Our slideshow

For those who just can't help seeing a few more pix of our Europe trip, here's the upload on our slideshow:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hersh.kline/Europe2010Slideshow#

Europe, 2010 -- an overview of our trip

On July 3rd, Catherine and Sierra flew to London. A couple of days later, about 20 Grade 8 kids from Sierra's middle school (and a handful of parents) joined them for a 9-day tour of London and Paris. Catherine and Sierra then took a train to Amsterdam, and Hersh flew there from Vancouver. We all converged on The Conscious Hotel (seriously!!! that's the name!!!) within a few minutes of one another. We spent 3 days in Amsterdam, then on to Berlin, where we joined Savannah in our "home exchange" flat. Ten days later, onto Prague for 2 nights; then, to Bolzano for a night, the Dolomite mountains for 3 nights, Venice for a couple of nights, Assisi for 2 nights, and finally Rome for 20 hours.

The following blog is in reverse chronological order, starting with the end of the trip in Rome, and going back in time to London.

Please enjoy our blog of the trip!

Hersh, Catherine, and Sierra

20 hours of Rome

Shall we stay in Assisi one more night and head out at 5 in the morning to the Rome Airport, or go to Rome the day before, have one night there, and see what we can see? While it would have been splendid to stay longer in Umbria, we chose the latter, and were glad for it. Rome was spectacular! Somehow we fit in many of the major sites. Sierra loved the Trevi fountain, Hersh, views of the coliseum and Piazza Navona, and Catherine, the grandeur of it all! This morning, Sierra had a little Facebook time while we walked up to the Spanish Steps, then back to the hotel via Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica.
We’re on the flight now, just descending into Toronto, and have been reflecting on what a great trip this has been. No one city or place stands out as more special, no experience “the ultimate.” It was all memorable. Hersh is recalling all of the cobbled streets we walked on – from the S-Bahn Station to our home exchange apartment in Berlin, to the castle of Prague and the Jewish Quarter, to the winding and steep narrow roads of Ortisei, Venice’s curvy narrow paths, and of course Assisi’s walls and roads. Then, Rome…
We feel content, rich in experience and time together, really away “from it all.” To cap it off we have a few days in Toronto with family.

Assisi and Perugia

Assisi and Perugia
A five hour train trip from Venice brought us to Asissi, where our host Alessandra picked us up at the train station. Then she and her family—husband Fabio, Lorenzo (7) and Sophia (6) graciously hosted us for 2 nights through a Homelink hospitality exchange. We hope they come our way next or perhaps we will meet them in New York for a third location visit in the future. We adore them all.
Staying with a local family is a wonderful experience—seeing the town through their eyes—the church within the church at the Basilica dedicated to St. Francis, the hilltop medieval cobblestoned piazza full of lively kids and families at 11 pm at night, the Etruscean castle in the heart of Perugia. There were many highlights: Catherine also went for a 11 km run with Fabio at 6:30 am, part way up the Assisi hilltop and Hersh visited Santa Tecla, the Franciscan monastery he camped in 33 years ago. Sierra played with the kids in the pool, hammock, sang Black Eyed Peas songs together, and did Sofia’s hair and makeup. Despite not being able to speak any Italian and them, and the kids little English with us, we developed a wonderful connection. Ale is an English teacher, and was a fantastic interpreter for us. We figure 2 months together and all would have 2 languages down pat. It may happen someday…
ASSISI HIGHLIGHTS:
• The beautiful rolling Umbrian hills
• Seeing Assisi by night, the sparkling lights in the valley, the rambunctious local kids playing football and other games
• Perugia – walking through the Piazza, eating GROM Gelato: a business of local slow food gelato that would surely be a hit in Canada. Wow! It was amazing…
• The view from the top of Perugia, of the rolling hills, seeing Spoleto, Assisi, and other hill towns in the distance
• Dinner on the second night in a restaurant, outdoors on cobble streets and narrow curving walls of the old city of Assisi
• Meeting and being hosted by this wonderful family – now, friends.

Venice!

Venice and Lido Island

Hersh and I started the day with an early morning walk, managing to get lost and find our way back. Hersh enjoyed watching business owners get ready for the day, sweeping the streets, carrying chairs, and opening for coffee and baked goods. We had the usual croissants and buns for breakfast at our hotel and made it to San Marco Square and inside the Basilica but skipped the long line up for the tower. What a stunning church! I loved the incredible marble mosaics as much as the frescos. Sierra and I were pleased to have worn discreet clothing such that we didn’t need to wear the paper cover ups kindly handed out by the church.

In the afternoon we took the water taxi to Lido island for swimming in the warm Adriatic sea. What bliss! That is, for 10 minutes until Sierra got stung by a jellyfish and started welting up. Luckily the lifeguard had cream on hand to treat her skin. Apparently he sees 6 stings a day…you would think they would put a sign up for unsuspecting visitors who venture out into the deeper waters! We ended the day with an outdoor Italian dinner and a boat ride seeing Venice at night along the canal. Venice was lovely.

Onwards to Venice!

In about an hour, we hit to rails again, this time for Venice. Not sure if when we'll next have internet access...

Ortisei

Here are some pictures of this amazingly breathtaking place... It has really been a blessing to be here again! The first day poured and thundered, then the next 2 days were beautiful. We took cable cars up both sides of the valley, one each day, then hiked the plateau trails. Just really outstanding...

The train (via Innsbruck) to Northern Italy

The train (via Innsbruck) to Northern Italy
The train ride is long and lovely, as was Berlin to Prague (limestone cliffs along a river I

would like to return to cycle in). We are in a long (over 10 minutes), dark tunnel going

down a mountain. We are happy with our choice to travel by train, see the countryside and be

lower impact. We’ll pass on the tunnel going back though!
Bolzano
Upscaling at the Sheraton was fun—swimming, hot tubbing, large Italian-German buffet

breakfast. Now we are off to Ortesei which Hersh fondly remembers from 33 years ago.
Ortesei
After a decidedly unimpressive start in Ortesei, I suspect it will be our trip highlight in

the end (with the exception of seeing Savannah and others in Berlin. We had a first wet,

cold afternoon in a uninviting B and B. We made the best of it, enjoying the local pool and

figuring out the local customs that went with swimming here (shoes, bathing caps, co-ed

locker rooms, outdoor swirly pool and cool Jacuzzi). The clouds parted, we had a lovely

Italian meal and we planned our move to another hotel.
And what a hotel it was! Glorious indulgence, ten out of ten food, service, and totally

relaxing. After hiking in the beautiful, breathtaking Dolomites (a World Unesco park), we

returned to the pool and three part saunas, complete with aromatherapy water spray, various

reviving showers and fresh lemonade. Dinner followed later after Tyrolean appetizers and

accordion music one night. The food, was as Sierra described, the best she has ever eaten.

Hersh and I concurred. Last night we had the salad buffet, roasted vegetable terrine,

Gnocchi and eggplant ravioli with tomatoes, vegetable cheese risotto and amaretto mouse

pyramid cake. Hersh added in a beef dish. The night before (after appies) we had salad,

celery rot soup, tricolor pasta in parmesean sauce (we barely ate this as we were already

stuffed), Hersh has trout and Sierra and I had roasted vegetables with grilled cheese,

topped off with homemade ice cream and the one of the best chocolate cakes ever. We have our

own personal server…Hotel Grones in the Dolomites is a treat we would and will repeat.

Blague (Prague Blog)

Wow! After walking around the Prague castle and St. Vitras Cathedral, we head to dinner

over top of grape vines and fruit trees down the hills to red tiled roofs, winding

cobblestone streets, and church spires. Walking back down the hill we watch fireworks from

the Charles Bridge while a pair of young men play concert level classical fusion on cello to

a large entranced crowd. Amazing! Day 2 we hire a guide to take us through the Jewish

Quarter. The tour is a little long and tedious, however the Pinkas Synagogue walls with the

plaque of those who hid Jewish kids and families and the 77 thousand names of those who

didn’t return moves us. Sierra finds some of Hersh’s family names. Of the 10,000 children to

be murdered, some is still childlike, as adults tried to help the kids retain hope. One

child’s art piece is particularly striking—a huge table with chairs. One lone child remains,

sitting alone in this big empty room.
After lunch we wander past sculptures into the overly ornate and musty St. Nicholas Church

with endless cherubs, saints, and depictions of Mary and Jesus. We end the morning by

climbing up the medieval Powder Tower. Sierra had been particularly patient through this

long day and we head back to give her some extended facebook time with friends and us some

rest. In the evening we attend a beautiful candlelit chamber orchestra concert, wander

through the newer section of Prague and watch as the seagulls glide in the dark, full moon

sky around the stone bridge tower. Between the tower, the castle backdrop, and a strange

light shadow show on the water, it feels rather enchanted, here in Prague—We overlook the

pollution and dismissive manner of some merchants—reasonable given the swarms of tourists

like us. Everything to see is close by. We walk in a general direction, as often would

happen and say ”hey—there is that cool monument we read about,” or we stroll around a

corner and think, wow, another amazing sculpture! Sierra isn’t usually wowed, however, was

impressed by the hip hop break dancing marionetters. Earlier we added our wish on the

famous John Lennon wall, smiled at the gate with piles of locks symbolizing marriage and at

another spot, the keys to the locks. When we noticed the sculpture of Jesus with Hebrew

writing it leads to an interesting conversation with a young man and group travelling via

Birthright from Israel.

Last Days in Berlin

(with pix to follow...)

We are on a train heading for Prague. The question is, what do we most want to see and experience in one and a half days. Probably we will heed advice and head to a few popular sites at night and in the early morning to avoid some of the throngs of tourists—The Charles Bridge and old town area tonight, Jewish Quarter tomorrow morning. Beyond that I have 10 pages of blog photos and tips to cull through and select from. If any of you ever do a 5 day trip to Prague I think I will have a plan for you too!
We are travelling through fields of corn and wheat and Queen Anne’s Lace, with church spires and wine turbines spinning in the background, visiting with our Hamburg car partners about their plans to train travel to the border of the Czech Republic and cycle back—sounds like great fun! Slowly the landscape moves into small forested landscapes as the gentle motion lulls Sierra to sleep.
This morning we said goodbye to Savannah and headed to the train, kindly driven by our host’s son Johannes. What a great trip we had in Berlin—a blend of visiting and activities -- from taking in the holocaust memorials and the Berlin wall history, to experiencing the vibrant, diverse, and fascinating blend of East-West Germany. I liked what the Time Out Guidebook wrote: Berlin is the “capital of cool”…an insistent and often surprising fusion of different trends and traditions where crossing boundaries is part of what makes Berlin unique. Yesterday we flashed onto novel delights: a playground complete with outdoor table tennis and a trampoline; a restaurant that simultaneously sold clothes and offered up live DJ minimal techno music.. a wire mannequin sculpture outside Alexa mall, to the donair stand that picked out the meat accidentally placed in my vegetarian donair and threw it on the floor---see, there was no meat…what was Savannah complaining about! I had a final run in the local park, past the grand architecture of the Soviet monument to their dead soldiers, and went to the Reichstag to view the city through an amazing eco friendly modern dome atop an old roman styled parliament building. And from the fabulous outdoor exhibit on the history of unification in Germany wherein year after year writers, church groups, peace and environmental moments, human rights groups, the populace and even the East Berlin government staff themselves protested and organized despite danger--against control, oppression and violence. While Hersh and I read the exhibit Savannah and Sierra played in the square during Olympic Day.
The day before yesterday, we took a tour with our wonderful host family’s three adult children—past the amazing East Side gallery of wall art to the Jewish quarter with names of deported families on the sides of buildings to the Tacheles art house. On Saturday, we also toured Ka Da Ve and passed on the cavier bliny offering for over 130 euros, instead opting for (well you can probably guess), chocolate mousse and a 7 layer chocolate cake of sorts. While in line to buy some chocoloate, a man asked Savannah and Hersh “where in Canada are you from?” Hersh asked him how he knew we were Canadian’s: “Your [Mountain Equipment Co-op] backpack gave you away!” Savannah: “Have you been in Berlin long?” The man, (kind of out of the side of his mouth) “I’m the Canadian Ambassador to Germany… I’m in disguise today.” And then, he quickly spirited himself away…
Top Berlin Highlights:
Hersh --
1) the fresh smell of the air, after the rain;
2) Tacheles Art House;
3) Mauer Park bearpit karaoke;
4) The sense of hope and aliveness with this constantly changing city, that has come through such such repression;
5) Time with family – ours, and our new home exchange familys
6) Sitting on the balcony, sipping wine with Savannah (Catherine had tea), by candlelight
7) Jewish Museum

Sierra—
1. Time with Savannah
2. Bowling
3. Car ride with Joey
4. Friends (Season 1 for the 5th time)
5. I had wifi!
6. Swimming at the beach


Catherine (many have been listed---here are others!)
1. Time with Savannah running in Corrina and Dieter’s local park
2. View from the top of the Reichstag
3. East Side Gallery (tour with Eva and Joey)
4. Walking in Tiergarden with Hersh
5. Meeting all the people that have nurtured Savannah

cooler weather...

Last night it rained, and the heatwave is now officially broken.

On Wednesday, we went swimming on a converted barge in the River Spree...



and Sierra ended up with a sunburn on her back, and a sleep-preventing itch, which led to her staying in the apartment today -- after being up much of the night. I think she rather enjoyed it. Watching Friends, skyping, watching a movie....


Catherine and I went for a long walk through Tiergarten Park, sort of Berlin's equivalent of Central Park.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiergarten












We saw more street installations talking about the fall of the wall. I find it very fascinating! One thing we learned today: an unexpected gift of the wall was a natural reclamation of flora and fauna in the dead zone; today, Berliners are working on maintaining an ecological zone here.


This evening, Savannah and I went to a Salvador Dali exhibit. I've been a fan of his for many years, and it turns out Savannah is as well.
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/30301/new-dal-museum-opens-in-berlin/

After that, she and I went to a wine bar, and shared a 1/2 litre of wine, and a bowl of lentil soup, with -- of all things -- a dollop of sweet whipped cream!

Tomorrow we will do a driving tour of Berlin, with our home exchange "kids", in their 2 old Citroens. A 2cv tour! Should be a lot of fun....
On Monday, we leave Berlin for Prague for 2 nights, then on to the Alps and Dolomites.

New Venice -- The Old one comes later!

Today we went to (our home exchange partner) Corrina's parents' cabin, in the Eastern part of Berlin. We had a day of paddling and swimming, and being hosted by Corrina's gracious and generous mother, and her 10-year old grand-daughter.

The cabin is on a canal in Neu Venedig, or New Venice.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neu-Venedig
Here are a few pix of the day....









On the way back to Dieter and Corrina's apartment, we found a great restaurant!
www.mauna-kea.de

A great Berlin day!

These 2 pictures were the view from where we heard an outdoor Tchaikovsky concert on Saturday night....

Yesterday we went to this free cool outdoor karoake concert. 1000 people sitting in an amphatheatre listening to whoever was brave enough to sign up. Some were too brave! Some were fabulous. Because it is Germany they sold beer and then collected bottles...all organized clean fun. And it happens every Sunday.

Check out this website: http://bearpitkaraoke.com/

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bearpit+karaoke+2010&aq=3



Berlin is a much more exciting city than I thought it would be. Hersh and I would be happy to stay as long as possible, but we do have a reservation in Venice for the 28th of this month which might be hard to give up and find later dates for. So I obsessively started searching last night for Austrian resorts on lakes Sierra could swim (her one request ongoingly--swimming please!). After several hours of gluing myself to the computer I found an area and possible location. Going off to bed, I thought -- oh no! This is Austria in the mountains...sure enough Hersh looked up the water temperature and it is only 16 degrees!! And you know how fond I am of cold water...I think I wll wait a day before venturing back into internet research!

We are off to some shopping, another view of these amazing 4 foot chocolate sculptures, up the iconic radio tower for tea and cake, by the Holocaust memorial, and down to an Ethiopian restaurant to enjoy dinner with all of our home exchange family adult kids to dinner.

Here is a video clip taken at the Holocaust memorial -- slightly irreverent, but hopefully enjoyable for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4RQvkYZxEw

Amsterdam to Berlin

I am in Berlin now, with Savannah, Hersh and Sierra. It is so nice to see Savannah and hear how much she is loving her summer in Berlin. What a life--20 years old and doing a degree in Europe! It is clearly shaping her in a way she would not be if at home (eg --as you know-- democracy and American style values are not seen as the be all/end all here and leisure/socializing is deeply valued. She says that every day Berlin surprises her in some way she wasn't expecting--a sculpture here, an interesting club there, etc.

We are in this lovely 6 room flat where every inch of space has been tastefully used. The flat borders a park I think that you would love--Savannah and I ran in it yesterday--past large beautiful, fenced off allotment gardens (some with small cabins so people can come and stay in their garden for a weekend), on one side and forest on the other. At the end of the park is this massive Russian monument to their dead soldiers--rather powerful with grave like sections and large towers, pillars and sculptures.




2 nights ago Sierra and I hardly slept--some sort of loud electronica festival was on, complete with all night long pounding sounds and beats resonating into the flat from afar. In Paris the same thing happened only it was a jazz party. People just tolerate this...I appreciate Victoria's quiet (and smoking ban--seems like half of Europe smokes). Yesterday we took a regular bus tour (saw the bottom of everything!) and then went to the Jewish Museum--striking architecture designed to evoke emotion containing the entire history of the Jewish people. Well worth it..We then went to listen to part of an outdoor opera, see Berlin Wall artifacts and history, and see the last remaining gate (Roman Pillars and sculpture),

After dinner we sat on our tiny balcony with candles and wine (Hersh and Sav) and tea (me) as the sun went down. As you can gather, we are having a great holiday. And while I always love home exchanges (so that alone makes it fabulous to be in Berlin), I also loved Amsterdam (surprisingly even more than Paris and London!)--friendly english speaking people, smaller city with interesting sites and neighborhoods, bicycle's buzzing around you everywhere, and fabulous bakeries and restaurants. Of course we did arrive in Amsterdam on the heels of their national celebration for their defeated soccer team--800 thousand people in orange shirts came from around Holland to celebrate. Hollanders know how to honor their athletes for sure!

Paris and London were spectacular, if hot, large and busy. I'll save telling you the details so this email isn't too long...apparently in German there are lots of ways to end conversations and written communication in order to be efficient and to the point.

Today we are going on a bike ride (if Savannah wakes up soon), meeting Savannah's host family, walking in Berlin's version of Central Park and going out for an Ethiopian or German-Indian (add extra cream!) dinner...Sounds promising...

We have't decided on Austria or Prague next (Hersh and I differ a little on what we want, as you might recall)..Maybe we will do both...I am going to look up all inclusive spas/tours on the totally unrealistic notion that we could afford that! We could both get behind that...

So, I haven't thought about work at all...except for the news I heard that Maria is retiring! That is big news. I also am not working on the doctorate, except for a little, and I do mean little, enjoyable reading here and there. Gearing up when I am back home will be a feat!

I have done a few short runs in the past couple of weeks and lots of walking. It is too hot for more.

Viele Gruße

Catherine

The early days... London, Paris, Amsterdam

London and Paris
One look at the many pics on Sierra’s facebook will summarize this trip. We loved seeing the high points, travelling in a group where details were covered and fitting so much in. The Jack the ripper tour was novel in London. We spent longer in Paris and I loved running on the river path and through Monet’s impressionist Garden by our hotel. We walked, Sierra had fun shopping with friends and I spent a fabulous afternoon at the Pomedeu ?? Modern Museum. I would do another tour and so would Sierra, if a little more upscale for me.
....
Amsterdam
It seems like so long since we were in Amsterdam. We loved it!!!! Here are some highlights:
Patriotic party scene on arrival celebrating the Holland World Cup team. Everyone was wearing orange, most were drinking and cheering as they walk and cheers. Streamers, balloons and window displays like the 4 tier marzipan player soccer ball and cleat cake complete the picture. What it means for us though is that we have to pay a trumped up amount to hire a cab to take us part way to the hotel and then walk the rest of the way through carooning fans.
Bakeries were better than anywhere we travelled, people the friendliest, streets so happy-cycle friendly.
We cycled, walked along the canal, saw the red light district, went to a place that Savannah’s Dutch friend Merill recommended, a traditional Dutch town with windmills, Hersh toured to Van Gogh Museum and I cycled far into the countryside while Sierra could sleep in and have some computer time.