Erik Satie, Gnosienne no.5 and travel

I really like this quiet piano music by Erik Satie.




In ten days, just a few days away, we will be flying to Rome, Eternal beauty, for a few days to visit with friends. Then we board our cruise to the Amalfi Coast unto Sicily and then Spain. We will continue our trip via an hotel-train from Seville to Paris and then on the EuroStar to London to see friends.

We have tickets to see the new exhibit on the life of Emperor Augustus, Pater Patriae, who died on 19 August 14 AD some 2000 years ago. Much of our traditions and laws in the Western World we owe to him.  On his death he became a god by a vote of the Senate of Rome. http://english.scuderiequirinale.it/categorie/exhibition-augusto-rome

There is also a new exhibit on Cleopatra who visited Rome but was never allowed to enter the City itself and lived in Trastevere, Romans did not like foreign potentates much and she was said to have bad morals, thus offending the matrons of Rome. There are many more wonderful exhibits, will see how many we can see while in the Citta Aeterna.
http://chiostrodelbramante.it/en/info/cleopatra_roma_e_lincantesimo_dellegitto/

Rome's seaport is at Civitavecchia some 50 km away the old port of Ostia is no more since the airport is now located in that vicinity at Fiumicino. It takes about one hour to get there, so we will be staying in Trastevere which is closest to the exit out of Rome without having to cross the city.

We have not been to the Amalfi Coast so our first stop is Sorrento, then across to Trapani on the western tip of Sicily where they make excellent wines. A city we know well and where we have bought much wine in the past. Then we will sail for Barcelona, another city we know well and we wish to visit again the famous cathedral still under construction of Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926), La Sagrada Familia, it is spectacular architecture. http://www.sagradafamilia.cat

We will then sail down to the home town of the Borgia Family, Valencia then to Gibraltar and up the Guadalqivir River to Seville. We will leave the cruise at that point and proceed to Granada to see by night the Alhambra and its gardens. http://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/

Our hotel-train will take us to Madrid and on to Paris. Hotel-trains offer the same luxury as an hotel with full dining car and multi-course gourmet meals and wines. We will change in Paris for the Euro-Star which will take us to London via the Chunnel. http://www.chunnel.com

Looking forward to this wonderful trip and seeing so many friends in the process.

Automne, Autunno, Autumn

We were able to have dinner outside from 21 June to 31 August this year, a short period of time but we love this tradition of dining on our terrace looking at the Rideau Canal.

Since 1 September the weather has been sunny but cool and in the evening chilly. The days are noticeably shorter now so we are slowly moving towards Autumn.

The word Autumn in English comes from old French Automne and it seems that prior to the 16th century the word Harvest was much in use since most people lived on the land and Harvest meant that time of the year, Season, when most food is harvested. Only as of the 16th century when more people moved to Cities and learnt to read and write did the word Autumn gain prominence.

With Autumn new activities take place, Thanksgiving falls on Sunday 13 October, meaning that we decorate with various types of coloured corn, pumpkins and a variety of squashes. Last year I found a pumpkin which was a bluish silver colour, a heritage variety. There is a lot of so called Heritage vegetables on the markets now and many people love this new choice. Just outside Ottawa, the Gatineau Park has spectacular colours and it is wonderful to drive up into the hills and on a sunny day see the multi-coloured trees.

Of course many will cook a turkey and have the traditional stuffing and vegetables, potatoes, brussels sprouts, carrot, turnip and squash. I do not know what we will do. It all depends who is in town during this long weekend.

We are booked for our cruise in November from Rome to Seville, with stops in Sorrento, Trapani, Barcelona, Valencia, Gibraltar, then across the Strait of Gibraltar and along the Guadalquivir river to Seville. We also plan a side trip to Granada. This cruise is to celebrate our 35 Anniversary. We had such a great cruise last year from Amsterdam to St-Petersburg and Stockholm through the Baltic Sea. This will be our gift to each other and a wonderful way to celebrate. AZAMARA is tailoring the cruise for our anniversary and giving us little extras to make it memorable.

This will be our second cruise with AZAMARA, smaller ships, called mid-size with 700 passengers and higher level of amenities and service. The food was excellent and the wine list impressive, I also liked the fact that they poured drinks not measure them, so you got a nice stiff drink to make any sailor proud. We have never been on the super-size ships carrying thousands of passengers and I do not think we would like it. Also from a point of safety, I prefer a smaller ship. We were also able to dock in town where larger cruise ships had to dock often far away in sea ports. One final point that sold me on AZAMARA was the number of Canadians on crew on board, a nice touch.

Azamara Quest

Wisdom on 31 December 2012

Here is a message from my friend C.P. this morning, words of wisdom on my entering a new phase of life in retirement. Thank you C.P.

To invent the life you want to have rather than the life someone says you must have. It takes time.

And on this note here is the year in photos, not a bad year at all, lots of travelling in Europe throughout the year and then retirement, with photos of the actual site where the decision was made.

The first month of the year was the usual blah, mild winter and not much happening, work was not that interesting and by March I decided it was time to return to Rome and consulted friends to see what was going on in the Eternal City.

The two domes of the Churches in Piazza del Popolo as seen from the Belvedere of Villa Borghese.

I also had my birthday in Rome with friends at a lovely luncheon in Capena just a few minutes outside the Città.

Cake was Linda's creation and it is not on fire.

Because March is Artichoke season, she also made Stuffed Artichoke Roman Style. A favourite of mine.

Now I did walk a lot in Rome, something I truly enjoy doing, the City is built like a theatre set and anywhere you look there is always something to attract your eyes.

Looking down this street that morning in March I was just waiting around for Nancy de C. to start one of her private tours of the Convent at Trinita dei Monti, top of the Spanish stairs. So I was just looking down the street, Via Sistina, this would be around 9:55 am and if you look all the way you can see at the other end the steeple of Santa Maria Maggiore. The street changes names twice before you arrive at the other end, to Via Quattro Fontane and then to Via Agostino DePretis. It was busy that morning like all morning in Rome are and I do not know why, but a little voice told me, you know retiring would not be such a bad thing after all, you had a wonderful career. Rome and it's sunlight can inspire.
That is when I decided that I would retire by year end.

Vincent Lam in Ottawa at Fraser Café at the launch of his bestseller book, The Headmaster's Wager. During the Ottawa Writers Festival. A wonderful book to read. Vincent is a writer but also a E.R. doctor at Toronto.

In early May we had the annual Tulip Festival in commemoration of the Royal Family of the Netherlands who spent the Second World War in Ottawa. Carpets of  tulips everywhere in city parks can be seen, beautiful.

Nicholas and Nora in the morning after breakfast, a little snooze.

Of course this year was the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in June in Canada.

Then in June we went on our cruise with AZAMARA from Amsterdam to Hamburg to Copenhagen, to the Island of Ronen and on to Helsinki, St-Petersburg and Tallinn finally arriving in Stockholm.

From Kevin M. apartment and B&B beautiful view. We also met M.J. in Amsterdam.

Before coffee in the morning in a lovely café just down the street from our B& B.

Copenhagen Palace Square in the morning.

We then sailed to a small island of Ronen to see smoke houses where fish is smoked like herring. It is very fresh and delicious with a glass of wine.

 A very traditional method of preparing and preserving fish and it was very interesting to see. Such a lovely small island, very green, a beautiful picture of Scandinavia.

 We then sailed on to Helsinki, a beautiful small Capital, friendly people and wonderful pastries.
The excitement was building as we were now approaching Imperial St-Petersburg the city built by Peter the Great, what a jewel and thanks to massive renovations by Vladimir Putin, the city once again shines on the Baltic.

Here we are across from the Winter Palace by the Sphinx on University Embankment. If you touch the Sphinx you are likely to return to St-Petersburg. I wish we could have stayed at least one more day, two days was simply not enough for this magnificent city.

Our last stop was Stockholm, which for Will meant going to Drottningholm (Queen's Palace) to see the famous 17th century theatre. He waited almost all his life to see it and I had heard of it for the last 35 years, so the expectation was great. We were not disappointed, it was magical, to be able to step back in this perfectly preserved small theatre.

My favourite photo of 2012, Will at the entrance to the Royal Park, he was so excited, like a little kid.
Of course Sydd appears in the photo, he accompanied us throughout the trip.

 Talk of green environment in Stockholm Harbour.

But this was not all for my travelling, in the Fall I went for a few days to London to see friends. Wonderful visit and how nice to see the City with a lot less tourists. Staying with C. in the Marylebone area near Selfridge's on Baker street.

 The West facade of St-Paul's Convent Garden, Market area, known as the Actor's Church built by Inigo Jones in 1633. A beautiful Church well worth a visit.

How many times in my career, Will and I said this, so true and it continues to be.

December, the first snow in Ottawa. We have had so far more snow in December 2012 than in the entire winter of 2011. It promises.

On the 29 December, the retirement party with a few friends at home.

and the year ends, on with the new......

It's -22 C. on this photo, Happy New Year to All!