Kohunlich

Wednesday the 29th started with a yummy breakfast of coffee and P's delicious baked goods before we got on the road around 11:30am for the hour drive to Kohunlich, a ruined Maya city. The drive was uneventful and we arrived before 1pm at the site. The next threehours was spent wandering over the ruins and enjoying the jungle. The temple of the Masks is not to be missed but neither are the views from the 27 Steps Building.We saw a pair of toucans on the way out which was a treat as they are quite shy. After our trek through Kohunlich, it was off to Chetumal (the big city!) for shopping at a grocery store in the mall! A bit surreal to go from the wilderness of the Yucatan to the bustle of the city so quickly ....

Tacos for breakfast

After a night of catching up with C&P (and a few drinks perhaps), the next day began with a leisurely coffee and excellent Patricia oat cake. We watched the birds and planned out some things to do while here before the four of us headed off to the local roadside taco stand.

It was the best taco breakfast ever. The men each had four, the women three and some coca cola was shared. The tacos were excellent and the bill came to $15.

Adventure in Mexico!!

We decided to do a little something different this year for the annual birthday vacation. Christos brought me to Mexico. We came down to see friends that have been living down here for the past few years - Crispin and Patricia (also known as C&P). we arrived in Cancun on Monday nad spent Monday night at a hotel close to the airport. On Tuesday we got up early, picked up our rental car and began the four hour trek to Bacalar..


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We arrived in good time after buying some 'speedbump' Pina and oranges roadside from a group of Mexican women.
The weather is perfect and we settle in quickly to the slower pace of life in a little Mexican town..

Stay tuned, more adventures to come.

Sancerre and Owls

From the hilly Auvergne we drove north to the plains of the Eastern Loire. We stayed the first night at a charming B&B near chateau La Verrerie and the second night in Sancerre itself. The weather was not co-operating at this point with intermittent rain and cool temperatures. After dinner the first night at a small commune style restaurant (only one menu choice; take it or leave it!) we settled in to our room when Lisa suddenly noticed movement at the window. Peeking through the curtains she spied two Barn Owls perched on the window ledge. The next hour was spent watching them fly through the night and perch on the window/porch or barn across from our room. What nutters us city slickers are for wildlife!

The next day it was off to Sancerre with a quick stop at a local chateau (Henry IV of France spent a night in it according to our guide) and visit to marketday at a small town (where we purchased an entire grilled chicken!). We wandered the town of Sancerre for a few hours under cloudy skies. We tried a few wines, buying two bottles, but at this point we were a bit "wined out" so when we discovered a Pub that served Guinness we stopped for a pint, returning after dinner for more pints of the same and some watching of the local Saturday night action. The next morning it was off to our next and last European destination ... Paris.

Chateau De La Vigne - Snails and Ruins

We drove from Ferme des Soulies up to Chateau de La Vigne in the Auvergne near the pretty town of Salers. After a stop in Bergerac we arrived at the chateau in the early evening and were a little surprised as to the actual state of the chateau (a little rundown) versus the appearance on the website (shiny and new!). The couple that ran the chateau were also a bit odd, while the lord of the manor was quite nice, convivial and engaging there was just something a bit off about his wife. Nevertheless we put our misgivings behind us and decided to stay three nights. The first night we had dinner at the chateau with two other guests; food was decent but nothing overwhelming. Our first full day was a bit of a waste, we visited the town of Salers but it was a cold and rainy day so after lunch we retreated to our room, lit a fire and watched TV on the computer all night as it rained. The next day the weather improved and we went for a visit to a snail farm which was awesome. We learned all the facts about snails (such as their two day cycle of mating and that they are hermaphroditic) and then bought more snail victuals than should be permitted! Lunch was at the snail farmer's recommendation; a tiny restaurant up on a hill overlooking the valley; nothing fancy but a real locals place and the beef was the local Red Salers beef; suffice it to say this lunch happened to be the best steak we had all trip! After lunch we drove to the ruins of Branzac castle where we puttered about for a bit before returning to the chateau for our last night ... although the Louis XV room we had was a bit odd, for some reason we had the best sleeps of the entire trip at Chateau de La Vigne; whether it was the bed or the bordeaux we were slurping back is hard to know!

Sylvie and Ferme de Soulies!

Our next stop was a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere! (Actually close to the town of Casteljaloux) The farmhouse also had a pottery studio; Sylvie was a potter. They had two dogs, (Nene and …), three black horses, two cats and three chickens that wondered freely around the farm. The farmhouse was fabulously decorated and our room was great. Saturday night the B&B was full but we were the only ones for the rest of our time. Our hostess guided us to a good restaurant for dinner and afterward we took a walk around the little town. We came upon the town pub and the live music of “L’histoire d’a”, a local band. Their families – the wives singing along and the kids all dancing and sporting band t-shirts – made up most of the crowd. We really enjoyed the performance!

The next day at breakfast it became apparent that Sylvie was fabulous!! She served carrot/orange juice and lots of home baked goodies. Everything was organic and tasted great. We had lunch in town and then lazed around for the rest of the day, feeding horses and chasing the chickens. Another great meal on Sunday night in the cave of a castle where we were one of three tables in the whole place. Surprisingly, the service was fantastic!

Monday was pottery day!! Sylvie taught us both to do pottery, it was a long and tiring day. Lisa loved it – working the clay on the pottery wheel was much harder than it looked and managed to complete two pieces. Ctos had a harder time getting the hang of it but managed to create a fabulous bowl. That night we ate dinner with Sylvie. She was alone most of the time at the farmhouse as her husband worked on an island off Spain and was rarely home. Dinner was great – Sylvie took great care in the food she prepared.

On Tuesday it was time to leave, after a brief visit to the town market where a fine selection of veggies and veal stew were acquired. It was kind of sad to say bye to Sylvie, we enjoyed her company so much and I think she enjoyed ours. But… another adventure awaited us!

St. Emilion and beyond…..

We ventured from Camarsac to St. Emilion to explore more of Bordeaux. St. Emilion was nice but very touristy and pricey. We climbed the tower in the middle of the town square. The tower was quite high and the stairs skinny and worn. Probably why there was no one else in the tower! The view form the tower was amazing in all directions.

We decided to leave the actual village in search of a better deal on wine. It was Saturday so many of the wine chateaux were closed but we managed to find one. The proprietor was hosting a tasting for others and didn’t have much time for us. However, he had a young American that was working at the winery who was helpful and walked us through a small tasting. We bought only one bottle – tres cher!

We drove through a smaller town called “Montagne de St. Emilion” and stopped the only person we saw to ask if she knew of any wineries. She said she’d make a call. After the call she gave us very clear directions to a winery that we should visit. Turned out the winery belonged to her parents! They were absolutely delightful and were trilled to have us visit. We did a tasting and then they gave us a tour. Their vineyards were very small, only about 4Ha. We bought a few bottles and they gave us a bottle and a wine opener to remember them by. The wine wasn’t the best so we decided we would drink it on our travels. (We are currently drinking the last bottle!)



We had a long drive ahead of us so we said goodbye and headed to the countryside!

A day in Bordeaux - World Cup Madness

We drove down to Bordeaux and stayed in a small town (Camarsac) just south of St Emilion for the night. On the way in we picked up some wine from Fronsac (a region to the NW of St Emilion) for a reasonable price and had quite a bit of fun chatting with the vendor and listening to his laments on wine making in the region (Summary - the expensive wines are mostly marketing and the art of wine making is being lost as big companies buy up production for sports events and ignorant bankers). At Camarsac we stayed in a nice but expensive B&B (everything in Bordeaux is expensive) and enjoyed dinner prepared by the owner (Dominique) consisting of White Asparagus starter, Magret entree and Tiramisu dessert. It was all excellent. During dinner we popped into the living room on a few occasions to watch the France vs Uruguay game. Dominique's children were done up in their best team France outfits (see picture). As Lisa has a fear of horses and there were several on the B&B grounds (it is a small farm) it was Ctos' intention to make her confront her fears head on. After feeding the horses some carrots and old bread it seems that Lisa is starting to think that perhaps horses are not so bad after all!

Chateau De Forges

We spent four nights in a medieval castle in a very small village (Forges, a “suburb” of the village of Concremiers) in ‘no where’ France. It was unbelievable. The hosts were wonderful – Alexandra and Hugues (and Orly – the dog). It was a castle that was built in the late 1400’s by an ancestor of Hugues who served as the winemaker for Charles VII and has been in the family since then. The family lives in the main part of the castle and they have a guesthouse with three rooms that they rent out. We were lucky enough to be the only guests for all four nights. Our first day touring was a Tuesday and it quickly became apparent that most of the sights were closed but we didn’t mind so much as we just walked around the castles, churches etc instead of walking in them. The day ended with a wonderful experience; hearing evening Vespers sung by the Benedictine Monks at the Abbey of Fontgombault! We were so moved we ended up buying some lovely pottery made by the monks; all Ctos’ fault. Our second day of touring we visited the Abbey of Villesalem but it is closed until July so we just walked around it, and saw a pheasant on the road nearby. We then drove to the church at Antigny which has amazing paintings on the walls and the nearby abbey of St Savin which has amazing frescoes on the ceiling; all very awesome. Our third day we tried to go for a hike in the nearby Parc Brienne but about an hour in the rain started and did not stop! So we hustled back to the Chateau de Forges and played some Carcasonne and relaxed. Had two amazing dinners while here; one at the Swan (escargots, fresh fish and steak) and one at a one star Michelin rated restaurant called Christophe Cadeua in St. Savin (how is it French towns with a population of 2000 have such amazing food?).

Ahhhh Paris!

After our tour of northern Italy, we had had enough pasta and were ready to get to France. We were so excited to get to Paris and enjoy it with Anna and Adam. We flew from Milan to CDG and then taxi to the lovely apartment where we spent the next four nights with the ‘Lewingreens’. It was located in the 9th, a district of Paris we had never stayed in before. It was perfect.

The long weekend we spent in Paris was full of walking (and I mean a lot of walking), drinking, eating and more fun than should be allowed. We actually ate in a few nights as there was a chacuterie just around the corner that was fabulous. We walked up to Montmartre, did the obligatory (really expensive) drink at “Les Deux Magots”, walked by but didn’t visit many (due to ridiculous lines) of the major attractions in Paris. We did visit the Cluny museum, which houses a series of tapestries that are breath taking.

Our last night in Paris we ate at a really good restaurant and then wandered the streets, stopping for drinks a few too many times. It was an extraordinary time in Paris mostly because we shared it with great friends!

After our last night, we ventured out of Paris to the chateaux de La Loire. The Lewingreens came with us to get out of the city. We drove for far too long but finally arrived at one of the prettiest chateaus in the region. After a quick visit we dropped Anna and Adam off at the train station in Tours and continued to the French countryside.

The next phase of our adventure…..

Paris!!!!!

Too busy having fun to blog.

Ciao Italia!

Our last night in Italy (Lake Maggiore) and we returned to our favourite restaurant; El Camino. The pasta was just too darned good! We ordered the lasagna, the ravioli (as starters) and the penne arrabiata (as the entre). Had a nice bottle of wine as well (Melchior 2004; nebbiolo and 5% merlot) ... now its off to Paris and some fun with our friends Adam and Anna.

Ciao Italia!

Sailing Lake Maggiore

Today was spent visiting two islands in Lake Maggiore; Isola Bella and Isola Madre. Both were previously homes of Italian noble families and both had sumptuous gardens surrounding them. It was a great day! The palaces were filled with all sorts of interesting things from paintings to old dolls and old puppets and even an ancient (Roman era) small boat that had been preserved in a bog. The best part by far was the gardens which were filed with exotic plants, trees and birds. Lisa fed one bird a small piece of bread and it practically charged her demanding more. Now we are just about to head off to dinner at a restaurant in an old monastery.

Awesome Pasta!

Had dinner last night at a restaurant called Camino. Great view of Lago Maggiore and awesome pasta. We ordered the Penne Arrabbiata and the Ravioli Riccota and after finishing our plates we ordered the Ravioli Riccota and the Penne Arrabbiata! Woke up to another beautiful day on Lago Maggiore. Off to see the islands today!

Lake Maggiore

We arrived at Villa Pozzo D'Anone on the shores of Lake Maggiore on Saturday night. Quite a lovely lake and a lovely Villa. We quickly discovered that there were only a handful of guests at the villa as it is not yet high season for Italian vacations. As such, the restaurant was not yet open and other amenities were a bit scarce. Fortunately, the owners decided to upgrade us to a suite and offered to serve us breakfast in the room (normally an extra charge). So the negatives (restaurant and fitness facility closed) were more than made up for by the positives (suite upgrade, breakfast in room). The day we arrived it had been stormy so the first night was a bit damp and chilly. Fortunately the weather started to clear up on Sunday (partial clouds) and by Monday it was great (blue sky, twenty-five degrees). We had the best value for money dinner so far of the trip on Saturday; Ctos had an excellent fish soup (really a mussels, clams, crawfish and shrimp soup) as well as a good pasta while Lisa had a yummy piedmontese ravioli. Our first full day was spent touring about; driving to the top of Mottarone (a ski slope in winter; see picture) and visiting the shores of lovely Lake Orta. On Monday we discovered we were the only guests, the rest having been here for the weekend alone. We spent Monday relaxing and reading in the sun.

One night in Florence

So we arrived midday in Florence. We have been here before a long time ago, with Julian and his parents, but didn't mind coming back for just one night. We visited Il Domo.. It is unbelievable how many tourists are here and it is not even the height of summer yet. We sat on the steps of the church watching the 'gypsies' begging and then becoming quickly scarce when the carbinari were in sight. We finally ventured into the church, Il Domo is quite beautiful but still pales in comparison to St. Pete's in Rome.

We then visited a 'paper' shop on the way to our hotel.. It's a shop run by a few older gentleman who are the best sales people I have ever experienced. As soon as I walked in one of the guys showed me how they make their special hand painted paper, he was really sweet. They usually charge 4 euros for a sheet but they gave it to me as a gift - the gesture was so nice!


So we are only here for one night and then off to the lake region for more relaxation.. Life is good!

Dievole in Tuscany Part II

It is our last full day at Villa Dievole and we have had a wonderful time. Yesterday we tried to go to Montalcino with a quick trip to Siena to start. We did not get far as it was market day in Siena (ie crazy with no parking) and we soon realized Montalcino was quite some drive away. So instead we toured about north of Villa Dievole. Lisa was an excellent driver, Ctos was a bad navigator. After much driving on bumpy roads we finally made it to Monteriggione in the afternoon which was quite fun (see Lisa as Sir Lisa Lovesalot picture from the local museum). We made it back to Villa Dievole in time for dinner in the Cellar which was awesome ... as is sometimes the case with us when enjoying ourselves we may have had a bit too much of the free flowing wine and were up until 2am with two other couples we met

Dinner with GianFranco

Our first night in Tuscany we had dinner at our friend GianFranco's (the Italian wine merchant we met on our bike tour earlier), his wife and two other guests (Karina and her husband Edmundo as well as their lovely seven month old daughter Sophia). It was quite lovely. A nice pasta with pumpkin, zucchini and leek followed by roast pork and dessert of fresh berries and ice cream. The bottle of Brunello was excellent! After dinner, conversation lasted until just about midnight and then Lisa drove home on windy dark roads. All in all an excellent night; thank you GianFranco and Gigliola!

Dievole in Tuscany

We took the train to Florence from Lucca and rented a car for the drive south to Dievole which is a resort about 10 km north of Siena nestled in vineyards. The resort is wonderful, with good food, excellent service and fine wine. In less than an hour we are off to a wine tasting in the cellar! The photo in this post is from a nice spot on the 2km walk that the resort has through its grounds.

Lucca!

Took the train from Verona to Lucca ... was supposed to be 4 hours but ended up being 5 as we missed one connection (by 20 seconds ... saw it pull away from the station!). Had a good dinner the night of our arrival and wandered about a bit. Today we rented bikes from the hotel and biked around town. Climbed the Guinigi Tower, descended under the Cathedral (which had layers all the way back to Roman times - see photo) and raised a glass of Brunello. Tomorrow we are off to a castle-resort about 12 km from Siena (situated in 400 hectares of Chianti vineyards!) for two days ... Lucca is worth the visit.

Duble Buble in Verona

We biked 40km to Verona, the last day of cycling. When we arrived we discovered an open air market on the main street near the ancient Ampitheatre. Ctos unleashed the shopping beast and bought wine, olive oil, salami, cheese etc. After a rest at the hotel it was out for dinner. We wandered about for an hour until Ctos found a place that looked good as it was not too brash in its exterior marketing. A few minutes after we sat down for dinner (near the entrance), who should walk in but Michael Buble, his Brazilian supermodel girlfriend and two others (bodyguard and assistant?). Turns out Buble was performing the next night at the ampitheatre. We managed to get a photo of Buble and Lisa together ... The funniest thing was that a few hours later as we stumbled back to the hotel (having polished off two bottles of wine at dinner and street beers later) whom should we find in the hotel elevator but Buble and his crew again! Ctos is convinced Buble is following him!

White Snow and the Seven Bicyclists

After having met GianFranco on the way to Pescheria De Garda, he invited us to dinner with his group of seven bicyclists that evening.

His group are all men who get together once a year to ride without the wives etc ... the boys week! We had a great dinner overlooking Lake Garda and chatted (mostly with GianFranco as his English was the best of the group) about philosophy, language, culture etc. GianFranco suggested that Lisa was "White Snow" and his group the "Seven Dwarves".

Lake Garda

Had a great ride today to Lake Garda, although we could have done without the head wind! Arrived at the north end of Lake Garda and took a boat to the south end. Ontario may be the land of lakes but Lake Garda puts them to shame. We struck up a conversation with Gianfranco, one of a group of seven bikers who is doing the same ride as us (although they end in Mantua and we end in Verona). Had dinner with the seven bike guys in Pescheria De Garda; very reasonable prices and excellent food. Gianfranco is in the wine business and has given us some ideas of places to go in both Tuscany and Piedmont. He even says he can arrange a cellar tour or two for us!

Merano - Trento

This was the longest ride of our cycling.. 70km Lisa was very nervous but the ride turned out to be no problem. The weather is starting to improve.. although it is still chilly in the shade. Cycling has been fabulous. It is along a cycling trail.. We met Jose on the trail, he asked us to take his picture. Jose put it all in perspective... he had been on the trail since somewhere in Germany and was cycling for 20 days straight.. Jose was probably late 50's and carrying all his stuff on his bike.

We are now firmly in Italy.. No more German food and language.

The church and it's history on Trento was fascinating - the changes in the architecture of the Church over hundreds of years and the ancient Roman ruins that the church was built upon.

We ate at a fancy restaurant off the central square. The food was good but unfortunately the service was not..

We are looking forward to getting deeper into Italy.. Food , wine, and the people.

Trauttsmandorff in Merano

The town of Merano was the second stop on our ride and although it is not well known today, in the past it was quite a popular holiday destination for its alpine beauty and spa. We visited the Trauttsmandorff Gardens and Museum which was just amazing! The gardens are extensive having several walks such as "trees of the world", "the sun gardens", "landscapes of south Tyrol" and "the water and terraced gardens". The gardens also contain an aviary (with colourful parrots etc) and the Trautsmandorff museum of tourism which outlines the evolution of the region as a tourist destination. A special exhibit on the olfactory sense was also quite interesting. All in all we spent over 3.5 hours wandering around (and this after the day's ride!)

Resia Pass - the Ride Begins!

The day started chilly and there was some debate as to whether riding was a good idea...

Our driver took us up the Alps to Resia Pass where it was a balmy 4 degrees! Lisa wisely decided not to ride and took the car back down to Silandro (our destination for the night). Ctos refused to be intimidated and layered up for the ride.

The 45km ride was amazing. Sure it started chilly but by the end it was quite nice and the layers were all in Ctos' saddle bag.

Raising a glass - May 15

We took a short train ride to Italy.. Happy to be in a land of much better food. We arrived in Bolzano - It's cold and riding is supposed to start tomorrow..

Back at home, our friends Laura and JP are getting married. We wish them a life of health and happiness and raised a glass to them while eating at the Betzenhaus.

Innsbruck

We trained from Vienna to Innsbruck, just under 5 hours on the train. The weather has not been great and seemed to be even worse when we arrived in Innsbruck. It was raining on and off and unseasonably cold. And in typical Lisa and Ctos style, we continued to wear our Birkenstocks (definitely my shoe of choice... just like Auntie Linda!) This was cause for lots of staring as we walked through the quaint old town.

Innsbruck is a beautiful place, burrowed in between the snowcapped mountains. Full of tourists, it is a great place biking, hiking and skiing enthusiasts. Our visit here was only one night and in the early evening the light rain gave way to an all night downpour. Locals indicated that Innsbruck is actually well known for its good weather and this was an anomaly. In warm sunny weather, this place would be incredible. We saw the golden roof and visited the museum to learn more about it.

By far, the best thing about Austria is the beer.

Austrian Wine

Just outside the city proper of Vienna, there is a small wine region with vineyards and all!

We ventured outside the city to check it out. It was a bit if a let down, not the winery and tasting opportunities that we are used to. However, we did sit down at a local place to taste at least one wine. The wine was okay but more interestingly, it was served in a mug.. Yes a full mug of wine – worthy of my mother (and Auntie Sandra!)

Beer Garden!

We arrived on Monday morning. Note that Austrian Air is worse than Air Can...

Austria reminds us both of Berlin / Germany. Yesterday we visited St. Stephens church -- it was nice but nothing really compares to the Pope's house.. We also went to a museum and learned about Elisabeth the Empress of Austrian Empire - it was interesting. Food is pretty good and the Beer is amazing!

Nothing says Austrian like a Beer Garden! It truly is the melding of two beautiful things...

Tickets have been purchased!

Toronto to Vienna May 9th!
Paris to Toronto June 22nd!

Under Construction

The trip has been planned, changed, planned and changed again. I think we have figured it out but you won't know for sure until we book the tickets.
Stay tuned!

Isis

She snuggles us at night, wakes us up in the morning and guards us in the shower.

The bottom shot is Isis in 1998 at 9 Hanna Avenue, a raw industrial loft space that Matt and I lived in for a wild and crazy year!