W.I.T.W.I.M.

Thanks DLC (Dominion Lending Centre) official commercial-jingle-song with Laura and Ryan - Who are they?

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 23:11:00 GMT

Have you heard the catchy new jingle written and sung by The Kwerks (Laura and Ryan) in the Dominion Lending Centre DLC commercial?

Come on, press play and sing along...

You, we think you're great
You got us a new rate
It is better than before
Now our mortgage is really short

The budget it was tight
We wanted to take a big flight
To take our three little jewels abroad
Thanks to you, now are our dream has come true
Yeah, we're going

Doo, doo, doo...

This song is one of those, get-stuck-in-your-head-numbers and if you are curious about who Laura and Ryan are, they go by their band name, The Kwerks (thekwerks.com). They are a very talented musical performance husband/wife team.

Their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/laurakochmusic/?ref=hl

November 29th - THE KWERKS have released a single "BETTER TOGETHER"!
I love this song. It is like sitting in a European cafe in the warm evening with friends sipping hot chocolate (my favourite cafe drink). Laid back and cool.

AND REALLY IMPORTANTLY, sign up for their email list! Then you can follow "periodic" updates for what's happening, album and single releases, gigs, media, etc.

I look forward to following their journey and can't wait for their album to come out!

Capri, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Fri, 6 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMT

On our final day we decide the weather is perfect to explore the island of Capri. It is the destination of the rich in the summer season. I have no idea what to expect.

We arrive in the Capri marina via ferry and are inundated with tour operators wanting to sell us their whistlestop tour of the island. Instead, we catch the bus to the first of two town on the island, Capri Town.

The main piazza in Capri Town overlooks the the cliffs, water and the hill the bus just climbed. The older Italian men are all gathered and lounging in the sun.

The view below is amazing and dotted with white houses.

We wander away from the main square to find the side streets lined with luxury shops and beyond that quiet gardens.

We follow our guide book to Certosa di San Giacomo, an old church that is now used as a gallery for a permanent collection by a German artist. It also features the fragments of frescos from the original church itself.

The church is empty except for the main alter and a grand piano The walls seem recently plastered and everything has a white dust on it. We are wearing black.

Our little munchkin believes it is his new play room and toddles from room to room gleefully spreading the white dust.

The emptiness of the space paired with the modern upkeep (new plaster and paint) alongside the fresco fragments make it the most beautiful church I see on our trip. The simplicity feels so authentic and devoid of all the clutter that modern life and consumerism cram in.

The church yard.

We wander off a little further in search of a famous garden.

We find the small but amazing Gardini di Augusto. It is so well manicured with statues, benches, and views. We eat our packed lunch here.

The views look down to the sea where we see Capri's famous faraglioni (rock formation) that boats can drive through.

We spy a nude bum.

On our wandering I am surprised to find a very contemporary art gallery. I looked it up later and see it carries a well known Calgary artist. I decide then and there I must have a show there. Any excuse to come back to Italy.

Next we take a bus to the second higher village on the island, Anacapri.

From there you can catch a chair lift up to the peak of the island. We gulp, strap our toddler to us, and step out as the seat sweeps us up. I take a picture of Nigel and our little munchkin on the single-seat lift ahead of me.

The views from the top are great.

The water looks so swimmable. Too bad it is still wintery.

On top of the island.

Amalfi Coast, Italy (Ravello & Amalfi)

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Thu, 5 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMT

There is a bus we catch that drives up the Amalfi Coast and stops in the villages along the way. Our host suggests we take the coach to the end, the town of Amalfi, take a further bus to the little hill village of Ravello, and work our way backwards. We arrive in Amalfi and take a quick look around while we wait for the next bus. The main square has the most beautiful Amalfi Cathedral.

The gold detail above the front door.

The views are spectacular of the coast as we take a winding coastal road to reach our destination.

In fact, I don't recommend this bus ride if you are prone to car sickness. I don't and I did!

We arrive finally in the small village of Ravello and I immediately love it. It reminds me of Assisi (my favourite Italian place), only smaller. it is tiny, sunny and peaceful with a sprawlingly large piazza (central square) that you can relax in. There isn't much open as we arrive at siesta time. But the local gelateria is selling gelato and paninis.

The next bus back to Amalfi is not for another few hours so we wander the streets and let our toddler run wild in the piazza.

After much ignoring of the local taxi driver who tells us there are no more busses back, the bus back arrives. We take the short ride back to the coastal village. Amalfi is not as peaceful and most of the places we think look good to eat are either shut down or closed for the off season. It is far better to travel in the off season, but I remember from living in Italy that the italians shut down many of the businesses for the winter.

We decide given we have an hour and half bus ride back that we should leave right away so we can be back at a decent hour for dinner in Sorrento.

The views back are incredible.

I would love to go back to Ravello and paint there for a month. It has such a nice air about it and would be a retreat away from everything.

Naples, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Wed, 4 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMT

The next day we take the train to Naples. The weather is dreadful and we think we might as well do the city as it is more likely we can do things indoors. We have lunch at the recommended Pizzeria Brandi. This restaurant is over two centuries old and invented the Margherita Pizza in honour of Queen Margherita of Savoy. I am not clear if it actually invented pizza itself or not
but you can read the history at http://www.brandipizzeria.com/la-nostra-storia. The pizza was delicious!

The kitchen is on one side of the outside walkway and the seating on the other.

It is a fresh day outside and the Italians love their BIG umbrellas!

We reach the main square and church just in time for it to close for siesta. We are not sure we are going to last long enough to see it reopen.

We decide to explore the area and find an indoor area.

Viola! The Galleria Umberto I is perfect. A large indoor space that our little munchkin can practice his walking in, chase the pigeons and amuse the onlookers. It is a short visit to Naples, but that is fine with us.

The weather drives us back to the train station early so we can catch a train back to Sorrento in time for dinner. We stop and order a Chocolata Calda while standing at the station's cafe bar. What we are served makes our eyes open with delight. A thick "dense" hot chocolate that you can spoon into your mouth on a cold wet day. We decide to find it at the local supermarket and take some back to London with us.

Pompeii, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Tue, 3 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMT

I was warned by several people that Pompeii is not the best place to see if you have a toddler with you. Ever since pouring over the National Geographic on the uncovering of this place as a child I have been fascinated by it. I am not accepting defeat.

I do not recommend a stroller. We strap our munchkin to us in a baby carrier and wander the streets. We tour it a bit faster than we may have on our own, but I think this only means we are not utterly exhausted by the end. It is a good day out with a very well behaved child. Lucky us.

One really gets the idea of what living in this Roman town might have been like as far as the layout and meandering the streets.

The Roman bath house is in a well preserved state.

It has one of the only original ceilings left in Pompeii.

There are casts of the bodies found in the baths.

Outside the baths is a courtyard with grass. I think this is the essential key to seeing this place with a toddler. We have to let our munchkin run around and let off steam. He is fascinated by all the little stones and inadvertently puts one in my pocket which I find when we return home.

I love the Roman speed bumps. I wonder if the UK copied the idea of the three bumps to slow traffic from the Romans.

The deep grooves made by the Roman chariots are quite evident.

This would have been one of the entrance ways into a house. It would have been enclosed with the roof slanting inwards to a hole that would pour rain into the small pool below. The water would be used for household use with a table on the far side. Many of the houses in Pompeii had remnants of this setup.

I was very interested in some of the frescos that had been preserved through the years.

A marble counter.

These receptacles on the counter were used to keep food warm.

We come to the coliseum on the edge of the town.

We enter from one of the two main gates. There is only one other small entrance that leads into the arena and I wonder if animals and gladiators passed through it.

We nip over quickly to the new town of Pompeii to see the grand church there before heading back to the Pompeii ruins.

There are two well preserved theatres in Pompeii. Above is the small one.

A statue adorns the seating.

We head back to the exit as we see the rain clouds coming in and are about to make a dash for our train. It is a very easy direct train from Sorrento to Pompeii.

On the way out we spot all the artefacts piled high.

Sorrento, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Mon, 2 Mar 2015 10:18:00 GMT

Nigel has planned another one of his great trips for us, this time with a toddler! We are staying in Sorrento, Italy, and travelling around from there. The small red dot on the Tyrrhenian Sea marks our destination.

We are shuttled from a great little B&B in the hills overlooking Sorrento called Villa Monica. As we walk to the main square we peer over the ridge to the gulley below. Our host tells us the building down below used to be a ceramics factory.

We can look back at it as we walk on. It has been bought by people wanting to turn it into a pasta factory. There will have to be some sort of lift/elevator installed. It is dizzying looking down.

The town has all the charming little streets of Italy without a lot of the tourist hubbub now that we are off season.

Sorrento is in the lovely position of being a coastal town.

Travelling with a toddler has been very fun. Italians love children, from the people on the street to the people serving us in restaurants. We eat most nights at Il Leone Rosso Ristorante and Pizzeria. Every night we are seated beside the wood oven and our little munchkin is fascinated with watching the pizzas being made. Of course they love him and bring us plates of tester pizza as we wait. I think this is the best value place to eat in Sorrento. Excellent pizza and fresh pasta. They even brought us a free dessert on our last day.

Sorrento is lovely and the streets are lined with orange trees. I would guess this is our munchkin's favourite fruit at the moment and so he was fascinated to see them hanging all over the trees.

We wander around and explore the churches. Above is the courtyard of Chiesa di San Francesco.

Even the broken old brick path is full of nuances.

From the waterfront edge of town we look down from the cliffs to the Marina Piccolo (small marina) below.

One of the routes down to the marina is via a switch back road deep in the gorge that cuts into the town itself.

We check out the cafes in Piazza Lauro.

Our guide book leads us to a small lemon tree grove on the outskirts of town with amazing views. Unfortunately it looks abandoned and locked up.

The water is a beautiful aqua colour.

The views are still great.

More orange trees that we are told are not the best for eating. The shops are filled with oranges that we buy and eat everyday. They are huge, sweet, and juicy blood oranges.

Turkey: Oludinez, Kaya Koyu and the Blue Lagoon

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0100

On the second day in Oludinez we decide to drive out to Kaya Koyu in the morning. Our guidebook suggests we could walk it from the town as a half day hike as well.

Kaya Koyu is a ghost village whose Greek Orthodox Christian inhabitants, according to the Lonely Planet, were forced to leave their homes in the compulsory exchange of populations between the newly created Republic of Turkey and Greece in 1923.

It had been a population of 3000 inhabitants arranged in tiers up a slope. The roofs are all missing which always begins the slow decay of structures.

While the Greek inhabitants were being shipped west, Macedonian Muslims were sent to occupy the abandoned buildings.

Most of the new inhabitants chose to leave rather than stay, considering the land too poor. Above you can see the remains of a fireplace and chimney in the corner.

Although we can't enter the church due to restoration and recently discovered cracks that make it dangerous, the above is a photograph of what the inside of this 17th century high church now looks like.

The view from the outside that we can see.

Today the local inhabitants live in several hamlets in the valley below the ruins.

Although the land in the valley below is fertile, tourism has been on the rise and the main attraction in the area have been the ruins. Above you can still see some of the blue paint on the plastered walls.

Nigel amongst the walls.

We survey the sprawling village and decide to meander to the far side.

Another view of the church from our climb.

Partial stairs remain.

I come across several large concave structures that look like cistern water collections. Here is one that is still holding water.

On the far side we spot a small chapel high on the hillside. It looks like it might have a great view.

Sure enough, from one side of the hilltop we overlook the valley and the old town.

On the other side we see out to the Turquoise Coast.

A view from the window inside.

The little hilltop whitewashed chapel.

We then ascend and climb the fort at the opposite end of the village before deciding to head back to Oludinez.

on our way back we drive a bit further past Oludinez and get a view from the side looking down.

Further up the coast you get a view looking looking back.

We drive through the pine forests on a road that has been carved out of the mountain on a cliff edge at times.

These cliff edges stop further development in the small villages ahead where the only tourist market are in camping huts, a more bohemian, hippy place to stay. (although some of the guide books balk at the pricier cost of staying in such limited accomodation). Above is pictured Butterfly Beach which looks like it might get mostly shade in the day due to the high cliffs on both sides.

We head back to Oludinez town and decide to visit the beach the town is famous for, the iconic sandbar that lies across the mouth of the Blue Lagoon. It is in Oludeniz Nature Park which costs 5 Turkish Lira to enter. Above is the path in the park that leads to the lagoon.

An arial photo stands on a billboard at the parks entrance.

it is a lovely afternoon. Mid September to October is an ideal time to travel to Turkey because the weather is not scorchingly hot and it just skirts the highest tourist season. It can get a bit chilly in the shade, but I am feeling like my body temperature is higher than normal these days anyway. Yes, those are my feet relaxing on a lawn chair.

Another shot of the beach from my lounging position. Coming from North America I was not aware of European beach rules. There are lawn chairs and umbrellas for anyone to use. You sit yourself down on one and someone will come along and give you the rate for the day or half day. You pay and the chair is yours. You can come and go and no one will take it as long as you leave something on it like a towel.

I do go for a swim. It really is the shoulder season now and you have to lie in the sun to be warm, I notice. Nigel gets chilled in the shade.

I am looking from the tip of the lagoon's sandbar towards the mainland.

Above I am looking at the sandbar's tip. The tree bit is not connected.

We spend several hours here. We are not really beach people or lie-in-the-sun-and-tan people, but if we were this is a lovely place. The long beach right on the town front is also lovely.

We head back and have a nice meal at Buzz Bar and Grill Restaurant. I need a simple meal that will digest easily tonight and opt for the pasta which was delicious. It is a nice restaurant (more elegant that most here) with nice food and a quiet atmosphere.

Turkey: Oludinez (Turquoise Coast) and Tlos

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 11:09:00 +0100

After a day and a half of Istanbul we set off on our journey through western Turkey. We fly to Dalaman (internal flights are very cheap in Turkey), rent a car and drive down the Turquoise Coast (named after the colour of the water) to the little resort town of Oludinez.

The drive is beautiful and we pass through many pine forests.

I learn that this region is known for its pine forest honey (which our next hotel has in abundance at the buffet breakfast. I consume it as part of my regular diet here).

Nigel has booked all our accommodation in advance and finds a great little place just on the outskirts of the tiny town Oludeniz called Symbola Oludeniz Beach Hotel. Our balcony is pictured above.

It is a little place set in the pine forest hill that overlooks the water and the town. It is only a 5 minute walk into the town and a nice little walk up the hill again to get back. Above is our room. I must say the staff here is so nice. There is a buffet breakfast every morning. You can also eat lunch and dinner here, everything made for you by the chef as you order.

The town of Oludinez is a fun beach tourist destination full of British tourists on package holidays trying to catch the last rays of sun before winter. It is quite a contrast to Istanbul. It is also telling that all the restaurants serve an English breakfast.

The town is a world ranking spot for paragliding. It sits in a small valley surrounded by mountains which the paragliders launch themselves from. After a 45 minute float they land on the beach. There are plenty of places that will take you paragliding if you so choose.

The night time is alive and full of bustle, bars, and restraurants There is also a lot of tourist tat to be bought but thankfully we find that a number of places sell lokum (Turkish delight) so we can keep our blood sugar levels high.

The town feels like a bunch of beach huts that have grown a bit into a town. This makes sense as not so long ago it was simply a hippy destination for camping on a beautiful undeveloped beach.

The town is well located for a number of activities in the area which is why we rent a car. These are also all possible to do on tours as well which can be booked in the town. We wanted a bit more control and to come and go as we like. Oludinez is also located near the start of the Lycian Way walking trail (a long distance trail that runs parallel to the Turquoise Coast and will take about 5 weeks to complete the entire thing. One can do short sections in the area we are in.)

We plan to take in a nearby attraction everyday and find ourselves on our first full day at the ruins of Tlos, among the ancient and important Lycian cities dating back to 2000 BC.

Above is pictured the seating for the agora, a central spot in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city.

At the top of the hill sits the acropolis (a settlement, especially a citadel, built upon an area of elevated ground frequently a hill with precipitous sides, chosen for purposes of defence).

Nigel stands in the shade of an olive tree on the way up.

The view from the top looks out over the whole valley.

Most fascinating at this site is the extensive necropolis, a large ancient cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. They are carved into the rock faces and have a temple feel.

They are fascinating to explore.

The carved fascades are hand chiselled out of the rock face.

Looking down at the Agora.

The view of the amphitheatre from the top of the necropolis.

The tombs on the side of the acropolis.

I took a hidden trail around the corner and found another set of tombs.

I climb up and look inside.

We walk up and get a closer look at the amphitheatre dating back to the Roman Period.

Just down a trail we find the temple style Tomb of Bellerophon at the hill's northern base. Its facade was carved with columns, a pediment and 3 carved doors. A relief on the left wall of the porch represents the mythical hero Bellerophone (from whom one of Tlos' ancient ruling families claimed descent).

We drive back through small Turkish towns towards Oludinez.

Driving through the larger town of Fethiye (where we find a great bakery that keeps our supply of baklava up).

We begin the descent into the valley of Oludinez.

Back in the town, barbequed corn is a popular roadside snack both here and in Istanbul.

We wander down to the beach front and watch the paragliders land and re-inflate their kites with air spending the next while untangling the strings from the ground.

Turkey: Istanbul

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Sun, 6 Oct 2013 20:14:00 +0100

Turkey is our destination for 14 days. It has long been on my list of places to visit and has both the exotic and the familiar. The Turkish people are so friendly and not at all harassing like they could be in Morocco. The food is amazing and the history and influences combine the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Central Asia. There are Mosques and churches, Roman theatres and temples in ancient cities, as well as the modern culture that is modern day Turkey.

Turkey crosses continents. Most of it is in Asia, but part of it is in Europe.

The city of Istanbul where we arrive by plane lies half in one continent and half in the other. We are staying in the old city which is in the European half.

We arrive at Saruhan Hotel which is a simple room and bathroom with wifi and a breakfast buffet. Also a bonus are the free hot drinks in the lobby with a lounge area. Nice! It is centrally located, about a 10 minute walk up a hill to the major monuments (Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar).

A view from our window overlooks the backs of regular Turkish homes in the city.

We wander the streets to get our bearings. Most of the side streets are still all cobblestones.

We wander towards the main drag.

We are back to the tram and main street where we alighted from the airport for our hotel. Many major monuments are right here.

We decide to start with the Grand Bazaar. We are always torn between our guide books (Rough Guide and Lonely Planet are usually the best for our style of travel. The Rough guide usually has more history about places, while the Lonely Planet often has some great cheap eats. But the Turkey guides seem to both be good). In this case the Lonely Planet has a Grand Bazaar Walking Tour which we decide to follow as the bazaar spans blocks and blocks in all directions.

The Bazaar is centuries old and was built by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1461 and grew to a vast covered area it is today. You can spend hours wandering and getting lost.

The tour starts at the Cemberlitas, a huge pillar erected by Emperor Constantine to celebrate the dedication of Constantinople (Istanbul's previous name) as the capital of the Roman Empire in 330. I was more interested in the man feeding the birds at the base of it.

But we must stop and eat a falafel at what seems like it might be a fast food Turkish place. The difference is everything is fresh and healthy, despite being fast. It is absolutely delicious.

We find the first gate and enter through.

And then we wind our way to the entrance arch to the indoor bazaar.

As we enter the brightly lit street in front of us is Kalpakcilarbasi Caddesi, the busiest street in the bazaar. It was originally named after the makers of fur hats, but is now full of jewellers, who pay up to US$80,000 per year in rent for this location.

The ceilings are a series of amazing arches and domes adorned with painted details.

We turn up Sandal Bedesteni, the market section in an old 17th century stone warehouse featuring 20 small domes which is now home to the textile sellers.

The lamps are a distinguishing feature of the Turkish tourist markets.

The Ethem Tezcakar Kahveci junction is a popular cross street and a good spot for tea.

We sit down and I order the popular Turkish apple tea (delicious) and Nigel orders a mint tea (popular in Morocco and also amazing here).

We continue to wander the indoor streets and pass carpet merchants, pottery, leather goods and all sorts of other tantalising goods.

The Bazaar eventually leads us outside where we find an outdoor market selling the normal cheaply made imports.

Around the corner from here (not pictured) is the Book Market (all Turkish language) and nearby is the spice market. We only have a day here before we head off for other bits of Turkey. We will be back for a couple more days at the end of our trip.

We head out into the streets to some other major monuments. Above is the Aya Sofya. It is unique as it was commissioned by the great Byzantine emperor Justinian, consecrated as a church in 537, converted to a mosque by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453 and declared a museum by Atataruk in 1935.

There are remnants of both the Christian and Muslim heritages. Above is depicted the 9th century mosaic of the Virgin and Christ Child. To the right of that hangs one of several large 19th century medallions inscribed with gilt Arabic letters. The low hanging lights have a distinct Turkish feel to them.

In the northeast of the Imperial Door is a column with a worn copper facing pierced by a hole known as the Weeping Column. Legend has it that the pillar was blessed by St. Gregory the Miracle Worker and that putting one's finger into the hole can lead to ailments being healed if the finger emerges moist. When we arrive there is a long queue to put one's finger in. I snap this in a rare moment.

I must give Nigel all the credit for organising and planning this entire trip and simplifying it again once we realised I wouldn't be able to trek rigorously around everyday.

To access the upstairs galleries we walk up the switch-back ramp of very polished stones.

The upstairs gallery.

The view looking down from above.

I do love the decorations that are found everywhere in Turkey.

Another view from the upstairs looking down.

12th century mosaic: Judgement Day, Jesus Enthroned between the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.

12th century mosaic: The Virgin and Child surrounded by Emperor Johannes Kommenos II and Empress Irene and their son Alexios.

11th century mosaic: Christ Enthroned surrounded by Empress Zoe and Constantine.

Above is the large green marble circle marking the spot where the throne of the empress once stood.

The marble steps are well worn and extremely slippery.

An artists depiction of the Aya Sofya when it was a mosque.

Outside sits an ornate fountain for Ritual Ablutions.

A last grand mosaic on the way out.

Nigel rests in the courtyard outside looking like a pilgrim.

We head to the main square towards the Blue Mosque. We can visit now that prayer time is over at 2pm.

A glance back we catch another glimpse the the Aya Sofya, where we just were.

Inside the Blue Mosque's courtyard (the biggest of all the Ottoman mosques) we wind our way to the non-Muslim entrance. We find the queue which enters through a tiny narrow doorway into a room where visitors are required to remove shoes and put them in a provided bag. Next we go to a room where we are quickly inspected for suitability of dress. If your skirt is too short or you are man wearing shorts, or your hair is uncovered as a woman you are given a piece of fabric to cover up the appropriate bits.

Then we enter the grand building where blue Iznik tiles adorn the interior and give the building its unofficial but commonly used name.

With 260 windows the central prayer space is huge.

It features many domes and six minarets.

All the covered tourists wander around.

We exit and put our shoes back on.

Then we go for a hot chocolate and some baklava.

We eat at a great little place around the corner of our place. I am dying to have the mezzes for two (a cold starter with hummus, falafel balls and homemade bread and more. But we go for the mains instead knowing we can't eat that much in one go.

On the same street are two little tiny shops that we frequent until we leave the next day. The shop on the left sells an array of baklava and the other sells an array of Turkish delight.

We wander around Istanbul at night which feels very safe.

Both tourists and locals wander in the park.

We find the little recommended dessert place.

Nigel has been dying to try the famous rice pudding. We end our day here and head out early the next day for our flight to the Turquoise Coast.

The real-life Willy Wonka: Brian Sollitt, inventor of the After Eight, dies aged 74

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 14:48:00 +0100

One of Britain’s most distinguished chocolatiers, whose proudest achievement was fathoming how to get the mint filling inside After Eights without it spilling from the sides, has died at the age of 74.

Brian Sollitt had an illustrious 53-year career with Rowntree’s in York, helping to devise many of the nation’s best-loved chocolate bars. Tirelessly devoted to his craft, he was involved in the creation of the Yorkie, Matchmakers, the Drifter and the Lion Bar.

Alex Hutchinson, a historian for Nestlé, which now owns Rowntree’s, said Mr Sollitt’s impact on British chocolate-making was “incalculable”.

Brian Sollitt, with a giant After Eight mint. Photograph: Nestlé

“It is easy to forget that the sweets we pick up in the shops today are things that would have been handmade lovingly in the early stages of development by Brian. He spent months – sometimes years – agonising over the technical details of his creations. He was an incredible man. He was asked to come up with this new chocolate and he did.”

Mr Sollitt was not always surrounded by sweet treats. Born in 1938, he grew up in a time of scarcity when chocolate was rationed. He got his first job at the Rowntree’s factory at 15, hand-piping chocolates for boxes of Black Magic. Swiftly promoted to the fantastically named Creme Experimentation division, he was asked to invent a luxury dark chocolate filled with a peppermint fondant.

The project was shrouded in secrecy, and to this day the process by which an After Eight’s fondant centre is encased within its fragile chocolate shell remains hush-hush. After its release in 1962 it fast became a dinner party staple. More than a billion boxes have now been sold.

Mr Sollitt was described as a popular figure within the company: a larger-than-life character who left seasonal gifts such as chocolate Santas outside his office for factory staff to take home. Passionate about the products he helped develop, he became an avid collector of After Eight paraphernalia, amassing one of the largest collections in the world. Last year, he came out of retirement to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his beloved creation, creating a special 3kg version of the chocolate to present to Parliament.

Kath Musgrove, a fellow confectioner, remembers Mr Sollitt lovingly piping and cooling new samples and presenting them in small, white boxes to the marketing department.

“I first met Brian in the covering room in Rowntree’s Creme Experimentation department. He was wielding his pallet knife deftly over the marble slab ‘tempering chocolate’. Watching him at work was like watching a true craftsman at his trade. Anyone who saw him was caught in his spell. He spent hours at that marble slab expertly hand-covering chocolates with their own individual markings.”

Millions of After Eights are made each year in Halifax, West Yorkshire, to be sold in more than 50 countries. Fans of the chocolate are said to have included the late Queen Mother.

Best bar none: Sollitt’s inventions

After Eight 800 million individual chocolates made each year

Peppermint fondant “enrobed” in a crisp dark chocolate shell. An enzyme is added to the mint to give it its consistency. The clock logo is believed to be based on a real timepiece in Rowntree’s head office.

Yorkie 64 million bars

A chunkier alternative to Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bar. Variations have included raisin and biscuit, honeycomb, white chocolate and mixed nuts. Aimed mainly at men, it was famous for its slogan ‘“It’s Not For Girls”.

Lion Bar 17 million bars

Wafer, caramel and cereal covered in milk chocolate. Launched in 1977, it was known in some areas as Big Cat until the late 1990s. Nestlé angered fans when it cut the size of the bars.

Drifter 37 million bars

Two biscuit wafer fingers layered with caramel and milk chocolate. Discontinued in 2007, it was relaunched in 2008 and was at one time promoted with the slogan “the chewy chocolate bar that you really have to get your teeth into”.

Matchmakers 30 million boxes

Launched in 1968 at one-third their current length, Matchmakers are brittle chocolate twigs available in mint, coffee and orange flavour. A Christmas favourite, its variations have included Brandysnap, Cappuccino, Coconut, Lemon and Irish Cream.

C.S. Lewis Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Thu, 4 Apr 2013 18:48:00 +0100

"You know how it is when you shed few tears or none, but there is a weight and pressure of weeping through your whole head."

Excerpt from Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

Quote: Will Gompertz

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Fri, 8 Feb 2013 11:00:00 GMT

"The art world has become an increasingly self-sustaining economic eco-system in which the interests of all parties - museums, curators, auctioneers, collectors, dealers and artists - are best served by jointly establishing and maintaining the reputation of 'brand name' artists."

-BBC Arts Editor, Will Gompertz

Excerpt from the essay "A Modest Proposal: Exhibit 'Bad' Modern Art" by Will Gompertz

Prague: Arriving

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:16:00 GMT

In a spontaneous moment my sister and myself have flown to Prague to meet up with her Czech/Canadian husband and father-in-law.

The first day has been a whirl wind walking tour of the city centre with just myself and Milan (father-in-law-once-removed?). He took me on a fast pace walk to several of his hidden locals-only places to eat for cheap ("non tourist prices" he called them). I found myself eating an omelet stuffed with broccoli with mash potatoes and a tomato vinegarette salad. He told me I will struggle to be vegetarian here.

Then we all went to see the Nutcracker Ballet tonight at the National Theatre. It was amazing! I am told it is something the Czech's see regularly so we had the privilege to watch a new version.

I took a lot of great pictures in the day and then realised I would have to wait until London again to download them. So at night I pulled out my iPhone so I could upload some right away.

C.S. Lewis Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:24:00 GMT

If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.

C.S. Lewis

Christmas in Coventry Garden, London

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:40:00 GMT

We Make Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:47:00 +0100

There is an innovative new project in Vancouver called WeMakeStuff. I was really surprised to be invited to be a part of it. My submission is based on my Saint Series that I am only just starting. It is a coffee table book featuring 100 innovators. The book launch is on October 30 which I will be in Vancouver for. Check it out below.

We Make Stuff Video

WeMakeStuff Volume 01 is a stunning book that will showcase one hundred artists and innovators from Vancouver exploring the collision of faith and creativity. It will be a historical document showcasing creative people expressing their process, intent and the tensions of their reality.

The one hundred are artists, innovators, inventors, engineers, architects, designers, film-makers, dancers, programmers, entrepreneurs, chefs and writers. For the first time, their collective voices are being recorded in one ground-breaking publication.

Late Night in the Studio and Brick Lane Bagels

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 04:01:00 +0100

It is another late night for me in my studio, but tonight while trying to keep warm in the unheated space I actually finish building my altar pieces. Thank goodness for that as the painting bit is going to take some time to complete.

The larger altar pieces are ready.

Above are the medium and small pieces each hand built by myself.

I accidentally give myself a stigmata with my screwdriver while working. Rather significant given I am painting saints, don't you think?

I finish at 11pm. The tubes reach their last stops at about 1am so as long as I get on a tube by midnight I will make it home. I step on a double decker bus instead and head for Brick Lane.

Brick Lane is a small winding street that makes its way from Algate East Station to near Liverpool Station. A lot of artists live in this area and it is known for its curries, retro clothing shops and Indian fabric shops. It is heaving with Indian eateries that are still serving people.

A little further on I hit the night clubs and pub/outdoor grills.

I forge on further down Brick Lane so aptly named after the brick cobbled streets. For the Olympics someone decided it should be paved despite protests from all the shop owners. And it was paved.

I reach what I am looking for: the famous 24 hour bagel shop. There is a winding queue inside. The bagels are made fresh in the back.

The place is packed. I get my £1 decadent cream cheese bagel. There is no need to think about Food Safe here because none is observed whatsoever. But whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

I take a peek in the back where they are making bagels. They all invite me in to chat, take pictures and enthusiastically let me question them about their process. The weekends are their busiest times when they make about 2000 bagels a day. Whatever hour of the night or day I have come to this shop I have had to queue.

The process starts at the big mixer. Unfortunately there is nothing that gives reference in the photo to how big this mixer is. It is unusually wide and shallow and I could comfortably fit in it.

From there the dough gets cut into balls.

It is then fed into the rolling/donut shaping machine.

You can see the dough going by in a blur. It rolled into a snake by the big metal paddle on the right which is then wrapped around the white round bit on the left to form the donut shape.

They then come out on the other end on a conveyer belt. These are stacked on wooden floured racks.

Next they are dumped into the boiling water and cooked for two minutes.

In the draining sink beside the boiler the long wooden planks are laid out.

The boiled bagels are dumped out onto the boards and briefly hosed down to cool them off slightly or to stop them cooking perhaps.

The boards are then each slid length-wise into the deep oven and left there while the bagels bake on top. I am told this is a traditional Polish/Jewish method.

Once the top is a bit dry and crisp to the touch the boards are flipped over and removed while the bagels are left in the oven browning on the second side. To get all these bagels out a big piece of plywood is slid underneath them and pulled out.

There is a bit of tussle over how to pose for the photo and who is to be holding the tray.

Okay, back up a little bit so I can get you both in.

Perfect. I am fed bagels in the back and given a bag of hot ones fresh out of the oven.

Then each tray is dumped into a big basket between the kitchen and the shop where the women out front cut them and fill them.

And finally the shop.

At this point I look at my watch and it reads 12:15am. I say good bye and walk as fast as my expanding 3-bagel-belly will allow. As I approach the tube I notice a lot of other people walking very quickly there as well. But alas, there is an announcement that the last train has already departed from this station. It is now 12:35am.

It is Night Bus time. London's Tube and day bus routes may shut down at night but you are never stranded. All through the night the night buses run. They run on different routes and times than the day ones. You can get places a lot faster at night on buses. From Trafalgar Square I can take Night Bus N87 all the way to my house in 30 minutes. This route just doesn't exist in the day and it actually takes longer on the tube. The buses seem to directly hook up all the outlying areas with the city centre. The roads are also quieter at this hour.

I have two buses to catch as I am not quite in the city centre. I am standing in East London. The buses and streets are very busy despite the hour. The seats are all taken on the first bus and there are many people standing. London is a 24 hour city.

I make it to my transfer bus depot and get on the N87. Somewhere along the line we pick up a group of inebriated friends. One vomits on the bus and we are all kicked off. All of us! The entire bus. Thankfully another bus comes shortly and I am home at 2:30am. Excellent! Another good day.

C. S. Lewis Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 08:14:00 +0100

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

C. S. Lewis

Test 2

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:41:00 +0100

This time it will be dictated by the microphone. Not bad.

Testing

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:13:00 +0100

This is a test from a new device.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Mon, 8 Oct 2012 12:00:00 +0100

Who's afraid of hte big bad wolf? (2011-2012) by Adel Abdessemed has gone on display at the Pompidou Centre in Paris as part of a retrospective of the French Algerian-born artist's work. the piece, built to the dimensions of Picasso's Guernica (12 x 26 ft), features 500 densley packed, taxidermied animals such as wolves and foxes.
(News item on www.bbc.co.uk)

Illustrator Raymond Briggs

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Sun, 7 Oct 2012 12:00:00 +0100

Raymond Briggs grew up in a terrace house just like mine just around the corner from me in London it turns out.

The name didn't ring a bell for me until someone said he wrote and animated the famous book and film short, The Snowman (pictured above). Of course!

It was about a boy who flies through the air with a snowman.

When I googled him I realised I had read his books when I was young. The above book was one of my favourites. I loved comic books and was into Asterix, Tintin, Archie and Raymond Briggs.

Ethel & Ernest is a lovely book that my neighbour has just lent me about Briggs's parents whom he grew up with at the end of our road in a house matching ours. It is a touching story about his parents, his mother a Lady's maid and his father a milkman, in comic book form spanning from the 1930's to the 1970's. It covers the war and the bombing in London (along with the child evactuations) to new inventions like gas cookers and television. It is a great and sad read (spoiler: they do die in the end having lived their whole married life in the one house).

Page 10 is when they first come to the house they buy. Lovely.

Day 11: Cinque Terre

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Wed, 3 Oct 2012 18:52:00 +0100

Here we are half way through our trip and starting to head back up towards the Netherlands.

Our last stop in Italy is Cinque Terre. Our whole trip sort of started when I was reading out my 101 Things to do in My Life list that I wrote in 2006 to Nigel. One of them was to hike the 5 medieval villages in northern Italy. I had missed out on this when I lived in Italy.

We camp at a coastal town slightly further up the coast called Deiva Marina. From here a coastal train runs right through all the villages including these five. You can extend your walk to include a number of other towns on either end, but these are the main five. To hike these 5 you need to purchase the Cinque Terre Card for 5 Euros at the start of your journey (or actually at any number of booths along the way that check for your card). We take the train to our first town called Riomaggiore (pictured above) very early in the morning to use as much of the cool of the day as possible.

Above is the town map of Riomaggiore. It is always handy to find this as soon as you enter a town to have some notion of whether or not you are in the main bit.

The first thing I notice in the town are the murals. Mostly done by Mario Andreoli (pictured above).

Apparentley this first town is the easiest to get to by road making it the most crowded. But at this early hour it certainly isn't busy at all. Although before long a few tour buses start to arrive.

The harbour is really nice and we wander around since the office to buy our passes has not yet opened.

This town was settled in the 8th century by Greek settlers fleeing persecution in Byzantium.

The view with the harbour.

The first walk between the villages is the shortest and easiest. Named Via dell'Amore (Lover's Path), it is a gentle and paved 20 minute walk. Somehow we delude ourselves into thinking that the rest of our journey will be relatively the same. In fact, before I came I always thought the towns were so far apart that you had to spend a day hiking between each with your tent and sleeping bag on your back, finding a campsite each night to bed down. Very Canadian thoughts, I now realise. Nigel on the other hand thought it was a nice easy stroll on paved ground between each and even said he expected to be back at our campsite just after noon. Well, the reality was somewhere in between those. Or another option that a lot of tourists choose is to get a day train pass between all the towns and just train it to each. As we arrive after hiking between each town we repeatedly note the same young American couple sitting at a new restuarant in each town. Clearly someone is not walking those trails!

Manarola is the second town and squeezed up into a ravine up the hill while also teetering over the rock face cliff above.

The town map shows the one main street winding up a steep slope and little passages and stairs surrounding it.

Hey, let's do the tourist thing and pose with the town behind me.

Nigel too.

Just on the outskirts altars are randomly placed in rock cliffs.

Manarola has a lovely main square with an amazing stone mosaic.

A detail.

The next stretch between Manrola and Corniglia is closed. Thankfully (I think) there are alternative foot paths. Each of the Cinque Terre villages is associated with a sanctuary perched high on the cliff-sides above the Mediterranian. According to the Lonely Planet, reaching these religious retreats used to be part of a hefty Catholic penance, but these days the walks through terraced vineyards and across view-splayed hills are a lot less onerous. Hmmm. Really?

My main aim when I read up on the area is to hike between each town and up to each sanctuary. But the first alternative route up to Volastra (associated with Manarola) was tough as we scale 340 metres in the growing heat.

First we climb and climb through row upon row of olive trees.

There is a stern warning to bring both a hat and a lot of water.

The olive trees often have netting tied up under them for harvest time.

We finally reach the tiny village of Volastra high up on the mountain, the only mountain sanctuary we plan to go to.

It is indeed a sanctuary. You can tell not as many tourists make it up this far as it is quite quiet and peaceful. Neither are there trains running this high. Santuario della Madonna delle Salute is pictured above, a beautiful and simple church inside.

Perhaps we delude ourselves again at this point in thinking we are heading down hill to the next coastal town. But no, we are climbing for a while from peak to peak.

We walk through endless vineyards. What I like about Italy is it hasn't yet been caught up with the Health and Safety regulations that the rest of the West has. It is hard to photograph the tiny eroding paths that we cross with cliffs on one side. It is frightening to pass someone going the other way. Often one person has to cling to the cliff while the other holds on to them and places one foot at a time on the other side.

It is an amazing view and astonishing to see people working the vineyards at such a great height.

Every so often we pass a tiny town no bigger than a few houses in the tops of the mountains.

Thankfully we have shade some of the time.

We can't figure out why the majority of the people on the trails and in the towns are Americans when we haven't run into many Americans in the rest of our Italian journey.

In fact, we start chatting to one couple as I notice her shirt is from the Vancouver store, Lulu Lemon. I ask her if she is from Vancouver. No, she says. Lulu Lemon has now reached the States. I ask her why there are so many Americans on the trail. They have no idea but like me also thought it was going to be a vigorous hike taking a day between each village. Some sort of North American myth perhaps?

Finally we reach Corniglia, the smallest and most remote of the 5 villages. It clings to a high cliff 90m above sea level. Above is the oddest statue in the main square. Sort of Vampire meets Zombie.

The little Gothic church of San Pietro there is beautiful in the interior.

And features a marble rose window. We sit down and pull out our lunch to eat.

Here we can finally see a view of the village as we leave it.

A further view that shows how high it actually is. In fact the train station is way down below at sea level and the only access to the village from there is a mighty long flight of stairs. I suppose whichever way you enter this town you look pretty winded.

A view from the top showing not only Corniglia, but the last village of Manarola behind it. The walk between those two villages turns out to be the hardest of all of them. The rest are by no means easy but are less than the last 2 hours.

More olive groves as we descend and make our way towards the 4th village of Vernazza. On our way we notice a bundle of black plastic pipes (no bigger than 2 inches) tied together heading down a ravine. Nigel jokes that it is the towns water supply coming from a spring uphill. We realise as we enter town he is probably right.

We descend from above it.

In honour of our plumber, Les Ward, we take a picture of what looks like a medieval town who at some point decided to put in a water system but didn't want to disturb anything to do it.

Here we have the town's water supply heading to various locations.

And, oh, that house wants water...just stretch a pipe directly to the house through the air. Job done.

The guide books tout Vernazza as the prettiest of the 5 villages and as soon as I enter I agree. The main drag, Via Roma, leads down through the town, is large and feels like one long piazza. There are cafes and restaurants lining it the whole of the way and the town is bustling with activity and tourists even in the end season of September.

We wander around and spot the same young American couple at a table. We left them last as we headed off to this village and presume that like most of the people roaming around they caught the train here.

The harbour is amazing. It is large and all sorts of activity is going on. There is a wall and walkway that runs out in a protective arm (photo from that spot) including a small beach that people are swimming at. We sit in the harbour for a rest and snack and watch all the activity going on.

Okay, I am going to be honest with you. I sort of like the idea of the older man with the skimpy speedo and tanned body/pot belly that you get so much of in Europe. I really do. This man above was the busiest water taxi in the harbour as we sat there. You couldn't help but notice him driving to and fro in his neon yellow skimps. We saw a sign at some pool in Italy along the way that said "No Shorts Allowed. Proper Swimming Briefs Only." There you go, men!

Each town has a main water fountain and many people, including us, fill our bottles at each stop.

Another altar randomly built into the underside of some stairs.

I didn't find this town map right away, but here it is.

We wander a bit back up the hill through the narrow streets to find the trail again.

We decided not to swim this time but to carry on as it has been burning hot for some time and the sooner we get to the last town, the better. We are counting on a beach there.

Vernazza has recently had some terrible flooding and landslides in the town and as we exit the town a nearby house in the hills seems to have recently dropped away into the river bed. You can still see things in the cupboards.

We begin another ascent again. In the burning sun. Centuries old stairs. One step at a time. The blue route which doesn't include all the sanctuaries is 12 km long. We can add to that since one of the stretches was closed and the alternate route (the red route) is at least double that section.

You can just see Vernazza from the height we climb in a short space of time. During this stretch a couple walk by Nigel, read his shirt, and say "Whistler! Hey, I am from Whiterock". Nigel calls out, "my wife is from Canada." A bit later we are hiking right behind them and start up a conversation about Vancouver where I tell them I am from. Somewhere into talking they stop and ask me, "so, how long did you say you visited Vancouver?". I understood them to believe I was British. This stunned me. "I grew up there!" I said. "I have only been in Britain for 7 years! Do I sound British?" "Yes." What?! Nigel said that my accent changes quite a bit when I go back home and he phones me from Britain. He thinks I then sound totally Canadian again. I am stunned. I just can't believe I sound that British. Although when I hear their accents I know I don't sound like them either. But my family has a much milder accent.

We round the corner and catch site of the last of the villages, Monterosso. We are almost at the end, although Nigel has mentioned hiking a further hour up to the mountain beyond for the perfect view of all 5 villages looking down the coast.

After 8 hours of hard climbing in the hot sun we head for the beach, change right there (it is Europe, after all), and head into the water as fast as our tender feet can carry us over the rocks. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Monterosso is the oldest of the villages and was founded in AD 643 when the beleaguered hill dwellers moved down to the coast to escape from invading barbarians. The trail we hiked (blue trail) dates back to the early days of Republic of Genoa in the 12th and 13th centuries and, until the opening of the railway line in 1874, was the only practical means of getting from village to village. The Azzuro (blue trail) is a "narrow, precipitous hike, though people of all shapes and sizes complete it every day" (Lonely Planet). And sure enough there are all shapes, ages and sizes on the trail at even the hardest points. It is quite unbelievable really, but it is a walk that, like me, is on people's list to do in their lifetime.

Monteresso is the chief village of the Cinque Terre and it is not hard to see why. It is the largest with a population of 1800 and the most developed. It has the feel of a seaside resort with the charm of the old. Note the painted stripes on the building above. There is a great amount of trompe l'oeil painting on the buildings that give the illusion of grand arches and sculpted fascades.

The busy town centre.

From Monterosso we catch the train just two stops further up to our campground which we can see the moment we step off the train. Hidden behind the pink house in the olive orchard.

It is one of the best campsites so far and not part of our ACSI camping membership. It is a bit pricier at 25 Euros a night, but well worth it given its location (50 metres from the beach, from the town, and right next to the train station). Beware if you come to Deiva Marina that there are other campsites that are terrible. You will see a sign for 3 campsites across a small bridge in the town along the waterfront that crosses a dry river bed (with an ostrich wandering randomly in it). AVOID the other two campsites unless you want the Shanty Town feel or the Blinding HOT Unshaded Gravel Plot feel. Instead turn left and go to the smallest little campsite nestled into an olive grove called Camping degli Ulivi.

The site seems designed by an architect with its round toilet block hidden in the hill and the sites spiraling out from it. Each site, which is quite large and spacious and on a different level tier, has a sink and draining board. How can you go wrong? There is also free wifi, clean bathrooms, and bidets.

Day 10: Peitrasanta

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Mon, 1 Oct 2012 18:17:00 +0100

We leave Florence behind and begin our drive up to Cinque Terre.

We are heading to the north end of the province of Tuscany and soon into Liguria.

On the way we stop in the small town of Pietrasanta, famous for it marble. It is a town reknowned for sculpting both in the past and the present. It is market day and we peruse the stalls before heading down the main drag.

When all of the painters lived in Florence, myself one, there were 4 students who were interested in sculpture who came to live here for the year. They would come into town for our art history days and trips. Nigel and I head up the main drag, Via Giuseppe Mazzini.

At the end is the main Piazza del Duomo.

In this square sits the Duomo di San Marino with a 36 metre tall bell tower.

Looking towards the other side of the square there are cafes and restaurants lining the piazza.

It truly is a sculptors town as there is a huge exhibition on when we arrive of sculptor Giuseppe Bergomi.

His work is throughout the square and in the local Museo del Bozzetti but it only opens later at 4pm and we have a journey to carry on with.

Inside part of the Museum.

In 1255 Pietrasanta was seen as a prize for the surrounding cities of Lucca, Pisan and Florence who all jostled for possession of it. Florence won and gave Michelangelo free reign over choice of marble in the quarries. From here came the marble for his David and his Pieta.

It is currently the home of many artists including Colombian born sculptor and painter, Fernando Botero.

The town map.

An interesting sculpture in the square.

It is nice to see the town again as I visited the other students here for a few days. I seem to remember the beach was particularly spectacular with its white sand dunes.

In the large vicinity around the town we see marble yards everywhere.

Just a quick shot of another town we drive through which lines their streets with orange trees. A bit of a mess, but if I lived here, I would never buy another orange for all the free ones available!

And off we head further up north to camp at Dieva Marina tonight.

Day 9: A Florence Morning & Food Market

noreply@blogger.com (Michal) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:00:00 +0100

I have one more morning in Florence before we leave. At 7:30am there is a morning mass with the small handful of monks at San Miniato, the monastery/church nearby. We get up early and head over to hear the echoing chants. It is so peaceful and I spend the time studying the altar piece and the art work in the church.
As we come out into the morning we are created by the city of Florence.

We arrive in the streets of the city centre just as the rain begins.

Ponte Vecchio is stunning even in the wet.

We scurry through streets and when the rain really pelts it down we nip into a coffee shop and get a pastry, cappuccino and hot chocolate. I am still loving the city.

Thankfully our next activity is to climb the Duomo which will keep us out of the rain for a short while. At the bottom the sign reads a warning of the 436 steps ahead.

The first part of the church consist of a winding staircase going straight up. Once at the bottom of the dome itself you take a further staircase between two layers of the dome that curves around to the top (pictured above).
"The dome was built between 1420 and 1436 to a design by Filippo Brunelleschi. Taking his inspiration from Rome's Pantheon, Brunelleschi arrived at an innovative engineering solution of a distinctive octagonal shape of inner and outer concentric domes resting on the drum of the cathedral rather than the roof itself, allowing artist to build from the ground up without needing a wooden support frame. Over 4 million bricks were used in the construction, all of them laid in consecutive rings in horizontal courses using a vertical herringbone pattern. The final product is 91m high and 45.5m wide." (Lonely Planet's, Florence & Tuscany)

From the top the view is amazing with Florence's red tiled roofs. I can see the San Lorenzo dome which is at the end of the street where I lived.

From this direction you can see Piazza della Republica.

If you look on the hill at the white church to the right of the towering Palazzo Vecchio you can see San Miniato where we began our morning.

What an amazing view.

But a lot of graffiti.

We begin our long descent down the dome and then onto the regular stairs.

We get up so close to the painted dome that from far away looks full of minute detail. From up close it is extremely loose, but well executed.

We make it down and look back up to the white little pinnacle at the top that where we stood.

We are off again as I want to reach the Mercato Centrale before it closes for the day at 2pm. It was also a block away from where I lived and as a student.

But first a quick look at the Baptistry.

The gilded bronze bas-relief covering the doors on the eastern entrance of the Baptistry were designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti who jointly won a 1401 competition involving the greatest artists of the day for the honour of undertaking the task. His co-winner was Filippo Brunelleschi, who was so annoyed at not winning outright that he withdrew from the project. Both entries can be viewed at the a museum in Florence (sorry, forgot which one).

The doors are cast in a single piece. I think this panel is depicting Joseph being sold into slavery.

we pass by the front of the Duomo.

The rain is starting up again.

We walk quickly through the wet streets.

And in through the doors of the Mercato Centrale (Central Market).

There are a few places that I remember and specifically want to go in the market. First we head to the fresh pasta place where we watch the pasta being made. Marni, another student used to get us fresh pasta for lunch here and I would bake fresh corn bread.

It surprises me to see produce stalls on the lower floor. The last time I was here the large ground level was reserved exclusively for pastas, cheeses, meats, oils, and all your dry ingredients. The upper floor was all produce.

I ask the vegetable vendor if it is just the low season. He tells me the upper floor has been closed for 3 years now. That means the market has shrunk to half the size it once was. I ask him if it is because of the large trend in Supermarkets. I am not sure he understands the question. Above is a dried fruit, wine and oil stall.

I am sad that I won't be able to go upstairs to the older man that I went to every other day to get my produce. There are other changes I notice in Italy as well. The currency is no longer the Lira (but instead the Euro) and I wonder at how our globalisation effects the uniqueness of cultures.

Around the corner and beside the fresh pasta stall is where I always bought my bread. It was normal for the Italians to not speak English to foreigners and if they did they didn't let on until you tried to speak quite a bit of Italian first. Sometimes this could take months to strike up a camaraderie. This was the case with my baker. After at least half a year he finally asked me where I was from as I was now a regular. When I said I came from Vancouver he got excited and said he had been there and had a cousin who lived there. But his stall today is low in stock and no one is there. I take this picture and keep wandering.

What I notice about Italy now is that people won't even bother trying to speak Italian to you even if you start out speaking it. They just revert right to English. I notice supermarkets throughout Europe more and more stocking the same generic global brands. I notice little things slipping that would have been such a trademark of cultures. The Florentines were proud when I lived here they wouldn't swerve on the sidewalk to let you pass. Nor would anyone think to pick up their dog shit.

It just seems easier to get around and do everything abroad as a foreigner now, which I don't think is necessarily a good thing. I think we should be made to work a bit to get into a culture, to understand another view point.
(Above is Pasta Fresca, Produzione Propria, Interno Mercato Centrale, Firenze, Tel: 2302408).

So what has changed? When I was here before it was pre-internet, pre-mobile phone, pre-emails. To call home I went to the end of my street and dialled collect to Canada. We didn't even have a house phone. With the combination of internet and extreme budget European flights, are we quickly losing the uniqueness of our individual countries? Or is it a good thing that more people can move about globally with less hassle?

I feel sad when I see the changes in Florence. I am sad that it probably won't be long before the market is no longer selling food and will only sell what a lot of markets now sell; cheaply made goods in factories with substandard human rights. Nothing unique. Nothing regional. Just generic stuff…garbage really. Or maybe the market will just close.

Well, while I am here I am going to really enjoy this one level of the market.

I head over to the cheese counter. I remember coming to Italy having only ever eaten that sprinkle Kraft cheese called parmesan.

I went to the market and bought a very small wedge of a Parmigiano wheel and the flavour shocked me. That experience repeated itself with a lot of food I was soon to discover. We buy part of a wedge of that cheese pictured above.

Then we discovered this baker in the middle of the market. I remember buying chewy Tuscan bread (unsalted to go with a salty meal). My Italian/Canadian roommate, Ross, showed us how the Italians pour olive oil on a plate and a little pile of salt and dip the bread in each. Delicious! This stall also has the best tasting biscotti I have ever eaten. There are samples of all the flavours set out on the counter.

All kinds of dried funghi.

I am looking for a particular dried pasta this time as I remember having a laugh discovering it as a student. Yes, it is still here!

Okay, back out into the rain. Nigel, come on…one more look at my street.

And the butcher with the dead pigs dressed up and posing is still there.

Are they taxidermy?

Via del Melaranchio.

My old door.

I am sure I have the right house. I remember our landlord was something like Pagliai.

We head back up the hill to the campground.

This is a shot of Camping Michelangelo from Piazzale Michelangelo. Truly an olive grove that hides everything from above. In the camp it is a bit gravely and well used.

We break open our market haul for Nigel's birthday: Tuscan bread, olive oil, biscotti, parmesan cheese, grapes, fresh pasta, peppers, tomatoes, basil and pastry.

When can we eat it????

Now!

A view from the campsite.

We are off on our trail to reach the Cinque Terre region near the border of the south of France.

The directions to the next campsite we are looking for are vague and we wonder where on earth we are going after a long stretch on an unpaved road.

We arrive at Camping Lago Le Tamerici near Pisa which bills itself as an agri-tourism site. It is really hyped up to be amazing in our catalogue and although there were some pluses, we weighed the cons heavily against them.

Pros: it had a nice little lake it is situated on.

There are paddle boats that we can use for free.

Con: other than the one kayak the paddle boats have holes that filled with water and soaked your bottom.

The site is still yet to grow into itself. There are a lot of young trees and plants that will be beautiful in about 10 years, but right now it is a bit like being in the middle of farms. In fact we are surrounded by farms.

Cons: being in the middle of a farm means that the flies are horrendous and you can't sit outside for long. That large electrical wire and tower you see behind our van is extremely close and we can hear it buzzing and crackling all night long sending its cancer rays our way. The toilet block is made of the cheapest prefabricated particle board and completely falling apart despite the site being billed as new. Some of it smells like sewage. The site has what is advertised as a lovely organic restaurant which is why we chose it to celebrate Nigel's birthday. When we arrived we learned it is only open 3 days a week. The shop is also closed and doesn't have much of the basics (basics that we could have picked up elsewhere had we been told we were driving miles down rubble roads). Also, there is no one there! We drive up to an office that is empty and just parked. Someone eventually came along briefly and says they are off again and any problems just ring the number on the window. With what phone? We all had foreign number plates at the site, so we don't have local mobiles.

Pros: It had a lot of nice free amenities that are extra like a lake and boats to use, lawn chairs, and an awning for most pitches.

Comparing the pros and cons we decide it is the most overrated campsite and our most disappointing experience. Did I mention it is right near the Pisa airport? Okay, that doesn't really bother us that much. Nigel just makes a verbal list of all the cheap airlines that will bring us to Pisa as all the planes fly in for landing.