THe glory of a story |
Thoughts and threads of passion and experience that have woven the fabric I call my life. Sharing experiences, memories and ideas so that they are out in the world for you to find when the time is right.
THe glory of a story |
We started today off by enjoying the breakfast provided by the hotel, where the proprietor actually served us our choice of coffee and we could enjoy croissants, yogurt, boiled eggs, small sandwiches and breads baked with meat and cheese in them. The breakfast room is as pretty and well decorated as the rest of this hotel. We were given direction to the laundromat, which we have been really needing, so we decided to start our day by getting that chore done. I was a little opposed to the idea of wasting warm, sun filled hours sitting at a laundromat, but Cecil convinced me that we needed to actually do some 'work' for a change, and that it was important. On the way back to the hotel to get our duffle bag of clothes that needed to be washed we gave the old fellow who was begging on the side street 4 Euro. He had caught my eye on the way past the first time. He was older, thin, tired looking and i noticed he was missing a leg. He said Gracia, but when he realized how much we'd given him he repeated it with a warmth and appreciation that told us that he wasn't used to more than a few cents. An hour later we passed him again as we were leaving the laundromat. He looked up and realizing it was us, gave me the biggest, most genuine smile I've seen on another person's face in a long, long time. Made me even happier for the decision that we did make. We made his day, and in return, his response made mine. As the last of our laundry continued to dry, we went and sat at a little cafe across the street and two doors down from the laundromat. At the quaint outdoor table, able to watch the coming and goings at the laundromat, we enjoyed what was to us, one of our most authentic Italian experiences....enjoying a cappuccino on a small, Venetian street, watching the people go by, the pigeons explore, and the world carry on. It was quaint, and quiet and perfect. Exactly what i had pictured time in Italy to be like, away from the touristy crowds, and breathing in the moment! Two cappuccinos later, our laundry was done, and we headed back to our hotel, to put the clean clothes away, and enjoy the rest of our day! After having a lunch in the square a few blocks away, we meandered the streets and alleys until we finally made our way back to St. mark's square. We'd seen most of what we wanted to see there, and knew the crowds would be much worse then in some of the places we've been exploring, but still there was a hoodie that we'd seen on sale there that actually noted most of the cities we've seen since starting our tour on Saturday, and Cecil wanted to get one for himself, to remember more of our tour than having something that mentioned just one place would provide. As we made our way back, we stopped for a rest, a water and a beverage at one on of the hundreds of cafes along the way. It was time to rest long enough for Cec's leg to quit hurting, then headed on again. We added to our wine-cork collection, finding some that had masks on them, my focus for today, as being the cheap souvenir shoppers that we are, everyone was getting a wine cork! We looked into dozens of purse stores as well, as I really had it in my mind that I should have an authentic Italian bag to take home....I knew it wasn't imperative that I did, but still it would be kind of neat to get one. We came back to the hotel to relax for an hour or so, prior to heading out to meet with Beca, Craig and Haiden from Australia for dinner tonight. We've not had a lot of chance to connect with them, although there has been a bit of relationship, and certainly with Haden after yesterdays adventure, but when we were saying goodby to the rest on the tour last night at the restaurant, they mentioned that they too were staying here, so we decided to meet at 6pm and have dinner together. I am looking forward to getting to know them better. I loved the little hotel we stayed at. I asked the lady at the front desk for her name as we came back up, so that I could mention it on 'TripAdvisor' and her reaction was Mamma Mia...I think it was a good thing! Anyhow, she gave me her name. Everything about this little place is great...it's so clean, the tiling is so tasteful, and the little touches are awesome. I will be the first to admit I'd likely not have taken a second look when passing by. I am glad Cec thought we should, and pushed to go further. As I sit here writing prior to our meeting with the Australian family, we have the window open, and I am listening to the sounds on the street below. I love that there are no motors, or honking horns or motorcycles buzzing around here. Just the sounds of footsteps and voices wafting up through the open window. There is a certain magic to that, because where else can you experience that? Certainly not in any other place I have ever visited, except maybe home! I have decided that without a doubt, Venice is one of my favourite places to have visited, and could definitely see trying to get back here some time in the future. But in reality for me the future holds the hope of continuing to explore and see many other places that we've yet to discover. A month ago, Italy was a priority for me, Venice maybe just something interesting while there. Reality, in Venice I feel that I have found much of what I imagined would be Italy for me....small winding streets, interesting colours, smells, sounds. I think I have found what I came in search of. I just hope that when I get home, and have some time, I can make sense of the hundreds of pictures, and notes, and scraps of papers I have accumulated so I can share this experience with those that are interested in expanding their own horizons. In the final 10 minutes before we head down to meet with Beca, Craig and Haden, I have reread my top 5 passions and the markers I created for them. They feel very good, and very right to me. I need to keep reading them, and refining them, and living them. That is what this journey is about. To create and live in a world that is joyful and wondrous on a daily basis, making it meaningful at each bend in the road. That is how I choose to live my life daily from here, and I am blessed that I am able to do that. Life is so good! We had a great evening with Becka, Craig and Haden, new friends from Australia at a lovely, but overpriced restaurant on the canal. It was great, but it was sad, knowing as much as we enjoyed our time with them, we'd likely not get to spend time with them again. Bittersweet, but amazing that we are blessed with these meetings and experienced. Life is so great.
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The next morning we returned to the square for our official tour of the area. This time, much of the square was underwater, as the tide was higher, and the water seeps up into the cracks. We then realized what all of the table like structures that were stacked about the area where all about, as we found many of them set up along the way as a raised walking path to get us through the wet areas. Louisa, our tour guide, shared the history of Venice with us, and showed us the castle, the prison, and a tour of the Cathedral. After our time with her, we went on a tour of the Murano glass factory that is directly behind the square, and saw one of the artists create a vase and a small horse for us. It was fascinating work to watch. When the display was over, we were taken to another room and given a bit more of the story of the various colours of glass, as well as the opportunity to buy. I ended up getting a necklace for myself, thinking that might be the only thing that makes it back without breaking. The other glass was lovely, but just not our style at home. Our next event was the Gondola ride. Some folks had advised it was expensive and not worth the money, but for our little group it was a highlight of our time in Italy, and in Venice in particular! We spent most of an hour gliding through the many canals of this beautiful city, our group being serenaded by an amazing singer accompanied by an acoustic guitar. He sang for us almost the entire way, I videotaped a couple of clips, and would love to have had the opportunity to do it all, but I think it would have used up all of my recording space! After our gondola ride, Mario escorted us to a little seafood restaurant on the outskirts of the square. Not being much of a fish eater, I wasn't particularly taken with the restaurant menu, and the prices were fairly high, however everyone in the group who enjoyed seafood loved it, and the lasagna Cecil and I shared was very, very good. The greatest afternoon of the tour came after the ride. Ten of us decided to make the walk back from St. Mark's to our hotel, and managed to wile away the entire afternoon doing so! It was one of those days that you know will be marked in your heart as one of the great ones ever. Mike, Betty Ann, Elly, Debbie, Wanda, Buddy, Dane, Samantha and the two of us made our way through the winding streets and alleys, taking time to browse in shops and enjoy a couple of drinks at various stops along the way. There was so much laughter as friendships deepened and memories were made. How lucky were all were to be sharing that moment in time, on the banks of that amazing city. At the end of our day, it was very sad to say goodbye to all of them...hoping that we will have the chance to meet again sometime down the road, but knowing there is a very good chance that our paths will not cross again. The good news was that with today's technology, we can all stay connected virtually, and in fact we all have. Friends around the world! What a blessing! When we got back to the hotel, we checked into the new one we found. We headed up to our new room and realized what a little jewel we had found. The room was spotlessly clean, and the decor had obviously had time spend in making sure each little feature and detail had been take care of. It was the largest, most comfortable room we've had on our entire trip. The bathroom is a little smaller, and the shower a tighter squeeze than we're used to, but those were minor details considering the other offerings. Unfortunately, I mistakenly erased all the pictures of the hotel from my phone, so I guess you'll just have to take my word for it! It was lovely! We finally reached our last destination of this tour, Venice. Upon arrival it was overcast and dismal, but the city is still breathtaking, and quickly became my favorite city on the trip so far. Being a UNESCO protected site, there are no cars or bicycles allowed in the city or on the island, which makes it so much more relaxing to visit and explore. An entirely different pace, much more relaxing that some of the earlier places have been. We stayed the night at the Hotel Principe, on the Grand Canal. The hotel looked tired and dingy on the outside, as many of the buildings kind of do, but inside it was beautiful and quite luxurious. Our room, on the second floor, looked directly out onto the canal, and onto a world unlike we have ever seen. Our dinner that night was at the little restaurant two doors down, a lovely Salmon Penne, fallowed by Bass and Salad, and a custard dessert. We were a little concerned about where we were going to stay the next few nights, but walking into the restaurant, someone noticed a vacancy sign in a small hole in the wall doorway. We went to check it out and found a beautiful little hotel, only 16 rooms, with the friendliest lady, who showed us the room we could have at a price of $170 Euro per night, the cheapest I had seen anywhere close in this area. She confirmed it for us on only our word, and we left for dinner more relaxed, knowing where we were going to be, and that it was only two doors down from the Hotel Principe, so we didn't have to drag our bags all over the city looking for our next accommodations! After dinner we all gathered for an evening tour of Venice. We took a boat over to St Mark's Square, enjoying the sights, smells and most beautiful, the sounds of the square at night, the orchestra that played in front of one of the cafes. The square was fairly quiet, compared to what we found the next day, except for the many peddlars, trying to sell us their roses, spinning night lights, and flying toys. It gets a little frustrating trying to enjoy the experience when you are continually being approached and interrupted by those that I know are trying to make a living, and make their way, but who refuse to back off and take no for an answer. This mornings trip took us up into the mountains, on a very windy, foggy road, with many tunnels and even more big semis trying to manoeuvre through the dense traffic. The views that we could see where beautiful, but the fog often obscured the view. At around 10am we arrived at Bolgne. I know when I saw Bologne on the itinerary, I thought it looked like a stop that would have little of interest but many of us on the tour found this to be one of the most enjoyable. The town was one of the cleanest we've seen yet, they even have their own leaning tower. It's the home of the oldest University in Europe, and it's own selection of beautiful statues ad fountains, the most famous being 'Neptune'. After looking through the city, we connected with a number of our fellow travellers, and found one of the best little restaurants we've eaten at yet. Cecil enjoyed the mussel and clam spaghetti, while I had a pumpkin tortelline in a balsamic reduction sauce. It was amazing....my favourite meal yet as was the baking that we bought at a little shop just down from the restaurant. A couple of hours after leaving Bolgne, we arrived in another town (look up, starts with P), where we visited another Basilica, this one called St. Anthony's Cathedral. The town had the largest square in Europe, surrounded by statues. The rain started again as we got to the Cathedral. It was massive and huge, with the tomb of St Anthony on one side, and a collection of relics in another room, including his finger, vocal chords and what seemed to be one of his robes. There was lots to be seen, of course no pictures could be taken, so what we remember will be all by memory, but the challenge we all found was that nothing was expained in English, so for our group, it was a little disappointing, to see so much but not to know what it was that we saw. We went through fairly quickly, and crossed the street, past the statue done by Donettelli, to the St. Anthony's bar/cafe for a drink with Betty Ann and Mike before loading back on the bus to make our way to Venice! We spent a relaxing couple of days at Mark and Faye's. Dinner and a visit with Mark Sunday night, then as expected, he was off and running, but Faye took time to show us the sights of the area. We spent a lovely day touring Zurich, eating roasted chestnuts, trying the chocolates of the specialty story. It was great. We felt bad not having the energy to explore the church that Faye took the time to show us, but truth is we were enjoying all of it but maybe just a little toured out after four weeks of travel. As we ended our trip I was surprised, as I never really thought I would be this ready to go home, to find my space, my place, my routine. It was all calling to me. The business of the Zurich airport was almost a final straw the crowds, the lineups, the people. I was just looking forward to the quietness of being home. I am blessed that I have that to return to now. It made me more aware that I don't think I could ever do something that would mean I wouldn't have the place place we have to go home to. The tranquility that it provides me, that sense of home, grounding and stability that I get just knowing I have the peace and comfort that awaits me to return to. On the plane ride home, as I looked through another plane travel magazine, I realized that I really don't have any desire to travel to far off places now. I wonder if it's just the going home, the time away, the busyness of the many days and experiences behind us, but facing this long flight home, I can only keep thinking that future travel plans will see us staying closer to home, on our own continent, exploring areas closer to home, focusing on photographic excursions, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Mexico...we'll see. This adventure is over. On the plane ride home, as we talked about boats and thoughts about spending more time on the water, either coast or on Lake of the Woods, I enjoyed the conversation, but could only really think of the peace in my valley. We'll see. Life on the water is something that calls to me. I feel deeply that that is something that would give us the opportunity to live life at the speed we choose, and ultimately live out the dreams of our hearts. But at the end of the day I have come to realize that for all this travel has offered me, there is nothing that I love more than the home I have and the life I have there. I am blessed, and I am ready for my own little bed. Namaste.
Started the day with a morning tour of the Florence Museum. I am so glad that we did! There we had the chance to see some of the most amazing work of Michelangelo. His David was there, as well as a collection known as 'the prisoners', which were a series of sculptures he was working on that had been commissioned by the Pope of the time. When the commission was cancelled, Michelangelo stopped his work on them and never picked it up again, so the series was never completed, but was truly remarkable! To be able to see the rough, unfinished markings on the stone from which the art was being extracted was amazing.
Our tour guide, Giovanni, continued with us and showed us the Cathedral, the squares, the statues and the political center. We eventually ended up at the square of the church where Michelangelo and Leonardo DiVinci are laid to rest. I believe it was called Basilica of Santa Croce. although I am not 100% certain, and in looking it up, I read DiVinci was laid to rest elsewhere, so I may have misunderstood. Doesn't matter, it was all breath-taking! After an hour of lunch and shopping, and a lot of rain...but it was time to head to Pisa. The ride was about an hour long, and as we arrived there, the rain started to let up a bit. We were told we'd be taking a train from the bus parking lot to the town center, and when we arrived a little 'MacDonalds' train was waiting for us. It was quite cute, and good for a laugh. Pisa was remarkable. The tower was what took us there, but the entire center was amazing from the Baptismal, to the Cathedral and finally the tower. It was the first place where we were able to take pictures of the entire inside of the buildings, so it was great to be able to capture some of what we've been able to see and not record before. We had about an hour during which time we found some more wine corks for our collection, met a peddlar from Kenya who gave me a coral turtle for some reason, which is beautiful, but I don't really understand the reason for. Maybe he just recognized me as being from Turtle Island. We ran into Betty Ann and Mike from Niagara Falls, and had a drink with them. Great people, and a great opportunity to get to know them just a little bit better. When we returned to the hotel, prior to dinner, we went down for a drink and got the names of all the people that we've been chatting to but haven't met before. Paul, Di, Elly, Debbie, Sara, Kate, Sally, Lee....all from Australia or New Zealand. Very cool! Very friendly, and very welcoming! Dinner was good again, not as good as the night before I don't think. We started with lasagna, followed by a main course of potato, spinach and I think pork. For dessert we got a bowl of fruit to share amongst our group of six. That was different! We finished our dinner and headed up to our room, both very tired. It can be exhausting living your dream while wide awake! At the end of most days, I can hardly even believe that we are here still, and seeing all that we're seeing! Great day, but long and busy. We were up and going shortly after 6am to get packed and head over to the Hotel Diana to leave on our 4 day tour. The last legs of our journey through Italy, heading north to eventually end up in Venice. We got going out of Rome about 8 am, after loading all the tour participants from 3 or 4 different hotels, 37 folks in all. After about an hour, we had a pit stop at a little roadside cafe that looked like it had the most amazing pastry. Sadly I wasn't ready to eat any more after having had the hotel breakfast prior to leaving. I still regret that missed opportunity, it looked so good! Our first stop was at Assisi where we had the opportunity to tour St Francis Basilica. We had the opportunity tour of both the chapel and the crypt where he is buried. It's amazing to see the response of dedicated Catholics at his tomb, almost 900 years after his death. I was truly moved by their passion and love for the man. We ate lunch at a great little restaurant in town, then carried on where our next stop was Siena. There we had a 20 minute walk to get to the Middle Ages town square, and had another hour or so to tour and relax. We decided not to go to the museum, instead enjoying our time in the square, taking pictures and exploring the courthouse. Finding wine corks representing the area to add to our collection, we went and had a couple of drinks at a cafe that offered free wifi. Deciding to have a bite to eat there, we ordered an appetizer that we assumed to be a 'fondue' of some sort, based on the name 'fondue' but what we got was a plate with arugula lettuce covered by some mild meat, maybe pastrami, with some cheese melted on. It wasn't what I'd expected, and the dish didn't do anything for me, but the bread they served with it was great. Nice, white crusty bread. Another reminder that we should have learned more Italian! Upon leaving Siena we carried on for our first night's destination as we headed on to Florence. After lunch, we continued the tour, but it was already almost 4 and decided we'd had about enough bus riding and touring, as my foot was starting to throb after my attempt at jogging last week (really, who did I think I was kidding :) ), and Cecil was still not feeling 100%. We checked out a few of the shops closer to our hotel, went to the rooftop bar for a drink, then headed out to explore the route we'd need in the morning so that we would know where we were going the next morning to catch the tour bus. For supper we wandered just a little further down the street from where we ate the previous night. We found another little restaurant with tables on the street, and opted to dine there. I'd say it was likely one of the best meals we'd, Cecil having a Sicilian Salmon dinner, and I the lasagna. As the place filled up and got more crowded, a couple were seated beside us, almost elbow to elbow. As we began to talk to them, we realized that they were from Kenora, Ontario! They knew so many of the people we know there...it was a little freaky! We met more neighbors in one day in Rome than on any trip to Winnipeg! We enjoyed an hour or so of great conversation with them then headed on our way. By 8:30 our day had caught up with us. We headed back to our room for an early night to be ready to be at Hotel Diana by 7:15 the next morning. Part of us felt guilty that we were not out exploring more of the sites and sounds, but the reality is that there are just more people, honking horns and rushing cars than we can handle more of for one day. That one of the challenges of being a hill billy in the twenty first century. We'd never seen so many tour buses coming and going from any city we'd been in before, and the sheer number of tourists was mind boggling, considering it was the last Friday afternoon of September. Not at all what I would consider the busy season....so I wondered what the busy season was like here! I still regret that we only had one day here to explore, because I am sure if we didn't have to cram it all into one day, we'd have seen so much more, but I felt blessed that we actually had the chance that we had. To see for ourselves, as much as we did, while we both have the good health to enjoy it. What a Great day. Got up good and early, feeling that the sooner we got going, the more we might see. We hadn't even got across the street when a young woman selling tickets for the hop on/hop off tours managed to grab us. It was what we'd already made the decision would make the most sense to us, so we got started by 9, being jostled by dozens of other tourists waiting for the buses. Why did I ever think I was the only one that might want to tour Rome? Our first stop was the Colosseum, where we decided to sign up for a tour by someone who could explain it all to us. It was absolutely amazing to be standing in what's left of the building where its estimated 700,000 people lost their lives in the 400 years it was actively used. What was most amazing, that most of those lives were sacrificed in the name of entertainment. What a structure for what was available 2000 years ago. It was amazing to see and walk through. As we were waiting for the second tour to start, the folks we were touring with began to gather, and I heard one of the fellows say he was from Brandon, Manitoba! Talking to some girls from Calgary! To come so far away and be bumping into people that live an hour away! Crazy! The tour included a later tour of the birthplace of Rome, the Forum and the place where Caesar was murdered. We were walked through the area by a man named Paul who originally came form Denver, Colorado. He'd been in Rome 13 years, studying the history of the birthplace of civilization, and brought much of that history to life for us with his knowledge and his stories. As we sat on a broken piece of a marble column, listing to his tales, we realized that this could easily be a column that Julius Ceasar might have brushed against himself, in his days leading Rome. Crazy to think about, to be in these places that have been part of every history lesson we had growing up as children. The tour included a later tour of the birthplace of Rome, the Forum and the place where Caesar was murdered. We were walked through the area by a man named Paul who originally came form Denver, Colorado. He'd been in Rome 13 years, studying the history of the birthplace of civilization, and brought much of that history to life for us with his knowledge and his stories. As we sat on a broken piece of a marble column, listing to his tales, we realized that this could easily be a column that Julius Ceasar might have brushed against himself, in his days leading Rome. Crazy to think about, to be in these places that have been part of every history lesson we had growing up as children. We found the bus after that, and made our next stop the Vatican. After a long walk from the bus drop off, through the dozens of peddlars trying to sell you their wares, we ended up in Vatican City. One of my fondest hopes had been to see the Sistine chapel, and the statue of David, but the line up of people heading into the Vatican Museum must have been well over 500 people long, and stretched around the entire outside of the circle enclosing the Vatican. I am sure had we decided to push through for the museum tour, we'd have waited in line for 3 to 4 hours, and with that many people ahead of us, I am not sure what we'd have even seen inside. So we made the decision to let it pass, and started making our way back down to the bus stop. We were both getting pretty tired from all the walking, so decided to stop in one of the restaurants on that strip for a light lunch. The prices definitely reflected the tourist area we'd wandered into...but they had chairs, bathrooms and water. I was willing to pay for that! So, as you know, this blog is all about living MY passions. My work with life coaching and being a Passion Test facilitator allows me to help my clients figure out and work towards their goals and dreams. I love doing that, there is nothing more rewarding, however, if I am going to be doing this work authentically, I need to walk the talk, and so here is where I share how I do that. Don't get me wrong, I don't spend all of my time travelling, taking pictures and playing music. However, I do make those things a priority that I work towards on a daily basis, because those are my passions. It's been a lot of work to learn to say no to the things that matter least, so I can shout a resounding YES to those things that matter most to me. In living this passionate life, I've always fancied myself to be a pretty good photographer. I've had a camera in my hand since the age of 6 or 7 when my Dad gave me his old square box one from the 40s. When at 19 my parents offered to by me a car, because they'd neglected to earlier, and had done so for both of my siblings, I chose instead that they buy me the Canon AE1 35mm Program camera instead, as it was the newest, hottest thing on the market at that time. And my passion continued to grow. As time has gone on, I've come into the digital world and have gone through a number of good cameras, continuing to move up the ladder and love the snapping! Especially now that I'm not throwing money into the fire by having to pay for the hundreds of pictures that weren't really all that great once they were developed. Over the years, I've continue to enjoy the hobby with no real training. Now that I'm living my passions more intentionally, I decided that it might be good to see if some of this passion could be translated into an income that would allow me to enjoy more time with it, and so it was that I recently signed up with Dreamstime. A new adventure has begun! What I can tell you is that I have much, much to learn! That has been a really good lesson for me at this stage in my life. One things you've figured most of it out, but I've learned that in the world of stock photography I really don't know a darn thing. But that's okay! I am a life long learner, and this is one more lesson that has come my way. I'm loving it! These photos , sadly didn't make the cut. But, the good news is that from what I'm beginning to learn from my mistakes is paying off in that now my photos are beginning to. This, like everything worth doing, is going to be a much slower, harder journey than I first thought it would be. But I know it's going to be well worth it in the end. Now, do I mean well worth it in terms of money earned as a stock photographer? Not likely, but who knows about that. Time will only tell. But well worth it in that I'm giving myself permission and a push to pursue something I love, love, love doing. I'm looking at my photography through a different lens now you might say. Realizing that there is much more I can be doing to turn my passion into a craft. Taking time to read all the tips and suggestions and yes...getting better at it. Sometimes success lies in just knowing you're improving at whatever it is that you're passionate about. For now, I'm good with that....so off I go to snap away! Note to my readers: I need you to know that if you do decide to click on any of the advertisements on my site, I may receive compensation as an affiliate of these businesses that I support...but I hope you know that in doing so you are supporting my Freedom 55 plan and my dream of living my life in sandals! Merci!
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