don't go very fast and often carry 5-6 people.

Overall it was a great trip. The people were fantastic and the food was good and spicy. After a week there, it was good to come back to France. I am looking forward to wherever my next interesting business trip takes me.

Rhone Valley Wine Tour with Jenifer & Karl

Shortly after Anna and Matt's wedding, my cousin Jenifer and her husband Karl came to visit us! They arrived in Geneva early Friday morning, and on Saturday, we decided to go wine tasting, since that had been on the list of things they wanted to do while in France. Max and I had not yet checked out the vineyards in the Rhone Valley and had been looking for any excuse to go...

The Rhone Valley runs along the Rhone River (above), south of Lyon and down past Avignon. Wine has been made here since Roman times and this used be a very popular wine producing area over a century ago. It is now said to be making its comeback. The region is divided into two sub-regions, north and south. We explored some of the tasting rooms in the northern region.

I have very recently, as in on this trip, become a big fan of the Viognier grape; no convincing was needed from Karl and Jenifer, who already know all about its wonderful flavor. This is the only grape used to make make wine from the appellations Condrieu (a new favorite) and Chateau Grillet.

Appellation, in terms I can understand, refers to the official place-name of the wine, the location where the grapes grew. There are a bunch of rules regulating the production of French wine and I am only beginning to comprehend them. I do know that only certain areas are allowed to grow and use certain grapes or combination of grapes for their wines.

We tasted over 25 wines from several appellations in the Rhone Valley. It was hard to keep track of them all! It was amazing to taste for ourselves how one bottle of wine could have the subtle flavors of cocoa and coffee while anothers had a rich, almost buttery taste. Many of the reds had a spicy taste, a characteristic commonly associated with the widely used Syrah grapes. We ended up taking 8 very different bottles home with us. We haven't been to Bordeaux yet, but the Rhone Valley has set the bar pretty high! I was very impressed.

Anna Gets Hitched

Max's sister, Anna, got married July 17th in Port Tobacco, Maryland! Yes, it's still hard for us to believe; she'll always be the little sister in our heads. She and Matt were married at St. Ignatius Church (above), which is the oldest continously serving Catholic Parish in the US. Max and I flew in from France a few days before. We were so pleased to have been able to go and to be included in their bridal party too!

Before the wedding, we had a chance to see everyone at the rehersal dinner. It was so great to see people we hadn't seen since we'd left for France, some for even longer! We got to meet his cousin's baby for the first time. What a cutie! My parents made the drive in from Michigan as well. It wouldn't have been a real trip back to the States without seeing them too.

Anna was a beautiful bride, as you can see, and very photogenic, as always. We can't wait to see the professional photos from the photograher! I should leave room in this post so I can hopefully add some of them later. Check back in a little while for more...?

It was a beautiful day for a wedding, really hot, but beautiful. Luckily, we took most of the pictures inside, in the air conditioning. (We had been missing air conditioning in France). The reception hall (above) had a very large, elegant staircase in the entrance, perfect for more pictures.

The party was downstairs. We enjoyed a night of much needed time with friends and family. I only wish we had taken more photos! I think we were too busy catching up with everyone (and maybe enjoying a cold beverage or two). Where did the night go? I borrowed this photo from the maid of honor. Thanks Jenn!

After the wedding, we headed up to New Jersey to spend the rest of our time with more family. We also got to meet the baby of Max's other adult cousin for the first time. She cracked us up. We were so happy to have been able to see everyone that we did. We'd been missing our families. Plus, it felt great to be back in the land of the familiar for a little while.

Scandinavian Cruise

Max and I decided to take our first cruise this year, to Scandinavia! It was just for four nights, which was about the upper limits of what I was willing to deal with should I be nauseous the whole time. (I really enjoy traveling, my stomach does not). It turns out the seas were very calm, so I had no problems. I think we might have gotten lucky, according to the experienced cruisers we dined with.

The voyage started in Oslo, Norway. We chose to arrive in Oslo the night before so we would have some time to explore the city before we boarded the cruise ship. The first place we went to see was the Vikingshiphuset or Viking Ship Museum. The museum houses three viking ships (Oseberg, Gokstad, and Tune) from the ninth century.

These ships were found in burial mounds in the Olso fjords, nicely preserved by the blue clay of the mounds. They once contained the bodies of royal and other wealthy persons along with everything needed to carry them into the afterlife (jewelry, horses, wagons, slaves, etc.), according to the beliefs of the time.

We walked from the museum through a fairly residential neighborhood to catch a ferry back to downtown. From there we walked to the Nasjonalgalleriet (National Gallery) were we saw some paintings by Norwegian artist including those by Edvard Munch. (You may recall his most famous painting, The Scream). Overall, Norwegian art revealed a darker, more tumultuous aspect of life and was actually very interesting.

Oslo is a beautiful town. Really, really expensive, but beautiful. (According to Business Week, Oslo is currently the second most expensive city in the world behind Tokyo...I think we can attest to that). Everything was pristine and so tidy. It was a great place to start out on our cruise.

We sailed overnight from Olso to Copenhagen, Denmark. When we docked, Max and I headed out to Rosenburg Castle, built as a summer residence by King Christian IV. This is also where he chose to spend his final days. The basement contains an amazing collection of crown jewels.

We took ourselves on a self guided tour through Copenhagen, making a stop by the statue of Hans Christian Andersen, author of such tales as The Ugly Duckling, Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid. It turns out the real, non-Disney version of The Little Mermaid is a lot darker than I had realized!

We already knew that the Den Lille Havfrue (or The Little Mermaid statue), symbol of Copenhagen, was going to be in Shanghai, China during our visit. We did catch a glimpse of what Max and I are calling her less popular cousin near the dock of our curise ship. You get the gist of it.

We pretty much ended our tour of Copenhagen in the Nyhavn quarter (above). The boat filled canal was lined with colorful buildings and lots of cafes. It was a very lively, cheery place and it was a lot of fun. Off to Tallinn, Estonia now!

On the way to Tallinn, which took a whole day at sea, we celebrated Max's birthday! He's celebrated some birthday's in a variety of unusal places, but the Baltic Sea was a first and it was a good one.

I was probably most excited to visit Tallinn. It was some place I thought would be different, less traveled, a little "off the map" if you will. I should have realized that when our cruise ship pulled up next to another cruise ship that this would not be the case.

Tallinn was definitely different than the rest of what we had seen of Scandinavia. Both the upper and lower towns of Tallinn are emcompassed by the city wall. (Part of city wall is pictured above). Walking within the bounds of the wall gave us a feel for the more Old World style of life, especially with the people dressed in medieval clothes, playing up the part. I started wondering where all the normal citizens were.

There seemed to be souvenir shops everywhere and most carried the same things. I expected the city to be much cheaper than the rest of the places we had been to, but I was wrong about that as well. I suppose one of the easiest ways for a young country to start gaining some wealth is through tourism. At a glance, the city outside the walls seemed to be fairly modern and is probably where most of the "normal" citizens I was looking for lived.

We ended our cruise in Stockholm, Sweden. The city was still reeling from the wedding of Princess Victoria just four days earlier. Stockholm was a blur for us. Due to our flight schedule, we did not have much time to spend there. We ended up taking a panoramic bus tour, highlighting many of the more "important" sights. We would not have seen as much of the city as we did had we decided to do the tour on our own, espeically since Stockholm is spread out over 14 different islands!

Our tour took us by Stadshuset (City Hall) where the annual Noble Prize banquet is held (above), and by the apartment of Elin Nordegren, wife (or ex-wife now?) of Tiger Woods. Housing seems to be a big problem in Stockholm. There are no apartments for rent, so people must buy them, and often the cost is driven sky high through bidding wars. The government has even discouraged foreign students from studying in Stockholm because there is no room to put them!

Scandinavia is blessed with such natural beauty and I know we didn't even see the half of it. Traveling around this area via cruise ship was a good way for us to see some of the cities and some of the seascape too. (I was really hoping to see a whale, but despite my whale calls, we had no such luck). Either way, this was a unique trip for us. Instead of focusing on one city, as we tend to do, we broadened our scope to a sampling of an entire region. We were able to see that this part of Europe is distinctly different from the rest of the continent, culturally, economically, historically and we're glad we had the opprotunity to experience it.