….from my daughter’s impressive garden in Hamilton
New Flower (August 21, 2016)-Red/Pink Roses
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Category Archives: Family
Riding the Trains in Italy
…..I love travelling by train but I’m not so sure I would buy a rail pass again
Travelling by train can be very relaxing and is less stressful than driving a car throughout Italy. Our travel agent booked first class rail passes for six days for us ahead of time. Our first trip from Venice to Florence in first class was wonderful but half of our trips didn’t even have first class compartments. We probably could have saved a lot of money buying tickets as we needed them.
One of the things we learned about travelling by train is that you have to have your tickets validated at the station and you must fill in the dates you travel on the passes. My husband had been filling in the wrong portion of our passes and one kind conductor handed him a pen and instructed him to fill it in properly. He could have fined us each a 100 euro. On our last trip to Rome our son, his new bride and her parents didn’t know that the tickets that they purchased from a machine in Assisi had to be validated in another machine. Unfortunately the conductor on this train was not so forgiving and charged them. They tried to explain that they didn’t read Italian and no one told them about this extra step when purchasing tickets. He thought he was being generous when he reduced the fine to 33 euro but when my daughter-in-law was not happy with the compromise he became quite angry. In the end they paid the fine but we couldn’t help but think that the money was being pocketed by the conductor.
Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge 2016 – Week 31
….Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge can be any photo that doesn’t seem to fit into any other category
I have no idea what possessed my sister to kneel on the ground like this. I’m pretty sure she’s not praying. Her husband took this shot somewhere in Italy.
This smiling face greeted people in front of the store in the town of Lucca.
Venice Architecture Biennale 2016
….featuring different aspects of architecture from around the world
One of the must see venues in Venice for my family on our recent trip was to take in some of the Venice Biennale exhibits, mainly the the Victoria and Albert contribution curated by our son.
For those who have never heard of biennales let me explain. A biennale takes place every two years. They are large international art exhibitions dealing with contemporary issues around art, music and architecture and take place all over the world. The Venice Biennale was founded in 1895 and highlighted city marketing, urban regeneration and cultural tourism. This year’s theme is titled REPORTING FROM THE FRONT, and is curated by Alejandro Aravena. The show runs from May to September and the exhibits can be found at the Giardini and the Arsenale.
The exhibit our son curated in agreement with la Biennale di Venizia and the Victoria and Albert Museum out of London, England is titled A World of Fragile Parts and focuses on how the production of copies throughout history and today has aided in the preservation of cultural artefacts.
This exhibit highlights the new technologies that make it possible to fabricate copies of historical artefacts that are ravaged by war, tourism and environmental factors. For more information about the exhibit go here.
Old technology using plaster casts.
New technology using digital scanning and 3D printers.
Unfortunately while we were there our son was not so to prove that we actually went and saw the exhibit we posed in front of the sign for A World of Fragile Parts. Even the baby got involved by pointing out her uncle’s name on the list of credits. A week later Brendan did go back to Venice to give a talk and teach a class on the exhibit.
My only regret is that we didn’t get to see more of the Biennale. Two days in Venice is not enough time.
Where to Stay in Venice
…..hotel, Airbnb or VRBO?
Accommodations in Venice vary from luxury hotels to simple one bedroom Airbnbs.
For our first two days in Venice we opted to stay in a small hotel called Villa Rosa in the district of Cannaregio. It was close to the bus stop and train station and a little less busy than other parts of Venice. We had a small room with a double bed and a twin and a crib. For two nights we figured we could stand each other enough to all sleep in the same room. Admittedly the baby had a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings and ended up sleeping in the twin with her mother both nights.
To get to our room we had to climb up one flight of steps and then down another to get to the back of the hotel where our room was located. In the morning we had breakfast in the hotel where a continental breakfast was served every morning.
The roads (pathways) to and from our hotel were narrow but we never felt unsafe. Literally a few hundred metres from our hotel was the Airbnb that our other daughter and her wife were renting. It was a cute little place with one bedroom, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. Everything was very modern, clean and air conditioned.
My sister and her family were also in Venice at the same time. They arrived one day earlier and stayed on day longer. They rented a place through VRBO that was located within walking distance from us in the same district. It was very large, spacious and beautifully decorated with Indonesian and Asian artefacts. The downsize was that it on the sixth floor and the elevator was broken. Apart from that there were three bedrooms, two modern bathrooms a huge living room, a small walk out and a quirky little kitchen. The views looking over the rooftops of Venice were wonderful. On our first night there we all got together and enjoyed a great Italian meal prepared by my brother-in-law.
My only regret in Venice is that our stay of two days was too short. You need at least four days and if you are staying that long and enjoy cooking and shopping Airbnb or RVBO is the way to go.
Till next time, Ciao!
One Word Photo Challenge – Child
…..thanks to Jennifer Nicole Wells for this week’s theme Child
Travelling through Italy with our granddaughter was delightful. After Venice we took a train to Florence. Even at nine months she’s very inquisitive and it was fun watching her discover the world around her.
In our apartment in Florence she helped us unpack the groceries.
I’m Back and Excited to Share My Journey
….I’ve finally returned from my trip of a lifetime to Italy
We stepped through our front door on Tuesday evening after being on an airplane for 9 hours, at the baggage carousel for at least an hour and then two hours in a car. We ended up driving to Hamilton first to drop off our daughter and Winnie. We stayed for a bit and had a much needed cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Then we packed up our dog, Frances and headed back to Toronto. By the time we got to bed we had been up for about 21 hours.
Luckily for me I managed to sleep through the night but my husband was up at 4:00 and Winnie was definitely on European time, getting up at 2:00 and 4:00 and then again at 7:00. Not only did she wake up but she stayed awake for an hour or two each time.
When I checked my emails I had over 1000. Needless to say that checking and replying to each one is next to impossible. I apologize in advance to my followers whose emails I had to delete. Even deleting emails takes time and I’m now down to 300. I’m hoping to read most of them.
I’ve managed to upload about half of my photos to my laptop. I’ve asked my family members to send me more shots, especially with ones of me in them. At the family wedding I didn’t have one photo of me in either of my cameras. Luckily my brother-in-law and nephew took lots and they promised to send me some.
So for the next couple of weeks I’ll definitely share some of my adventures and certainly many of my photos from Italy. For now I leave you with a small sampling of my 17 days in Venice, Florence, Bologna, Lucca, Assisi and Rome. Enjoy!
Packing for Italy
….busy cleaning up the library and last minute details for the big trip to Italy
I’ve been rather amiss with posting on a daily basis this last week. School is finally finished but I have to admit it’s been a rather stressful couple of weeks.
How stressful, you ask? Well enough to keep me from even getting this post finished. I started this post eight days ago and I’m already in Italy. We’ve been having some issues with Wifi here and I haven’t been able to get onto WordPress or Facebook until today. Presently we’re in Florence and we have a fantastic apartment but this morning we had a power failure. After a day of touring we discovered that we still didn’t have power. Luckily our landlord lives right next door and the problem was fixed with a flick of a switch from his place.
Now I have to figure out how to get my photos onto this device.
This is a shot of our granddaughter on the flight to Italy which I took with this iPad. So far she’s been a great flier.
Hopefully I can figure out how to get some more photos on here to share with you. Otherwise you will have to wait till I return in ten days.
Ciao!
Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge
…thanks to Ronovan Writes for this week’s prompts Cheers and birth
Ode to a Wedding
Cheers to this twosome
at the birth of a new life
together forever
Love from your Mom
Share Your World 2016 – Week 25
…..check out Cee’s Share Your World and join the fun
How many languages do you you speak?
Basically I speak two languages, English and German. German was my first language and I understand it very well but I am very hesitant to use it. Growing up I had to go to German school on Saturdays and I hated it. Whenever my parents or their friends spoke to me in German I would answer in English. When I turned 18 I sang in a German choir and did so for 27 years.
What are some words that just make you smile?
The first word that makes me smile is my granddaughter’s name – Winnie. I can’t help but smile when I think of her or hear someone utter her name. Come to think of it all the names of my loved ones make me smile. Other words that make me smile are love, art, summer vacation, cottage, puppy and party.
If you were the original architect of one existing building, which building would you select?
This is tough because there are lots of buildings that I would be proud to put my name on, even ones that have been somewhat controversial. I love old and new but I think the one that stands out for me at the moment is the AGO. It is a combination of old and new. Several years ago it underwent a renovation and I simply love the lines and all the wood on the inside. The architect is Frank Gehry.
Day 1
New addition: The Italian Gallery
Would you rather have telepathy or telekinesis? (Telepathy is the communication using your brain waves, telekinesis is channeling the energy onto physical objects to cause substantial, observable physical changes.)
I think I’d rather have telepathy. It would be neat to be able to send messages without opening my mouth.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful for being able to check off more items from my to do list. As you know June is extremely busy for me at school. Every time I’m able to cross off another item it takes a huge weight off my shoulders.
Things that are done:
2 retirement parties- collected money and bought gift for one
Jump Rope for Heart – money collected and prizes distributed
Report cards written, proofread and printed
Timetables for next year organized
Father’s Day gift bought and BBQ with the family
Year end school concert
Rehearsals for grade five farewell
book club for June
finished paintings with the students for the stage
son’s wedding via the internet
city finals for girls’ soccer
taking 78 students to Jays’ baseball game to sing the national anthems
This week I’m looking forward to the grade 5 farewell assembly, play day, cleaning up my office in the library, the staff party and making final arrangements for our trip to Italy. Most of all I’m looking forward to getting on that plane next Saturday. Phew! I’m tired just thinking about it.
Mama Cormier 