Tag: Culture

Posted in Culture, Food, Travel

Portugal – Part 1

Posted on by pierreo

In May, Bee and I spent two weeks traveling around Portugal. I had only spent a few days in Lisbon and therefore most of it was a new discovery for me as well.

We started in Porto. A beautiful ancient city on the Douro River. Walking around town, we ended up near our first church, not a major attraction as it is not even listed in our guide-book, called the Church of the Clergy (Igreja dos Clerigos) but decided to go in and marvelled at the intricate decorations inside – baroque at its finest (for some people I guess!)

What is more remarkable, and listed in the good book, is the Torre dos Clerigos, the church’s bell tower. The view from the top is reported to be quite nice, but 225 steps on a small spiral staircase and the line to buy tickets dampened our enthusiasm…

Much more impressive is the fortress-like Igreja da Misericordia. There is a small park in front of the church from which there is a spectacular view of the Douro River and the other bank, full of storage and ageaing warehouses for the Port.

This was taken inside Igreja de Sao Francisco, one of the best and most elaborately decorated churches in Porto. It is next to the Palacio da Bolsa (the local Chamber of Commerce) and attests to the wealth of the merchants, at one time, in this city. We visited the Bolsa as well. Continue reading “Portugal – Part 1” →

(1887 Page Views)

Posted in Food, Travel

Tuscany after New Year

Posted on by pierreo

After five great days in Florence, Bee and I decided to go explore the Chianti area between Florence and Siena.  We took the long way there, stopping in Pisa first.  I had not been in Pisa for a few years and the last times I was there, the Campanile, also known as the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” was leaning a little too much and under severe renovations.  That is all done now, and the view coming into the Piazza dei Miracoli is back to where it should be, to me, one of the best sights in the world …

We started by visiting the Battistero, not visible on the picture above but facing the Cathedral.  The interior was surprising to say the least.  It looked as much as a formal meeting place for political discussions as a place where young babies are introduced to the Catholic faith.

You can climb the tower again.  This is done in groups of about 20 people every 1/2 hour.  You book your ‘time’ in advance and hope the weather does not change too much just before you get to go in.  It was threatening to rain, but held off while we were in line.  The visit begins inside, at the bottom of the tower which is hollow! I forgot that.  There is an explanation of the history of the tower and the restorations, which reduced the lean by a few degrees and actually stopped it from going further.  Quite a success considering that 10-15 years ago, people thought there was nothing to do and the tower would eventually collapse.

There are instruments inside the tower which measure its position to make sure that everything remains safe.

It is a bell tower and therefore there are bells at the top.  Here is a panoramic view of the carillon.  Being so close, I Was happy it was not time to ‘ring’ the hours, or call the faithful to mass.  That would have been very painful, I bet.

The view of the Piazza dei Miracoli from the top is spectacular.  The Cathedral is in front, obviously, then the Battistero and to the right, you can see the roof of the Campo Santo.  In the distance, Marina di Pisa, now a place where beachgoers go to private beach resorts but formerly the source of the wealth of Pisa with access to the Mediterranean Sea and the spice trade.

Continue reading “Tuscany after New Year” →

(1351 Page Views)

Posted in Culture, Travel

Florence at New Year

Posted on by pierreo

Ok, so I am a little behind.  I have been busier than usual since this trip in Florence at the end of 2012, but I am still within almost 1/2 year…

Bee and I decided to spend a few days in Florence and then a few in Chianti right around New Year.  I had just removed my cast and so needed the exercise.

An absolute “must” if you go to Florence is the “Firenze Card”.  You can get one for one or several days and it gives access to many musea, free use of public transport, but best of all, you can cut the lines at most musea and churches as if you had pre-booked your ticket.  A huge time saver.  While visiting the Uffizi Gallery one early morning, we discovered, through a window, this great view of the Ponte Vecchio – difficult to get this vantage point anywhere else.

One evening, I took a night shot from the other side.  Without a tripod, I had to place my camera on the edge of the other bridge and use my remote control to trigger the shot – 2 second exposure!

Still in the Uffizzi Gallery, we found a terrace, with a coffee shop where we had more unusual views of Florence.  The Duomo is so crowded in the middle of other buildings that it is not easy to get an overall view of it.

The Palazzo Vecchio is a different story.  It was so close that even with my wide angle lens, I was not able to get a good shot.  This is none photos stitched together.  The tower looks even thinner and flimsier in this shot, but I really like the whole ensemble.

Continue reading “Florence at New Year” →

(4396 Page Views)

Posted in Culture

Ardennes, then and now

Posted on by pierreo

During a recent trip to Arimont, Bee and I decided to stop at a recent addition to the local scene.

We discovered the Baugnez 44 Historical Center.  Here is the link: http://www.baugnez44.be/

It is a very well put together story of World War II with an emphasis on what happened in the area during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

The museum itself is situated only 100 m away from the American Memorial in Baugnez, on the road between Malmedy and Waimes.

I did not have a camera, and the weather was not great, so I have had to borrow other people’s photos, for once…

 Photo borrowed from Wikipedia

This is the site where 80 American Prisoners of War were massacred by their German captors during the earlier phases of the campaign.  This event was recreated in the movie “Battle of the Bulge” from 1965.  This was not the only such war crime perpetrated by the German troops, but it caused the largest loss of American POWs lives in one incident.

Several soldiers survived the massacre by “Playing Dead” and their interviews can be heard in the museum.  The memorial itself is, as always, sober and peaceful.

Following the massacre, there was a trial in Dachau in 1946.  Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject:

In what came to be called the “Malmedy massacre trial“, which concerned all of the war crimes attributed to Kampfgruppe Peiper for the battle of the Bulge, the highest-ranking defendant was General Sepp Dietrich, commander of the 6th SS Panzer Army, to which Peiper’s unit belonged. Joachim Peiper and his principal subordinates were defendants. The Tribunal tried more than 70 persons and pronounced 43 death sentences (none of which were carried out) and 22 life sentences. Eight other men were sentenced to shorter prison sentences.

 

(888 Page Views)

Posted in Culture, Travel

Saint Petersburg – Russia

Posted on by pierreo

In August Bee and I spent a long week-end in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This is a place I had heard a lot about and it was several years that I wanted to come here. I just needed a good excuse.

On the first day we had organised a walking tour of the city, very useful to get orientation and see where the major attractions are.

We started along one of the many canals, the canal which formed the original city limits called Fontanka as it originally fed fountains in the Summer Gardens. Along the way, we ran into the current main building of the Saint Petersburg University.

Impressive building – it used to be one of the many palaces belonging to people who gravitated around the Tsar and his family.

Further along, we noticed this Church with sky blue dome and golden stars

There are churches and canals everywhere. This place is called “three bridges”.

This is Nikolsky Cathedral, actually built for Peter’s wife Empress Catherine I – the bell tower is well removed from the main building as is typical in Russia.

Here is the church itself, with typical pastel colors and gold domes

This is the Mariinsky Theatre, probably the best known cultural venue in Saint Petersburg where the Kirov ballet used to perform in Soviet times – now it has reverted to its original name and is known as the Mariinsky Ballet Company, still one of the best in the world.

Continue reading “Saint Petersburg – Russia” →

(4411 Page Views)

Posted in Culture, Travel

Iceland – Part 1

Posted on by pierreo

I do apologise – I have fallen behind (way behind) in writing these, but I will try to recover during the winter break and my forced stay at home…

In June, yes, six months ago, I went to Iceland for a week.  I had a great trip which started in the most convoluted flights I ever took.  I looked for different possibilities, but the best one was to go from Brussels to Munich then to Berlin and finally to Reykjavik, arriving around midnight local time, or about 2AM Brussels time.  The only redeeming factor for this flight was that it was cheap, and I only needed to pay 150 euros extra to fly business class!

I did check to make sure that the hotel near the airport where I was to spend the first night was still open at that time.  They assured me they were.  And I understood why – this is a veritable “rush hour” at Reykjavik Airport!  There were several other flights from Europe and the US which landed just before me, and several scheduled to land in the next hour.

I spent the first night near the airport then rented a car and drove towards Stykkisholmur, town where I was to spend the next three nights.

The road was picturesque and here is the first photo I took.

This is Hvalfjordur, a fjord – can you say that in Iceland? – near Reykjavik.  There is a shortcut via a tunnel, but I took the long way around the whole thing.

The weather is great – sunny and cool and I am just enjoying the fantastic views everywhere I drive.  The road (2 lanes, country road, but the only one going where I am going and no traffic) crosses a river, and I notice a man fishing in the rapids.

Iceland reminds me a lot of New Zealand – very wild, huge scenery, few people.  I think I am going to like this!

On the way, I stopped in Bogarnes, a small town with a famous museum about the history of Iceland.  Before going to the museum, I walked around town.  I am not quite sure what this was all about but must have been some party – there are also empty beer cans and red decorations all over.  I think it has something to do with the summer solstice as I arrived in Iceland on 23 June.

I finally make it to Stykkisholmur, where I will spend next three nights.  This is the largest town on the Northwest side of Iceland, one of the gateways to the Western Fjord area – I decided that was too far for me on this short trip.

The view from the harbour with a mountain strangely covered by a single small cloud.  I was at the view point for a while, and the cloud changed, but never moved from this positions. Strange!

A general view of Stykkisholmur with the harbour at the forefront and mountains in the back.  The strange building in the middle is the local Church – a stunning building that I will explore more fully later on.

Continue reading “Iceland – Part 1” →

(1799 Page Views)

Posted in Culture, Travel

Scotland – Part 3

Posted on by pierreo

This is part three of the Scotland trip – after the islands, we went to Inverness and the infamous Loch Ness, with a monster?

But first we went to Elgin and on the way stopped at an old distillery turned into a museum. Great visit, but boy was it hard to find… The Dallas Dhu Distillery was shut down about 30 years ago and has now been turned into a museum.

The nice thing about being a museum is that you can get closer to equipment, and even peer inside – this is where the hops are mixed with hot water before they are allowed to ferment.

They have restored and preserved several Fermentation tanks.

There are two stills, made of copper as always. Scotch Whiskey is double distilled to get to about 70% alcohol before it is aged. In some cases, we were told that the product of the distillation process has no flavour at all; all the flavour is gained in ageing in oak barrels. However, if this were true, why use high quality grains and water, and where does the “peaty” flavour of some whiskeys come from?

Continue reading “Scotland – Part 3” →

(2258 Page Views)

Posted in Travel

Scotland – Part 2

Posted on by pierreo

With much delay due to a number of other activities, here is the second part of my recent trip to Scotland.

We took the scenic route from Skye to Scrabster, where we would catch the ferry to Stromness, on Mainland, in the Orkney Islands. It is not a long drive, but took us almost all day as we decided to stop whenever the view was nice.

We drove along the West coast, on a small windy road that was quite pleasant. Occasionally, the view got even better. There are ruins of a castle on a spit of land in the middle of a loch.

and there were nice flowering bushes in places as this is the end of spring.

Leaving Scrabster on the ferry – here is a view of the light house at the entrance to the bay. It looks like the keeper had a large wall-enclosed garden to take care of as well.

There were many birds on the cliffs as we were heading out. There were also many nests in the cliffs, but too far away for a good view.

We had a great day for the ferry crossing – bright and sunny but not too hot.

Continue reading “Scotland – Part 2” →

(1784 Page Views)

Posted in Culture, Travel

Bhutan 4 – The People and the Festivals

Posted on by pierreo

I am sure I have said so before.

When I travel, I still marvel at the architectural, natural and historical sites that I visit – those are usually the reasons why I travel to a particular place.

However, more and more, it is the people I meet, and those I just accidentally cross paths with, that I remember and who make the places I go to most memorable.  In that respect, Bhutan is no exception.  We saw, and met, and crossed path with wonderful people everywhere and only very few of these are represented in the photographs that follow.

We were scheduled to attend at least one day of the Paro Tsechu, and annual festival held just outside the Paro Dzong.  What we did not expect was to happen onto another festival in a small temple near Wangdue.  As we approached, we heard music, and what we saw after that was pure magic.  I will do my best to try and share these with you in the next photos – there are a few more than my usual posts, but I am sure you will agree with me that this was worth it.

Coming back from one of our very firsts walks, we ran into two school girls going home after class.  They were very impressed by the fact that they ran into foreigners I believe, but what I like the most about these is the expression of Lebo in the first and Kipchu in the second picture.

In another village in the Haa Valley, we ran into an old couple doing work in their “garden”.  They stopped briefly to look at us go by than he went right back to work.

In the same village, we ran into this lady petting he puppy in the local temple.

A constant theme for the whole trip was the devotion and superstition of the people we encountered.  We ran into several people who were walking with these “contraptions” which had been blessed at the temple and were to be located around the village to ward off evil spirits.

We went to the Farmer’s Market in Thimphu, which is an incredible mixture of sights, sounds and smells!  This lady had a great selection of vegetables of all different colours – however she was unimpressed by the fact that I was taking her picture …

Her attitude changed once her friends started to clown around to have their picture taken.  Look at her smile now.

Continue reading “Bhutan 4 – The People and the Festivals” →

(1472 Page Views)

Posted in Culture, Travel

Bhutan 3 – Phobjika and Punakha

Posted on by pierreo

We left Thimphu to go up to Phobjikha.
However, in between the two, there are two high passes and a very low valley; so this was to be the longest driving day of the whole trip.
We started by driving up to Dochu La, a pass at over 3500 m from where, on a rare clear day, you can see the Black Mountains and the high Himalaya, with several peaks over 8000 m. Considering that we had had a lot of smoke everywhere we went due to forest fires, we had limited expectations, until we arrived at the top and saw this!

The bus erupted in enthusiastic applause… These photos do not do justice to the spectacle that was in front of us. We could see many high peaks including the highest mountain in Bhutan, somewhere on the right of these photos.

Near the temple that was built by the wife of the fourth king to celebrate his victory against Nepali insurgents in the South of the country (this sounds like it should have occurred in the 1800 but actually was in the late 1990!), we were given access to high power binoculars that gave us an even better view. The person responsible told us that this was the first day in many where the view was this good. The previous day was totally blocked by smog!

A more limited view, but closer to some of the peaks – this is a single photo as opposed to the panoramas before which were made up of many photos.  This one shows the highest peak in Bhutan – flat top above and to the right of the trees.

Opposite the temple, the Royal Mother also built 108 chortens in honor of her husband.

Continue reading “Bhutan 3 – Phobjika and Punakha” →

(1385 Page Views)