tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27059428861283476102024-03-12T17:10:31.699-07:00Muriel TravelsMurielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-47230223425569243722011-03-22T19:34:00.058-07:002012-03-02T21:12:10.299-08:00A Few Hours in Sighisoara<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Our son suggested that we could take the train from Brashov to Sighisoara, visit Sigi for a couple of hours and catch the train to Sibiu.<br />
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The city of Sighisoara is putting a lot of money into restoring buildings, improving infrastructure and building hotels. The town is looking good!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlifd5SKZsVtN9VqWaN1SihC48kENPmvZV2gLVE75rjTu-IZS5swaAwUkfa44OpZk2Qzqe56osznX2_PP7H-nEdZzGBMlSnRcBHx4gR6M_aIbZB3I-PylE53_F1DsitY1nCoK3WqBM1QY/s1600/bulgaria-and-romania-153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlifd5SKZsVtN9VqWaN1SihC48kENPmvZV2gLVE75rjTu-IZS5swaAwUkfa44OpZk2Qzqe56osznX2_PP7H-nEdZzGBMlSnRcBHx4gR6M_aIbZB3I-PylE53_F1DsitY1nCoK3WqBM1QY/s400/bulgaria-and-romania-153.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_J3n55Lf3mazc2VNZ7DC6dTj9DTy7NbSElbIOfAMiZ8nfUypCWuk7WLvyaqGYEiHxAUMXR36B_q5ORAQs7RrDjgTXCYvrO5Uo9NuINg-fXOwX7mQ4Lr10G7I8Awvd9l0SmOkwq2Aa0jM/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_J3n55Lf3mazc2VNZ7DC6dTj9DTy7NbSElbIOfAMiZ8nfUypCWuk7WLvyaqGYEiHxAUMXR36B_q5ORAQs7RrDjgTXCYvrO5Uo9NuINg-fXOwX7mQ4Lr10G7I8Awvd9l0SmOkwq2Aa0jM/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+154.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJQNVnyd02SdJgwv975wVvy0Ubje1tUeXQ5rtNrCMssL1puNgDlxGa1qbQi1qnp5dbcKVnpcDOvmLuT7psK_8CLO6uj6i3JKnn3iSn7xGsOyaq30BpjJxg6E0Jk9ifSwLzlVcNyQJkrM/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJQNVnyd02SdJgwv975wVvy0Ubje1tUeXQ5rtNrCMssL1puNgDlxGa1qbQi1qnp5dbcKVnpcDOvmLuT7psK_8CLO6uj6i3JKnn3iSn7xGsOyaq30BpjJxg6E0Jk9ifSwLzlVcNyQJkrM/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+161.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjskXCcOIX0tbAC8L6S2YC1BDVgav_9IbWIdJNhLxyIeWVyJErvrizGMpRcQSesDSX7NwNGkFReTLWj4qH3TmYIwyrXrqXFLWAY50DVE3H_bTZ2D8KnIh_BZboAw7BpBxOagrpvQ16BGkM/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjskXCcOIX0tbAC8L6S2YC1BDVgav_9IbWIdJNhLxyIeWVyJErvrizGMpRcQSesDSX7NwNGkFReTLWj4qH3TmYIwyrXrqXFLWAY50DVE3H_bTZ2D8KnIh_BZboAw7BpBxOagrpvQ16BGkM/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+157.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I understand that the roof is of Hungarian design, which is the </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">ethnicity of most people in Transyvania</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fPB1OZLc8ZXZYmaGivEnHh0bs2o-WjSEUtWDe6ayLyK8FHEpZcHbNXlGW9q4BSzzl1fbl8Nfqk8ezBERvj_s8UbipBgsI73G7syEAgUXo1sAIIyOAAXJnC5tW-Juu87R_YVTOa4qSZ8/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fPB1OZLc8ZXZYmaGivEnHh0bs2o-WjSEUtWDe6ayLyK8FHEpZcHbNXlGW9q4BSzzl1fbl8Nfqk8ezBERvj_s8UbipBgsI73G7syEAgUXo1sAIIyOAAXJnC5tW-Juu87R_YVTOa4qSZ8/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+164.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Recognize the name? He was actually born in Sighisoara, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">though his castle is in Brashov</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCoBLP9NgW0oE507GS33fW9MhYoGM-rKWRdcYEtdcmXqkrakKsTut4609Whenjh6wTgjOF0HhFxlZDnPGGMswlOmxpPcY53-bTdDvEEDw_1AhZ_vHHVOnuXtMqFezogAEJMJ17hwP6z0/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCoBLP9NgW0oE507GS33fW9MhYoGM-rKWRdcYEtdcmXqkrakKsTut4609Whenjh6wTgjOF0HhFxlZDnPGGMswlOmxpPcY53-bTdDvEEDw_1AhZ_vHHVOnuXtMqFezogAEJMJ17hwP6z0/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+165.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> there is a nice mix of stone and wood in Transylvania</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRXyfO_DoXOu7Szwdgz8FAbb28ocGptUm69o0zSTOqcf7hAoWfmgeMhEA9jxHqVMwtM6qUd8fX3IvvNKo0MgDAhqdAGErhIAkIfUc1BU2pRRuASmGB9MgOVz9Wprz5NZBrXVUCYWKW28/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRXyfO_DoXOu7Szwdgz8FAbb28ocGptUm69o0zSTOqcf7hAoWfmgeMhEA9jxHqVMwtM6qUd8fX3IvvNKo0MgDAhqdAGErhIAkIfUc1BU2pRRuASmGB9MgOVz9Wprz5NZBrXVUCYWKW28/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+172.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> I believe this is a gypsy cart</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>So we headed back to the train station, only to hear an annoucement that seemed to say that the train was late. So we waited and waited. Finally a train came and we got on it. We had a vague realization that we were not boarding from the platform we was supposed to be boarding from but we assumed it was a mistake. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a few kilometers my observant husband noted that the sun was on the wrong side of the train for us to be heading west towards Sibiu. He figured that at some point the tracks would veer off in a different direction, west towards Sibiu.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then the conductor came and checked our tickets. We were on the wrong train and were heading back to Brashov, with no way to get off!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The upside was that we had a delicious dinner in Brashov that night. The vegietables on the upper right of the wooden plate are lightly pickled, which is common in Transylvania. Delicious!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLQwtJmo9Rhx98ICZZYZ7eg5wDK17ieW5srjzPdlH7YqVghC7SBCN7m2cCAOMJ-ZgMGKN8UFwWqYY6UjLulA9SN8mYTw_9zl4dRu4L9OEqX1eEQig-uJQ3rBuUq5WrClnTDAw5FEiiCc/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLQwtJmo9Rhx98ICZZYZ7eg5wDK17ieW5srjzPdlH7YqVghC7SBCN7m2cCAOMJ-ZgMGKN8UFwWqYY6UjLulA9SN8mYTw_9zl4dRu4L9OEqX1eEQig-uJQ3rBuUq5WrClnTDAw5FEiiCc/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+181.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>So the next day we were back on the train, viewing the same scenery for the third time.<br />
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</div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-12745912156706400112011-03-20T19:06:00.003-07:002012-02-28T15:53:26.965-08:00On To Brashov, Romania<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We took the train to Bucharest, in Romania, where we were greeted with freezing temperatures in early October. The train station has doors on only one side, so it was very cold inside. We did find one heated room and as long as you have a ticket, then you could sit in it.<br />
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So without so much as a glance at Bucharest we caught the next train to Brashov, where the famous Dracula Castle awaited us, if we chose to visit. However the reports on it were not good so passed it up.<br />
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Our guesthouse was off of a large courtyard, which was behind these doors:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCqRff_D4U5mjE8MbbOC6GLRuuQ-tzr_yojWIbZYCQdRVM240rUBdfqMKtBiGmcNTBt4Vc4SWSqQFMLvwHAn1SQ4vfuyDTi3WH3Oeen7pV5Xg_4FuizhaLRDK6O-cvVYwlL-Sj48cgWU/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCqRff_D4U5mjE8MbbOC6GLRuuQ-tzr_yojWIbZYCQdRVM240rUBdfqMKtBiGmcNTBt4Vc4SWSqQFMLvwHAn1SQ4vfuyDTi3WH3Oeen7pV5Xg_4FuizhaLRDK6O-cvVYwlL-Sj48cgWU/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+145.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQehb7O8XIp_GaReCrdqwUTDzuRef40ZYBahzkPLMudU8_0uQOsUQkStTOEEKVlLYFWykSTOPNU2NuS-zMTCiK1uStb3A6XI5X8ph52lN0yhFQOt-wG-_5ivy4eT84GOkjobksalF8uQ/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQehb7O8XIp_GaReCrdqwUTDzuRef40ZYBahzkPLMudU8_0uQOsUQkStTOEEKVlLYFWykSTOPNU2NuS-zMTCiK1uStb3A6XI5X8ph52lN0yhFQOt-wG-_5ivy4eT84GOkjobksalF8uQ/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+142.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The interior or our guesthouse</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBw9ubaChawH-prHbcRjyvQAtwFOeaqQCSdISQLkYXUZ6uaUkPoU6MUgmsIhkcLBSeDwSU58d5b1-_8LMo2L-Vcj66jNd-KmhlKSQC4hVuHIgHF_XtwKbAAouffwkhbVhwhMbR3YkD3_o/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBw9ubaChawH-prHbcRjyvQAtwFOeaqQCSdISQLkYXUZ6uaUkPoU6MUgmsIhkcLBSeDwSU58d5b1-_8LMo2L-Vcj66jNd-KmhlKSQC4hVuHIgHF_XtwKbAAouffwkhbVhwhMbR3YkD3_o/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+141.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These magnificent wood heaters are still common in Romania but are not always in use. Our guesthouse owner said he kept it because the tourists like it. The one below was keeping an art gallery warm.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcp4h3H4d6daiOhuxCHMVnw4T0Rl5TwCj_Q5JGPZH9KKIcfjvFbhUIxngkE66JbRohM6IaeRr0FwF1vT6abJTG0DctgeD9gOguLJPA_dsc3do1-hLXfPv6PyDtsN36QQsqM0uLWRfDP08/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcp4h3H4d6daiOhuxCHMVnw4T0Rl5TwCj_Q5JGPZH9KKIcfjvFbhUIxngkE66JbRohM6IaeRr0FwF1vT6abJTG0DctgeD9gOguLJPA_dsc3do1-hLXfPv6PyDtsN36QQsqM0uLWRfDP08/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+135.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSd5Nutt5sjkVmvqV3UPSOo7w2jiq5c2KDDWHwQTpPDEUJwiYrE7WpjSDp36AuiKKm8QRqEfePGr405PtMs6CTrkTZ7DbowUqDx7ipI_4b1qfC40V05q1roLsqYk5IHljt816in246Jc/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSd5Nutt5sjkVmvqV3UPSOo7w2jiq5c2KDDWHwQTpPDEUJwiYrE7WpjSDp36AuiKKm8QRqEfePGr405PtMs6CTrkTZ7DbowUqDx7ipI_4b1qfC40V05q1roLsqYk5IHljt816in246Jc/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+131.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Brashov has lots of beautiful buildings</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACWg4cvD__gxfMaEiXKwgzw5DVPRK2tnjs4wyGRzK71yjslBhfJDDzhhy6aDMQNilsmVAMQoO-CNYrF48cb0NiSUZmY6OzH-qvRr46gwiJkr1L1d4AHak8xkaEp91nZ7NrvgVwL6H-8U/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACWg4cvD__gxfMaEiXKwgzw5DVPRK2tnjs4wyGRzK71yjslBhfJDDzhhy6aDMQNilsmVAMQoO-CNYrF48cb0NiSUZmY6OzH-qvRr46gwiJkr1L1d4AHak8xkaEp91nZ7NrvgVwL6H-8U/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+137.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQd6e418EwuGAbywYZpPB2AuTkbm6AcUMRmwqupmo2TfU4lOeeyLvAmXIZ31gs5ZJVPILrhWJMXAyMEQDeLFBY-okSVCXxg3F1jBiTuy0A3dpmPhIOk6h1v_77yAwFLKPLwo_ACUgFt4Y/s1600/bulgaria-and-romania-144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQd6e418EwuGAbywYZpPB2AuTkbm6AcUMRmwqupmo2TfU4lOeeyLvAmXIZ31gs5ZJVPILrhWJMXAyMEQDeLFBY-okSVCXxg3F1jBiTuy0A3dpmPhIOk6h1v_77yAwFLKPLwo_ACUgFt4Y/s400/bulgaria-and-romania-144.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">bakery window in Brashov </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">business is conducted through the window on the right</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVxZCnHQQ72CWD0SWrgpeNt38e_OltgRvpmAEogJDAPDPqmhbFWmeVIz4putgyekpZEqsWEiIQ-YZedElK9eleHXw3_vVx3h3K28LmJo5lMSp_UKiEXH9eLfnAzSTRiauH4dRC-c9N1U/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVxZCnHQQ72CWD0SWrgpeNt38e_OltgRvpmAEogJDAPDPqmhbFWmeVIz4putgyekpZEqsWEiIQ-YZedElK9eleHXw3_vVx3h3K28LmJo5lMSp_UKiEXH9eLfnAzSTRiauH4dRC-c9N1U/s400/bulgaria+and+romania+139.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">one of the local treats</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a cold day in Brashov, the next day we were off on the train, planning a stop of a couple of hours in Sighisoara, then on to Sibiu.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-47351571583250002472011-03-19T13:51:00.003-07:002012-02-27T18:27:12.456-08:00Some More Pics from Veliko Tarnovo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Any idea what this sign says? Bulgaria uses the cyrillic script, the same as Russia and the Ukraine. Luckily my husband had studied Ukrainian when he was young so he was able to decipher it. Can't remember what it says.<br />
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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vmtzr5rYOnc/TW8ga1u8QRI/AAAAAAAAGDc/gCvt3wD7Vho/s1600/DSCF4051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vmtzr5rYOnc/TW8ga1u8QRI/AAAAAAAAGDc/gCvt3wD7Vho/s320/DSCF4051.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoqNG04wKCY/TW8erp7w6yI/AAAAAAAAGCk/dbXfrHPekxk/s1600/DSCF4132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoqNG04wKCY/TW8erp7w6yI/AAAAAAAAGCk/dbXfrHPekxk/s400/DSCF4132.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The sign pointing to the left says Center<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vp__7d9meupIALb_eTFvLZkXpJey9hFR3KAdzqQ0zq8WO6ZiFltuHLvOI8O3VZOCagFWhC53RmwQh_1lGE8B4uPAnEV1cLq-9smRAK1klvPWmoaEh7NzU2P0FHnWzuha1DvQWwfifU8/s1600/bulgaria+and+romania+125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vp__7d9meupIALb_eTFvLZkXpJey9hFR3KAdzqQ0zq8WO6ZiFltuHLvOI8O3VZOCagFWhC53RmwQh_1lGE8B4uPAnEV1cLq-9smRAK1klvPWmoaEh7NzU2P0FHnWzuha1DvQWwfifU8/s320/bulgaria+and+romania+125.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
Can you figure out how to get to Romania?<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VR0lXhZni-w/TW8ZDXF99YI/AAAAAAAAGBA/g04tBIaMr-E/s1600/DSCF4013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VR0lXhZni-w/TW8ZDXF99YI/AAAAAAAAGBA/g04tBIaMr-E/s400/DSCF4013.JPG" width="337" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We had frequently wondered why Europe doesn't grow the tasty corn we are so fond of in North America. Here was a stand selling corn, but we guessed it wasn't going to taste as good as ours.</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">They love their historical figures and have numerous statues of them.</div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A29pxHZ0NuI/TW8dpMS2QjI/AAAAAAAAGB4/L-FSWw7yH08/s1600/DSCF4087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A29pxHZ0NuI/TW8dpMS2QjI/AAAAAAAAGB4/L-FSWw7yH08/s320/DSCF4087.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-07W_blkwkrc/TW8edYZYAlI/AAAAAAAAGCc/BaEisY3Nbww/s1600/DSCF4128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-07W_blkwkrc/TW8edYZYAlI/AAAAAAAAGCc/BaEisY3Nbww/s400/DSCF4128.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9QjwfjtNHVU/TW8e2DL8WLI/AAAAAAAAGCo/hvOneCiX9w0/s1600/DSCF4136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9QjwfjtNHVU/TW8e2DL8WLI/AAAAAAAAGCo/hvOneCiX9w0/s320/DSCF4136.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">a superb stew<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jFlLnpzVJgI/TW8d6v0J2eI/AAAAAAAAGB8/vvPpua6Gqzg/s1600/DSCF4115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jFlLnpzVJgI/TW8d6v0J2eI/AAAAAAAAGB8/vvPpua6Gqzg/s400/DSCF4115.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div align="center"><span id="goog_1518099155"></span><span id="goog_1518099156"></span></div></div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-88874843927566687282011-03-18T22:03:00.003-07:002012-02-26T20:40:37.081-08:00Artisan Street in Veliko Tarnovo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The route between downtown and the Hostel Mostel took us by a street that veered off on an angle, off of the street we were travelling on. We would never have known what wonders awaited us there unless Tanya at the hostel hadn't told us.<br />
<br />
I seems that once, again, Veliko Tarnovo hasn't quite got its act together regarding how to promote itself. No worries, that is part of its charm. I am just so happy that we found the ancient street of the artisans.<br />
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The first store to catch my attention had an amazing display of pottery in the window. I must admit that I am not a big pottery fan, but I fell head over heels for the work of this potter:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OHNaEM-ajeg/TYQ-IwdYkDI/AAAAAAAAGJ8/Y6shTnJBapg/s1600/DSCF4083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OHNaEM-ajeg/TYQ-IwdYkDI/AAAAAAAAGJ8/Y6shTnJBapg/s400/DSCF4083.JPG" width="278" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I took home the one in the upper left corner</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">The sign above a shop declared Sand Coffee. So we had to find out what it was. It turns out that the sand is heated and the coffee is heated by the hot sand.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-byRPgpVNDS0/TW8dObhVtPI/AAAAAAAAGBw/fhpedY9RoMY/s1600/DSCF4077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-byRPgpVNDS0/TW8dObhVtPI/AAAAAAAAGBw/fhpedY9RoMY/s400/DSCF4077.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nD6gtfIdRXI/TW8dZZE75lI/AAAAAAAAGB0/CY2SL-AtmVU/s1600/DSCF4078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nD6gtfIdRXI/TW8dZZE75lI/AAAAAAAAGB0/CY2SL-AtmVU/s400/DSCF4078.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YXLbEMPj_tQ/TW8fkqeFV0I/AAAAAAAAGC8/ddVw1-vWFio/s1600/DSCF4080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YXLbEMPj_tQ/TW8fkqeFV0I/AAAAAAAAGC8/ddVw1-vWFio/s400/DSCF4080.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">an amazing chess set!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3vSUZ1dWtYA/TW8fIlBT_HI/AAAAAAAAGC0/2nDcvf2G8RI/s1600/DSCF4142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3vSUZ1dWtYA/TW8fIlBT_HI/AAAAAAAAGC0/2nDcvf2G8RI/s400/DSCF4142.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">if I remember correctly, there was an art gallery inside</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tlIuyuPJZtw/TXHHSkRFcjI/AAAAAAAAGFI/03cT962sUT8/s1600/DSCF4143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tlIuyuPJZtw/TXHHSkRFcjI/AAAAAAAAGFI/03cT962sUT8/s400/DSCF4143.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">this man was pounding copper to make pots<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKz-f8YRzC4/TW8e85zkvvI/AAAAAAAAGCs/946Pfh0r-O4/s1600/DSCF4138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKz-f8YRzC4/TW8e85zkvvI/AAAAAAAAGCs/946Pfh0r-O4/s400/DSCF4138.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gary, buying a still hot loaf of the most beautiful looking bread. Note that the money and bread are passed through a window</div></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center"></div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-60921324949040901032011-03-15T21:04:00.000-07:002011-03-18T22:43:21.126-07:00Market in Veliko Tarnovo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I love markets, especially when they have stall full of colourful fruits and vegetables. It was a bit of a struggle to find it (after the screwed up sign at the tourist info booth...should we be surprised?) but it was worth the effort:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_TlltRDzTv8/TW8gqpvOpAI/AAAAAAAAGKA/xs_kOJtV2hY/s1600/DSCF4054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_TlltRDzTv8/TW8gqpvOpAI/AAAAAAAAGKA/xs_kOJtV2hY/s320/DSCF4054.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I was smitten with the colourful peppers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx8svqudZbNz73W_47vkcPabuJ2jphFEb1rHAFZaeAMjlZhSXQaC_IgJrN8c5XuwS7lpmRfLXCir_vofaYr80SZTpOX8IunKbm61Rpg65vGKuag_cL6B2-DrzHRovUp-Hl6ZbDM0cvSk/s1600/market1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx8svqudZbNz73W_47vkcPabuJ2jphFEb1rHAFZaeAMjlZhSXQaC_IgJrN8c5XuwS7lpmRfLXCir_vofaYr80SZTpOX8IunKbm61Rpg65vGKuag_cL6B2-DrzHRovUp-Hl6ZbDM0cvSk/s400/market1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The large pile of lime green vegetables are peppers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnVEsmcMLVbcljMLP8_TMW-Zxn-D6-ZxFJXu6wvBnwOBCsafU3f9VCfOv-ZFdTGlOsUytxnOsh_n_Z9zL_P2Cr-ToOFQbgdsOgrCoCQXj9PNB2vpTj_ciRTrlm3AqWFcd2XbJyWtivbM/s1600/market2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnVEsmcMLVbcljMLP8_TMW-Zxn-D6-ZxFJXu6wvBnwOBCsafU3f9VCfOv-ZFdTGlOsUytxnOsh_n_Z9zL_P2Cr-ToOFQbgdsOgrCoCQXj9PNB2vpTj_ciRTrlm3AqWFcd2XbJyWtivbM/s400/market2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The roots with green tops are parsley. It seems they are edible. I did an online search and sure enough, there is one variety that is grown for its roots. Its Latin name is Petroselinum crispum tuberosum (also known as Petroselinum hortense). The common curly parsley is Petroselinum crispum. You can find a recipe and some further info on the <a href="http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/2008/05/weekend-herb-blogging-134.html#ixzz1GSS6fPKI">Cook Almost Anything Blog</a>, though the roots in the picture are much larger than these. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYGSccyojZYuup-w3j3TZy0EbnFgD4b57kxrbO75r9uH_3GAslXaneVk7cMHkmeZVYM0TrpFHKWH2qi8RBQMzRHZahFwGZ7zVqWuzak6u7P_RIb6F3XnrEL65RtpilpRVOVBFg85wPmk/s1600/market3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYGSccyojZYuup-w3j3TZy0EbnFgD4b57kxrbO75r9uH_3GAslXaneVk7cMHkmeZVYM0TrpFHKWH2qi8RBQMzRHZahFwGZ7zVqWuzak6u7P_RIb6F3XnrEL65RtpilpRVOVBFg85wPmk/s400/market3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9QQLcR1sC4M/TW8gzWtqMII/AAAAAAAAGIQ/JqP-_pN9uw0/s1600/DSCF4055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9QQLcR1sC4M/TW8gzWtqMII/AAAAAAAAGIQ/JqP-_pN9uw0/s400/DSCF4055.JPG" width="398" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">excellent cauliflower and cabbage</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cQwHKpLHNMs/TW8gd2ffkoI/AAAAAAAAGIM/IrTL5zpe-hE/s1600/DSCF4052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cQwHKpLHNMs/TW8gd2ffkoI/AAAAAAAAGIM/IrTL5zpe-hE/s400/DSCF4052.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>huge bags of red peppers<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-aPca43gPc_8/TYA0krQrbxI/AAAAAAAAGIU/dqNjtntGPKk/s1600/DSCF4056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-aPca43gPc_8/TYA0krQrbxI/AAAAAAAAGIU/dqNjtntGPKk/s400/DSCF4056.JPG" width="331" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There was grocery store underground, in the market area. There </div>was lots of beautiful meat, particularly sausages<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5tK2_sko0ic/TYA09EHDGSI/AAAAAAAAGIY/7IjrBOBhwks/s1600/DSCF4057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5tK2_sko0ic/TYA09EHDGSI/AAAAAAAAGIY/7IjrBOBhwks/s400/DSCF4057.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And a ready-to-eat section, with food that tasted good! On the left you can see eggplant slices, then potatoes, roasted peppers, coleslaw, various bean and tomato mixes and out of the picture on the right were</div>cooked chicken, sausages, etc. There was a line-up so we assumed the locals must know something and we bought the vegies pictured above. To our surprise, the least likely to taste good were the potatoes, but they were excellent!!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In another area there was a cooked fish store. I could definitely live in this town!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-68966089405979612912011-03-09T21:52:00.000-08:002011-03-09T21:52:38.710-08:00Gurko St in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gurko Street is an beautiful old street of cobblestones, with restored house piled up on top of each other, looking out over the river. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>We walked it many times, taking picture after picture. To me, this is the heart of Veliko Tarnovo and the part of the town that has left me with the best memories.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Upr14QtCoxY/TW8ZkW4zW4I/AAAAAAAAGBI/Fw3EzqNtm0s/s1600/gyrko2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Upr14QtCoxY/TW8ZkW4zW4I/AAAAAAAAGBI/Fw3EzqNtm0s/s400/gyrko2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pPeCesjh29U/TW8ZbeiP7BI/AAAAAAAAGBE/Zi9QsooucHQ/s1600/gurko3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pPeCesjh29U/TW8ZbeiP7BI/AAAAAAAAGBE/Zi9QsooucHQ/s400/gurko3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U_NsS_i2QAg/TW8gUJy8duI/AAAAAAAAGDQ/2_gYsfsfEyc/s1600/DSCF4047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U_NsS_i2QAg/TW8gUJy8duI/AAAAAAAAGDQ/2_gYsfsfEyc/s400/DSCF4047.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zeL_D1I2dVM/TW8gMHH2KII/AAAAAAAAGDI/ZGJw4o1wGEY/s1600/DSCF4043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" l6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zeL_D1I2dVM/TW8gMHH2KII/AAAAAAAAGDI/ZGJw4o1wGEY/s400/DSCF4043.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In a year or two, I expect that this building will be renovated:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6caLgZmf_T4/TW8gGuQX5lI/AAAAAAAAGDE/S3oBcBaG6Ow/s1600/DSCF4040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6caLgZmf_T4/TW8gGuQX5lI/AAAAAAAAGDE/S3oBcBaG6Ow/s400/DSCF4040.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I really regret not having explored up these steps:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pFbUtuIVEJU/TW8gO7-Kw8I/AAAAAAAAGDM/H82l32FWiQ8/s1600/DSCF4044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pFbUtuIVEJU/TW8gO7-Kw8I/AAAAAAAAGDM/H82l32FWiQ8/s400/DSCF4044.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As one walked further east (towards our Hostel Mostel) the road became <br />
narrower and the building older, and fewer were renovated.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X-9HuQveE-M/TW8eG0RNZVI/AAAAAAAAGCI/8eQlMSrQ6cI/s1600/DSCF4120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X-9HuQveE-M/TW8eG0RNZVI/AAAAAAAAGCI/8eQlMSrQ6cI/s400/DSCF4120.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qx9vvdRfLsY/TW8cX-rZKhI/AAAAAAAAGBY/LzChq5snHk8/s1600/DSCF4035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qx9vvdRfLsY/TW8cX-rZKhI/AAAAAAAAGBY/LzChq5snHk8/s400/DSCF4035.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-91460352952910384542011-03-05T22:10:00.000-08:002011-03-18T22:42:08.135-07:00Ever Heard of Veliko Tarnovo?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">If you haven't heard of it, then I expect you will be hearing about it in the next 10 years and that it will be on a well-trodden tourist path.<br />
<br />
This jewel of a city is in north-central Bulgaria. It is a former capital of Bulgaria, with a current population of about 80,000.<br />
<br />
The Yantra River traces a very complex path through the town, at the base of the cliffs. Enlarge the map below to get a view of the river's path.<br />
<br />
<div align="center"><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=gurko+street+veliko+tarnovo&aq=&sll=43.081176,25.651617&sspn=0.016738,0.049267&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=ul.+Gen.+Gurko,+Veliko+Tarnovo,+Bulgaria&ll=43.084047,25.638265&spn=8.702353,25.224609&z=6&output=embed" width="425"></iframe></div><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=gurko+street+veliko+tarnovo&aq=&sll=43.081176,25.651617&sspn=0.016738,0.049267&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=ul.+Gen.+Gurko,+Veliko+Tarnovo,+Bulgaria&ll=43.084047,25.638265&spn=8.702353,25.224609&z=6" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The Yantra River winding through part of the town</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-el1_dxZZwLg/TXMcNx9z4uI/AAAAAAAAGF4/jkeKsoN5wT4/s1600/SDC12927%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" l6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-el1_dxZZwLg/TXMcNx9z4uI/AAAAAAAAGF4/jkeKsoN5wT4/s400/SDC12927%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Above the river, are cliffs, on which there is a magnificent display of houses stacked on top of each other:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-p0cpcmWk3AU/TXMb6MxEMtI/AAAAAAAAGFw/hZ9OCKtNECM/s1600/SDC12890%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-p0cpcmWk3AU/TXMb6MxEMtI/AAAAAAAAGFw/hZ9OCKtNECM/s400/SDC12890%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Its amazing that they have lasted there for two centuries!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xxvQ6wrWCVY/TXMcFFuwZDI/AAAAAAAAGF0/Km1q3634BCg/s1600/SDC12922%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xxvQ6wrWCVY/TXMcFFuwZDI/AAAAAAAAGF0/Km1q3634BCg/s400/SDC12922%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMfUextLmWE61mHCYxuHSJo_CHbitvnedkahJvCqdd5pxIUKQ7cjcwyqHS6XqkK2tkVeYNln98XLkYXVqtKuXEEZfchobNR9BkR0f2aMR5_AX_zI-9zvJdWT9tYMnvrM_PQHlcL1aChyphenhyphen8/s1600/V-tarnovo-gruev2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMfUextLmWE61mHCYxuHSJo_CHbitvnedkahJvCqdd5pxIUKQ7cjcwyqHS6XqkK2tkVeYNln98XLkYXVqtKuXEEZfchobNR9BkR0f2aMR5_AX_zI-9zvJdWT9tYMnvrM_PQHlcL1aChyphenhyphen8/s400/V-tarnovo-gruev2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">from the Wikipedia webpage on Veliko Tarnovo. This picture is <br />
outstanding when enlarged</div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-1375475110463242772011-03-04T16:31:00.000-08:002011-03-04T16:31:15.846-08:00Kalamata, Greece - should have been posted earlier!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We went into Kalamata for market day, which was on a Wednesday, but I have trouble believing it is only one day a week. This would be worth investigating further. It is a very good market.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-R2KqTRclIyGnFLo9brjsN93r7ESQf0wQaxaJc85ooaxzDXtC8h_GYSF2NmUb0uthASWO0WmGUoiu4A8Mj89NIXvtQ_Eh1OEAatcGvunLxMV4mf0W3ASjVm2RXL37YMZ7fF7vyElit50/s1600/greece43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-R2KqTRclIyGnFLo9brjsN93r7ESQf0wQaxaJc85ooaxzDXtC8h_GYSF2NmUb0uthASWO0WmGUoiu4A8Mj89NIXvtQ_Eh1OEAatcGvunLxMV4mf0W3ASjVm2RXL37YMZ7fF7vyElit50/s400/greece43.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Kalamata was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1986. It has been rebuilt and looks very nice. Previous to our trip I had read that it was quite a boring city, but I really liked it. The town planners took advantage of the earthquake having destroyed so much of the city and did a good job of re-establishing the city with the industrial areas separate from the residential areas. While at our rental I read an interesting article about the man who was mayor at the time of the earthquake, and who directed the intelligent rebuilding of the city. If I ever find it online I will link to it here, as the mayor is a very interesting individual! He currently has a mission to save the numerous ancient Greek theaters and is fundraising to do so.<br />
<br />
The distance from Stoupa to Kalamata is not great, only about 45 km, but the road is very winding and hence slow, taking about an hour to travel the distance! </div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-82405348059883811572011-03-03T14:01:00.000-08:002011-03-03T14:01:12.585-08:00Hostelling in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We got off the bus and tried to figure out which direction to start walking to go to the Hostel Mostel. We tried and tried. Nothing made sense. Then we found the tourist info booth (only a block away) and a huge map outside. We were still confused. Went into the tourist building and the lady was no help. Pointed out a brochure for Hostel Mostel but we still couldn't figure out how to get there.<br />
<br />
Later more workers went into the tourist booth so I decided to see if any had more to offer than the first person. Ah ha! One spoke English and sent us off in the direction of the Post Office. What they just don't seem to realize is the there is no sign on the Post Office telling us what it is, and 5 streets come together at our position, so when they casually wave in a certain direction, how are we supposed to know what they mean???<br />
<br />
Finally we had it figured out and later, when we re-visited the huge map, we discovered that it was upside down in relation to the streets out in front of us. Please tell me the logic of that!!!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-StkBECvLXcQ/TW8eUsdh-gI/AAAAAAAAGCU/6jSj7aePdak/s1600/DSCF4126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-StkBECvLXcQ/TW8eUsdh-gI/AAAAAAAAGCU/6jSj7aePdak/s400/DSCF4126.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This beautiful building was near the wacky map.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Hostel Mostel was a bit of a walk but once we got there we were very impressed. It was spacious, the young lady at the front desk was excellent at her job, there were outdoor seating areas, nice grounds, and not only was breakfast served, but a small dinner along with a glass of beer!! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Dinner was served at 7:30pm so we were all in the dining area at the same time. This (plus the beer) contributed to the guests getting to know each other. What a fantastic time we had at the Hostel Mostel and made long-time friends.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Speaking of beer, there was also a vending machine in the common area, such as this one:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1oZcV-E3IDY/TW8Z8_tvu7I/AAAAAAAAGEU/lV3ZXb1PwdY/s1600/DSCF4084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1oZcV-E3IDY/TW8Z8_tvu7I/AAAAAAAAGEU/lV3ZXb1PwdY/s400/DSCF4084.JPG" width="251" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Those are 2 litre plastic bottles in the bottom row. The price is about CDN$1.75. This vending machine was out on a main shopping street.</div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-41156517327003909442011-02-27T22:02:00.000-08:002011-03-03T22:34:03.808-08:00How Does One Use This Toilet?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The train arrived early in Sofia. I was glad to be off of it. We walked to the bus station a few feet away and found the booth that sold tickets to Veliko Tarnovo (there are an amazing number of booths in that bus station). Our youngest son had spoken highly of Veliko. He had been there twice, the second time was specifically to have Boyarski Kavarma, which he claims to be the best stew ever made. So of course we had to check it out. By the way, he also really liked the town.<br />
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At this point I should mention that the bus in Bulgaria is the opposite of the train. Luckily our son had told us that in Bulgaria you take a bus, in Romania, the train. Hence I was able to bear the thought of travelling further into Bulgaria other than by the dreaded train. The bus was beautiful and modern, complete with washroom, however it remains one of the great mysteries of our trip as to how one would use it. Have you ever seen one under the seats, at the stairwell for the back door? There is a door to it, under the seats. How does one get into it? Do you open the little door and park your butt while staring out at everyone? I was almost relieved when someone said it wasn't working. No need to figure it out!! <br />
<br />
I have done a number of Google searches on the subject and cannot find out how one uses those toilets. I would appreciate some instructions! Can anyone offer any?<br />
<br />
I did search on Google images and found these pictures of bus washrooms that are somewhat like the Bulgarian bus had, but these doors are really tall compared with what our bus had.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjephDBPH9eFOmDzer6kBfyA6_AITDKUPK4AySY3T3dyaINFuPOYd4AkoKjNk0lEF6UwaOIuLxER69f5s889U5JhhzAp13fhvPx1NkuPps2jzKfePeq_G0xfk4oQXxSqcGXRhCYbgq9Ms/s1600/bus+toilet3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjephDBPH9eFOmDzer6kBfyA6_AITDKUPK4AySY3T3dyaINFuPOYd4AkoKjNk0lEF6UwaOIuLxER69f5s889U5JhhzAp13fhvPx1NkuPps2jzKfePeq_G0xfk4oQXxSqcGXRhCYbgq9Ms/s400/bus+toilet3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Here is an obviously shorter stall, but still taller than ours. I blurred the guys face in case he doesn't want to be shown here. Sure hope its okay!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i4WvzxEcOSgd7oiwDrIHOeOjmaTYa6O4Hima3LdRq7bvlO5b-Qs-Kg8uoWzHsIYTVzYriS_y8Vsuqf8gmn2ipPnHa1QIbBbhRQ5f3E9B4kz_v4wbTKEQbYzsvKNoKWVbOqGut3o-_ec/s1600/bus-toilet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i4WvzxEcOSgd7oiwDrIHOeOjmaTYa6O4Hima3LdRq7bvlO5b-Qs-Kg8uoWzHsIYTVzYriS_y8Vsuqf8gmn2ipPnHa1QIbBbhRQ5f3E9B4kz_v4wbTKEQbYzsvKNoKWVbOqGut3o-_ec/s400/bus-toilet2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-70738078271424727332011-02-22T08:42:00.000-08:002011-02-22T08:42:17.950-08:00The Midnight Train to Sofia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">After an overnight stop on Larissa, Greece, to visit a friend of a friend, we were off to Bulgaria. We caught the midnight train out of Thessaloniki. Within about 30 seconds of the train starting to move I realised that my camera was not with us. Panic! To jump off the train or not? I envisioned myself doing one of those leaps that they do in the movies. It was tempting...the train was still moving very slowly, but Gary was in the washroom and I wouldn't have had time to tell him what I was doing as making the jump would have had to happen immediately. Can you imagine his surprise if I simply wasn't there when he returned? Okay, its funny to think about now, but the pain of pulling away from the train station, knowing that your camera may be there somewhere...or not....almost would have made it worth it. <br />
<br />
However, cooler heads prevailed and I remained on the train, heartbroken.<br />
<br />
If you are considering taking a Bulgarian train, you should think twice. Yes, a night train is a good way to get from A to B, and in fact is the only train from Thessaloniki to Sofia, but.... <br />
<br />
We had sleeper. I was on the bottom. I must have been right over a wheel cause it was really noisy. I don't think most trains would be so noisy. My theory was that the rails were laid with a bit of space between them, resulting in a loud clackity-clack sound every few seconds.<br />
<br />
Then there were the stops at the Bulgarian border for passport control...around 3:30am.<br />
<br />
But the worst was the washroom....which still turns my stomach at the memory of it. The first trip to it was only mildly unpleasant. The one in the middle of the night was seriously revolting. A previous user had a problem that they should seek medical attention for. Their ability to spray the inside of the space is not normal!!!!! From the early '70's I have memories of Turkish toilets that one needed to wear boots when attending, but none came close to the Bulgarian train toilet. Okay, I gotta leave this subject alone. Dinner will be soon.</div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-48826642351669637592011-02-21T10:11:00.000-08:002011-02-21T10:11:35.039-08:00A Few Pics From Our Village - Neochori<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TeUl9PhCnmGDlJ5HLnSQrXhMbCvgvUhWxa6sTdHLrromE-X9dtw6HO4kg238CHAh32cn8n_q3tVKiGaMubliSzLtgOJrAKe__XeW7cqNhlUROULSSzha0n5eWjUTyerPqpCclzL1qGU/s1600/greece-n3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TeUl9PhCnmGDlJ5HLnSQrXhMbCvgvUhWxa6sTdHLrromE-X9dtw6HO4kg238CHAh32cn8n_q3tVKiGaMubliSzLtgOJrAKe__XeW7cqNhlUROULSSzha0n5eWjUTyerPqpCclzL1qGU/s400/greece-n3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZoiaUEeFqS4VszijQG06PROrTXm5wjE_CWrpDQcmJRlfM7MSoWZEZdo46iFGWjisaVja6kbo4BGxjI2l6wUSde1muI3-UAn5DYHq-UWzOaNazuPcNbuwdllS8kCMzK4z1oauAXlndCI/s1600/greece44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZoiaUEeFqS4VszijQG06PROrTXm5wjE_CWrpDQcmJRlfM7MSoWZEZdo46iFGWjisaVja6kbo4BGxjI2l6wUSde1muI3-UAn5DYHq-UWzOaNazuPcNbuwdllS8kCMzK4z1oauAXlndCI/s400/greece44.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2uxEpSXnToEb4X2NBQiEYoACPzviutDRUx7g6GQGZZ43oLP-AmV5zsybLtH2yhTFPqfOlc6ggS9PVfHagacVZpmCcISXQmMHsqTZSDaOQ7SXTFm8CdUnksmkzNhuwwE94uVIlG6Ok78/s1600/greece25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2uxEpSXnToEb4X2NBQiEYoACPzviutDRUx7g6GQGZZ43oLP-AmV5zsybLtH2yhTFPqfOlc6ggS9PVfHagacVZpmCcISXQmMHsqTZSDaOQ7SXTFm8CdUnksmkzNhuwwE94uVIlG6Ok78/s400/greece25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9E3Cvo00cJhx6lrUTn7fE5yd-ZtpVfOoOBLlsUOY6OJL42XnFDpHivDXRXHTa4o_XVwJTzWkJnUbdImELd04xkaj1i5zqdq9oqXLmiMaE_8t2tvzDs2-_0-1TIVt082RGqbyxxFy9oRo/s1600/IMG_5880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9E3Cvo00cJhx6lrUTn7fE5yd-ZtpVfOoOBLlsUOY6OJL42XnFDpHivDXRXHTa4o_XVwJTzWkJnUbdImELd04xkaj1i5zqdq9oqXLmiMaE_8t2tvzDs2-_0-1TIVt082RGqbyxxFy9oRo/s400/IMG_5880.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcGtLRNXG6j4eBmeamJ53tkSyhfVfTXOniWfts7HaKUXpUIhL0QuXC6UYNrgcu7E2WlROSZVQ4WFiCDE7j2EQyx6kroJLJ_GlApfmNbq9hxIsZ5Sw7TN39XelL-jj89-gdi6ezUgA3rE/s1600/IMG_5881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcGtLRNXG6j4eBmeamJ53tkSyhfVfTXOniWfts7HaKUXpUIhL0QuXC6UYNrgcu7E2WlROSZVQ4WFiCDE7j2EQyx6kroJLJ_GlApfmNbq9hxIsZ5Sw7TN39XelL-jj89-gdi6ezUgA3rE/s400/IMG_5881.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beautiful stonework all over the village</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcx9ljNBEDr6IkhHQ-DhKMe0oN3-ufgSfZ3zT-1DWzQHPHtNJEjSfriR_lXPuLHdFkDICc_TC0WL8zx904G3SPo9g7stXYXUz_xH3nz0xMMPqCn7BLA6G-2p93HW-OGPY9gATUfSVtN4/s1600/SDC12866%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcx9ljNBEDr6IkhHQ-DhKMe0oN3-ufgSfZ3zT-1DWzQHPHtNJEjSfriR_lXPuLHdFkDICc_TC0WL8zx904G3SPo9g7stXYXUz_xH3nz0xMMPqCn7BLA6G-2p93HW-OGPY9gATUfSVtN4/s400/SDC12866%255B1%255D.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1X3tDqJMK6Hu9Vy1qJKcnmHyARfy-ekYMngLcq0hU66m02kafVDrrob-RrePPK8RCOniIcuVC97tZGUO9J6rDrUgcjDrYkjA8rRMY6zhm8GAZvtPRDqWyTh2NhkfJjTkMOWa1sjrE5o/s1600/IMG_5896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1X3tDqJMK6Hu9Vy1qJKcnmHyARfy-ekYMngLcq0hU66m02kafVDrrob-RrePPK8RCOniIcuVC97tZGUO9J6rDrUgcjDrYkjA8rRMY6zhm8GAZvtPRDqWyTh2NhkfJjTkMOWa1sjrE5o/s400/IMG_5896.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-43283986319849442072011-02-20T17:13:00.000-08:002011-02-20T17:17:39.333-08:00Further Exploring Around Stoupa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">From late September / early October:<br />
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Stoupa itself had nothing to explore. Its just two beaches, a lot of restaurants across from the beaches and some vacation homes. This town seems not to have existed for long....its one of those towns exists because of tourists.<br />
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On the plus side, due to the tourists (at least I assume that is the reason), there is a beautiful wide paved path along the water to the next town of Agios Nickolaos. Finding the start of the path in Stoupa was a real challenge. People would send us off in the wrong direction, but this is not the first time I have found people to be unable to give directions. One must get a little closer, then ask again. And again. And again. I have seen taxi drivers in their own country do it this way. On the plus side, since taxi drivers are usually men, I have actually witnessed <u>men</u> stopping and asking for directions!!!! <br />
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Back to the walk. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVyYNPs_8VzsxqH7I_xgSMd-GIgpdff70x7bpP0ULx4kPLhX-977xCAaojGY9EL9J35hicstTuzZt2nv4Ud2kG0pcJ0C_qMRRHde80F88wmhD1S4i8CAjY56HUNIYDkdyjcVe3MsKo3s/s1600/greece37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVyYNPs_8VzsxqH7I_xgSMd-GIgpdff70x7bpP0ULx4kPLhX-977xCAaojGY9EL9J35hicstTuzZt2nv4Ud2kG0pcJ0C_qMRRHde80F88wmhD1S4i8CAjY56HUNIYDkdyjcVe3MsKo3s/s400/greece37.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicUKFvxKSuz7PWbB9Tx4Bl27efBYurrWdYiCmDEvkX0rkS4ZsBKcMSZKBWiJIE-iPyfhPrXm1Cu2G1R6iUMkjrGRmN3qFQTHJf19mHDy7vpRr4Ha7kmd4R5I1OhfHdj69uhrzqR_9yEFY/s1600/greece34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicUKFvxKSuz7PWbB9Tx4Bl27efBYurrWdYiCmDEvkX0rkS4ZsBKcMSZKBWiJIE-iPyfhPrXm1Cu2G1R6iUMkjrGRmN3qFQTHJf19mHDy7vpRr4Ha7kmd4R5I1OhfHdj69uhrzqR_9yEFY/s400/greece34.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a gorgeous display of brugmansia in Agios Nicholaos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij_iqA3KTC8O_GRato9G6QbTTwnXUlYEt9-YaPd6Sjd9oDuIkufsfUPDa6BMOYe3qfRRxK8VsNSasYJd8AhCyPBI4bqhJ0xDBFppa7Sn-RK6yx7tinYc3nqa2cv4a7rkYe-NFhA6NPzY/s1600/greece36.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij_iqA3KTC8O_GRato9G6QbTTwnXUlYEt9-YaPd6Sjd9oDuIkufsfUPDa6BMOYe3qfRRxK8VsNSasYJd8AhCyPBI4bqhJ0xDBFppa7Sn-RK6yx7tinYc3nqa2cv4a7rkYe-NFhA6NPzY/s400/greece36.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_r6urLYZ2bHOWszQM-wO4WeqCcARWJe1N7RSTGFRENfMKv0iW1wvX03cMsHjLJ16NQ-DY8ZUo6nwhF6yFELRthwILquhYfiV7P2RU8X7sfSLeTEU4bBJ12eHdKeibTtfjErh-O5NpAcY/s1600/greece35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_r6urLYZ2bHOWszQM-wO4WeqCcARWJe1N7RSTGFRENfMKv0iW1wvX03cMsHjLJ16NQ-DY8ZUo6nwhF6yFELRthwILquhYfiV7P2RU8X7sfSLeTEU4bBJ12eHdKeibTtfjErh-O5NpAcY/s400/greece35.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">No shade is available. Better do it early in the day!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>We went to a small town to the north of Stoupa for dinner one night. It is called Kardamili and is where Nikos Kazantzakis (author of Zorba the Greek) knew a man whom he modeled Zorba after. The owner of the restaurant we ate at was a real character. Could he be a relative of that man? If I remember correctly, his name is Gregoris and I promised to send him prints of the pictures I took of him with our family. Unfortunately, my camera grew legs and disappeared at the Thessaloniki Train Station. The only picture I still have is this one that my daughter uploaded to her Facebook page. The restaurant owner is the one in the striped shirt. We had a delicious meal there!! Also, Gregoris was helping out a young Albanian, by giving him a job. Nice guy.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn7FZintwhjKE1FSC98Hh31DgG0WC1kKnde4t9jPeZkAIpVBwrPvVSmeLtFtCiakqb2qNm5F1UUSThcJchSnf9Uf4C4Udcxdxe5Px5Fz9wp9bgPoTxgb_G3ztp6woTHhjh-mMwk_1zUc/s1600/greece41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRn7FZintwhjKE1FSC98Hh31DgG0WC1kKnde4t9jPeZkAIpVBwrPvVSmeLtFtCiakqb2qNm5F1UUSThcJchSnf9Uf4C4Udcxdxe5Px5Fz9wp9bgPoTxgb_G3ztp6woTHhjh-mMwk_1zUc/s400/greece41.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Kardamili really caught my eye. If I return to this part of Greece for another holiday, I would prefer to stay in this village over Stoupa. </div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-73450967682648709612011-01-11T09:48:00.000-08:002011-01-11T09:48:25.156-08:00MosquitoesOur house had a shaft that allowed fresh air to come from the rooftop down to our bedroom (which was windowless). The big problem was that it also allowed in zillions of mosquitoes. Our room had white-washed walls, so each little beastie that I squished was very obvious, and no carcasses were more obvious that those that had already had a meal on us!! We found we could close the tube up, so we did. While that did reduced the problem, it far from prevented their entry.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGRB63iZjPJjwxOgheHxT2dU0xVxH1Ek3-WgvzumNUHEZ8jQCIV3QZJm3zZBjBK4Rxz6NZc2p6oOj0KI-YSW9Hr8ZGyZxoAoPV2OL10GgSeJEGZMAeMTWf9ff5kbRQi_vM__43yBqONc/s1600/mosquito2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGRB63iZjPJjwxOgheHxT2dU0xVxH1Ek3-WgvzumNUHEZ8jQCIV3QZJm3zZBjBK4Rxz6NZc2p6oOj0KI-YSW9Hr8ZGyZxoAoPV2OL10GgSeJEGZMAeMTWf9ff5kbRQi_vM__43yBqONc/s200/mosquito2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Later we discovered a nifty device, a plugin, that somehow keeps the bloodsuckers away. We assume that a chemical is released. If the situation had not been so bad, we would not have used them. My husband and daughter had horrible reactions to the mozzie venom. They had white welts the size of a quarter, which didn't reduce in size for days. I had hydrocortisone cream along (a great solution to skeeter bites) and due to our extensive experience with mosquitoes at home, I know to put it on before the bite is scratched. But either the cream was old or the venom was resistant, as it didn't help. <br />
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Two things about the mosquitoes baffled us:<br />
<ul><li>Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water. Greece is so dry. So how can they multiply????</li>
<li>why don't they use screens on the doors and windows in Greece???? </li>
</ul>The house had very modern windows that could open two different ways, but they didn't they have screens!! It was fairly warm when we were there and we would have liked to have opened windows and doors for fresh air, but the mozzies immediately came speeding in, looking for a meal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm3vMjxqoiBi9Uuy021irmfutdin_28AfJpLzYW-nKOjMqQhEikiewV5ATH0nuSJga9TNJUjCprtOtKnUvGofZVJCUnG_IHUh8ByzWi_BqDrvZvjyxeON8z_Hqmag_dII6e1ElbZJt98/s1600/mosquito.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm3vMjxqoiBi9Uuy021irmfutdin_28AfJpLzYW-nKOjMqQhEikiewV5ATH0nuSJga9TNJUjCprtOtKnUvGofZVJCUnG_IHUh8ByzWi_BqDrvZvjyxeON8z_Hqmag_dII6e1ElbZJt98/s320/mosquito.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><br />
We had experienced them in smaller numbers near Nafplion. In our bedroom there was a skylight that opened. Since the room was upstairs and quite warm, we naturally opened the skylight at night. Our sensible Canadian mosquitoes live about 4' above the ground, but apparently not the Greek ones. In they came. <br />
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Screens should be a great help!!! <br />
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However, since these beasties are smaller than our own common variety (found in even greater numbers at home), one possible problem with screens is that the size of the openings in the typical screen is too large to keep them out. Our son who lives in Baku, Azerbaijan, said he has watched one of those smaller mosquitoes squeeze its way through a screen. Not sure what is stranger about that, the fact that the mozzie can do that off or that my son spent the time watching it!!<br />
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So invent a smaller grid. Surely this can't be too difficult!!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcfAUYEdU_OiGx8o-QyFNDoFRfspxNT5XOHq1qm8aKnd3YFMTvPxXRkEvoDz5FM1FBpu0zcSYIjdYPDZocSTnyrqFvLDskiESBh2wyHKqLSJnSq7Lt4amMuY6j8ydUOaCRwQ0NGgSE28/s1600/mosquito_cartoon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcfAUYEdU_OiGx8o-QyFNDoFRfspxNT5XOHq1qm8aKnd3YFMTvPxXRkEvoDz5FM1FBpu0zcSYIjdYPDZocSTnyrqFvLDskiESBh2wyHKqLSJnSq7Lt4amMuY6j8ydUOaCRwQ0NGgSE28/s320/mosquito_cartoon.png" width="259" /></a></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-5390088241164414792011-01-09T13:15:00.000-08:002011-01-09T13:15:14.586-08:00Up the Hill From StoupaThe weather was nice and warm. We were there in late September. Gary walked down the hill, went swimming everyday at this (or the other) beautiful beach, then ran back up up the hill!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4BxqikghAMTxnRxJMMCyx8atLno16RiQMsYC1EH2oZUqFkZZzCNZ9gPypS9UfrJAPUg7QiCWM0aAj5hupQPlsKEAgwT4pPsEwbt0TdXHF8zri6wD2cX6DV-5Y256Dbwv7Bz1l-nSiwI/s1600/greece-n7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij4BxqikghAMTxnRxJMMCyx8atLno16RiQMsYC1EH2oZUqFkZZzCNZ9gPypS9UfrJAPUg7QiCWM0aAj5hupQPlsKEAgwT4pPsEwbt0TdXHF8zri6wD2cX6DV-5Y256Dbwv7Bz1l-nSiwI/s400/greece-n7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Not to be outdone, Liana and I hiked further up the hill, to a lovely village. This hike was my favourite activity in Greece.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2022yr_lffXXTRLuavcgv-DOKh-cUrehbBtXaVeLnsLi3wZhEUVdwRSTfm5pSAMrs9m87gstKxgsaFPmqHkFWeqCH_x80KZuC3H3WUjiKyCA9G6pOJxJ5vzQhrtH122ny1j1Edi9aqeQ/s1600/greece-n6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2022yr_lffXXTRLuavcgv-DOKh-cUrehbBtXaVeLnsLi3wZhEUVdwRSTfm5pSAMrs9m87gstKxgsaFPmqHkFWeqCH_x80KZuC3H3WUjiKyCA9G6pOJxJ5vzQhrtH122ny1j1Edi9aqeQ/s400/greece-n6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our destination. Can you see the small village in the center of the photo?</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzKeSSwgteEbee5wTi4hgDYLW6nYhSbsSZp9osUTN0iHTVzYGT4BeVHiyFzsGLv6slFDFUiAaI0egNQd0Bqemfuc5Q41H2FnZMWW2zNOT_mmWf0aNdcTUvlIuNnMx7RIShsPOMhSk2_M/s1600/greece9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzKeSSwgteEbee5wTi4hgDYLW6nYhSbsSZp9osUTN0iHTVzYGT4BeVHiyFzsGLv6slFDFUiAaI0egNQd0Bqemfuc5Q41H2FnZMWW2zNOT_mmWf0aNdcTUvlIuNnMx7RIShsPOMhSk2_M/s400/greece9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Most of the route was lined with rock walls. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe58ucgSbwNkae2R-rtRnxwOEG6g5Oi4ILfOcrns4B_rZgCMywPxd_LcPmVcqzNlhR77TZWQ6SxxXXaFxnN592pQa_OxOLxh7AV56apIc6QyOyicVX4UVrgsARH2nFhl1PMcmjfkJ7IAk/s1600/greece7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe58ucgSbwNkae2R-rtRnxwOEG6g5Oi4ILfOcrns4B_rZgCMywPxd_LcPmVcqzNlhR77TZWQ6SxxXXaFxnN592pQa_OxOLxh7AV56apIc6QyOyicVX4UVrgsARH2nFhl1PMcmjfkJ7IAk/s400/greece7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It was easy to see where the rocks came from!! This is an olive orchard.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFuUfLslrlhMA5a_beKEdrN-k_oFGjBnTuHZLIbQ-prel604AUKPXkf9eOLFq7GEnRxCtNUPsd5f8IN-nIdgO_Msz-bmX3Gr263O64rpEcn61DrisiU4EjdVZ3VEmSVMcvnRzzTi297M/s1600/greece12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFuUfLslrlhMA5a_beKEdrN-k_oFGjBnTuHZLIbQ-prel604AUKPXkf9eOLFq7GEnRxCtNUPsd5f8IN-nIdgO_Msz-bmX3Gr263O64rpEcn61DrisiU4EjdVZ3VEmSVMcvnRzzTi297M/s400/greece12.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The tall Cypress trees appear to be native, as they were not associated with houses or driveways.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhKVhCP-lY9R1HeHkMv4wgXpXxPqmvgUel3p3GQRhMb63jNzf5cIcgPeclw0kyg1fR2ighTAV_JV_ePtCqp2PBXv22reWaCN41EGpHPd-cVJzdffMnM0oHtmO1fKAL4xsHymdTfEkozA/s1600/greece13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhKVhCP-lY9R1HeHkMv4wgXpXxPqmvgUel3p3GQRhMb63jNzf5cIcgPeclw0kyg1fR2ighTAV_JV_ePtCqp2PBXv22reWaCN41EGpHPd-cVJzdffMnM0oHtmO1fKAL4xsHymdTfEkozA/s400/greece13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>An abandoned home from many years ago, built into the hillside.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgku0rqc6K_HwXhy7cdQ1c0VIPSh9-nGwkrYcejIWzZZrWt2zJDs5RB70XH3wXWccEvOFr0oCV2uCXiX2U5RQdhFU5WtZ-ntR9pRHD52xlpKEaJEB-kWzBwGTzcJAd3555OkKDv9dejPO8/s1600/greece22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgku0rqc6K_HwXhy7cdQ1c0VIPSh9-nGwkrYcejIWzZZrWt2zJDs5RB70XH3wXWccEvOFr0oCV2uCXiX2U5RQdhFU5WtZ-ntR9pRHD52xlpKEaJEB-kWzBwGTzcJAd3555OkKDv9dejPO8/s400/greece22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTub00mS6f-5-QOEDFouau2T1QBsFW33SGUT5Wy01dp0GvBT1TeBahcAc7PzhsgOILFixaRtafXycAHvNOPyLkWVfRPEn0WInLZtuYgWS90pecpFUr7N2cZZR9nBsJWMSleXjzqpao36o/s1600/greece18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTub00mS6f-5-QOEDFouau2T1QBsFW33SGUT5Wy01dp0GvBT1TeBahcAc7PzhsgOILFixaRtafXycAHvNOPyLkWVfRPEn0WInLZtuYgWS90pecpFUr7N2cZZR9nBsJWMSleXjzqpao36o/s400/greece18.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before I went to Greece, we speculated on whether or not there would still be women there who wore black. On my previous trip to Greece in 1974 there were many women in black, which was explained to us as being an indication that they were in mourning over the death of their husbands, many of whom had died in World War II. I understood that they would wear black for the rest of their lives. In the small villages the tradition continues.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamsz3qW2i5PuqJ5Rvq8implzjNz0mQNtWWd1plRbyGtGaaP6rmy86oEf0GCIXzNIcB1rtboqp_hxZoW5JDKQrG0hTPrEPbfHJyeGOs0m3XDoK8f09oSfA9A1Nl2p2OLSbycOOdMczoI4/s1600/greece10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamsz3qW2i5PuqJ5Rvq8implzjNz0mQNtWWd1plRbyGtGaaP6rmy86oEf0GCIXzNIcB1rtboqp_hxZoW5JDKQrG0hTPrEPbfHJyeGOs0m3XDoK8f09oSfA9A1Nl2p2OLSbycOOdMczoI4/s400/greece10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_KqEhvpWo4gsO7xnwzOoT0jNnIYILzamYnEWkEyrkQSShbIIwVuQsh2CQVUXfAiBQbWOUdRUwBX_Fn64EjEkQNSHX_s5qrGKIBHZgbBVrd6Xe5P8pRaXIGxfyBieTQP04co1E2gihlNI/s1600/greece20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_KqEhvpWo4gsO7xnwzOoT0jNnIYILzamYnEWkEyrkQSShbIIwVuQsh2CQVUXfAiBQbWOUdRUwBX_Fn64EjEkQNSHX_s5qrGKIBHZgbBVrd6Xe5P8pRaXIGxfyBieTQP04co1E2gihlNI/s400/greece20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-33489851762403293512011-01-07T11:11:00.000-08:002011-01-07T15:17:55.364-08:00Stoupa, GreeceBeing from British Columbia in Canada, I am very used to mountains and the roads that make their way up and down and around them. At home the roads are as straight as the engineers can possibly design them and the contractors blast and bulldoze their way, creating wide roads with shoulders.<br />
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In Europe I am always surprised that they are anything but straight!! (the freeway in northern Italy is a notable exception) Nor can they be described as wide, let alone with a shoulder. I have to remind myself that these routes were planned, or perhaps a better word is "happened" many centuries ago, when donkeys were the main mode of transport. Long straight stretches would not have been important as one only occasionally needed to move from one village to another. <br />
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Our destination was Stoupa, which is "B" on the map. I was told that the route through Sparti (Sparta) was 20 km longer but had fewer curves. I should have kept count! This is the route we took from Nafplion (A):<br />
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<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Nafplion,+Navplion,+Greece&daddr=37.09089,22.43099+to:stoupa,+Greece&geocode=FbQ-PQIdWQhcASm_wAHrCvCfFDEQabriLL0ABQ%3BFUr2NQIdDkVWASkfqFRBgNJhEzHRV4PaLL0AEw%3BFaYyMgIdR6hTASn35NM2GMBhEzEADsR0L70ACg&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=37.210644,22.574158&sspn=1.181201,2.106628&ie=UTF8&via=1&ll=37.217206,22.554932&spn=1.517879,2.334595&z=8&output=embed"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=Nafplion,+Navplion,+Greece&daddr=37.09089,22.43099+to:stoupa,+Greece&geocode=FbQ-PQIdWQhcASm_wAHrCvCfFDEQabriLL0ABQ%3BFUr2NQIdDkVWASkfqFRBgNJhEzHRV4PaLL0AEw%3BFaYyMgIdR6hTASn35NM2GMBhEzEADsR0L70ACg&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=37.210644,22.574158&sspn=1.181201,2.106628&ie=UTF8&via=1&ll=37.217206,22.554932&spn=1.517879,2.334595&z=8" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small><br />
Based on typical calculations for travel in our area in BC, the few kilometers from Nafplion to Stoupa should only have taken 2 hrs (almost no towns to pass through). However our trip, supposedly by the fastest route, took us at least 4. And we weren't even held up by herds of sheep, though I wish we had been!<br />
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We arrived safe and sound, if not a little stiff, from being shoe-horned into our little car, with all our luggage. We were thrilled to find our manificent house which was up the hill from Stoupa and with a magnificent view of the Med.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRFDGQBHSuFTK036U-VGUcMQ0ls0rYen5DMSQ8P92giGctjP7QrfaRXbaWUavnTLhlDEsFNmMoRYpgPDoOvp1-Wa5rkWQ1D0-YXHgKkEocnZplPbQ8-GhKnSmEDxOHEiRFM5KBnTYKTQ/s1600/greece27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRFDGQBHSuFTK036U-VGUcMQ0ls0rYen5DMSQ8P92giGctjP7QrfaRXbaWUavnTLhlDEsFNmMoRYpgPDoOvp1-Wa5rkWQ1D0-YXHgKkEocnZplPbQ8-GhKnSmEDxOHEiRFM5KBnTYKTQ/s400/greece27.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The house was an amazing reno of an old stone house. We were very impressed:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmCmIC3a9NiApS6ogjRcTY5vVMYkmsnuH91BUwyMUUX-TEm5XyOCe5V_jjoRzMNMI_2z-GOBh1c7b7U1Uf_bUwMr6fsERQSBdH0uq44eLH1w-V4hK8vFMTYOxWhnd5ZZhP30MwuS4fM1s/s1600/greece-n4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmCmIC3a9NiApS6ogjRcTY5vVMYkmsnuH91BUwyMUUX-TEm5XyOCe5V_jjoRzMNMI_2z-GOBh1c7b7U1Uf_bUwMr6fsERQSBdH0uq44eLH1w-V4hK8vFMTYOxWhnd5ZZhP30MwuS4fM1s/s400/greece-n4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_fX8ivnhDyxupMRQfndARsKw7lhUXgzocZSYBIdTcccrD90873Bf3bjkOeGtfNU9vzRhnNoGZht6DAabUelSgX0vY_ffAiku7M329Nt1lKNWW05X36-5NP8INUCmSy-Q2G26j18tc4E/s1600/greece-n8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_fX8ivnhDyxupMRQfndARsKw7lhUXgzocZSYBIdTcccrD90873Bf3bjkOeGtfNU9vzRhnNoGZht6DAabUelSgX0vY_ffAiku7M329Nt1lKNWW05X36-5NP8INUCmSy-Q2G26j18tc4E/s400/greece-n8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-31559052478973283722010-12-27T19:13:00.000-08:002010-12-27T19:13:43.925-08:00Nafplion to Sparta, GreeceOur car was small...very small. We were 5 adults. Somehow we shoe-horned all of us plus our gear into the car and started on our way across the Peloponnese, to our next rental in Stoupa, which is south of Kalamata.<br />
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The instructions to our next rental said that while it is 20km further to go via Sparta, there are fewer curves in the road. So the route via Sparta sounded like the best one. It was also important for us to take a route that avoided steep hills (the car was gutless), so we first went north from Nafplio and Argos, to the freeway. Despite the fact that we had already make 2 trips through Argos, we managed to get lost. We still puzzle over where we went wrong.<br />
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The trip on the freeway was interesting because of the trucker's strike. Sooooo many big trucks parked on the side of the road. Greece has many problems!<br />
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Once we left the freeway we noticed runners that were obviously struggling to complete some sort of race. When we stopped in Sparta we learned that it was a 2-day ultra marathon, called the <a href="http://www.spartathlon.gr/main.php">Spartathlon</a>. They were running (many were seen to be walking) 245.3km (150 miles) from Athens to Sparta, which is the route a messenger took to request help to defend Athens from invaders, in 490 BC.<br />
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The race has control points, each of which has its own time limitations and should a runner arrive later than the official closing time he or she will be eliminated from the race. For instance, the first leg, from Athens to Corinth, is 81 km and has a time limit of 9.5 hrs.<br />
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Here are the prerequisites necessary to compete:<br />
<ul><li>The athlete has finished a race of at least 100 km in not more than 10:30 hours, OR</li>
<li>The athlete has compete in the SPARTATHLON race and has reached checkpoint NESTANI ( 172 km ) in less than 24:30 hours, OR</li>
<li>The athlete has reached the finishing point when competing at SPARTATHLON OR</li>
<li>The athlete has competed in an event of more than 200 kilometers and has finished the race regardless of the time.</li>
</ul>I must admit that some looked like they had not met the prerequisites, as some were truly struggling. However I can certainly understand!! They are expected to finish the race in under 36 hrs!!! <br />
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The fastest runner finished in 23 hr. One hundred and twenty-eight finished. They had to run through the night.Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-48546885577123047482010-12-03T13:52:00.000-08:002010-12-03T14:03:29.911-08:00Nafplion GreeceIn mid September we were off to Greece to meet up with our kids for another family reunion. First stop was Nafplion, on the Peloponnese Peninsula, about a 2 hr drive to the south west of Athens.<br />
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Its a beautiful town, with a population of about 13,000. It was once the capital of Greece. Tour ships stop there. We were in a rental across the bay and chose not to go into town until the huge ship departed (there was also a smaller one at the same time). I can't imagine how bizarrely crowded it must be in that town when the cruise ships are docked! If you enlarge the picture and look under the stop sign and then under the umbrella, you can see the largest ship.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNy4bCZs1g33PJtFhtEavjh6ZFnYIi-wiBDAR7Td-t5-fHghj7sLlFiFRj1eaRQfl2j7xJrWM1MGwgPcchhsWRUxmTyQ-prqrGKfWP1VHH5_XQewkcqQ_8QKwdeCrFbP5S8xrNn5NsPYY/s1600/a-kiveri1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNy4bCZs1g33PJtFhtEavjh6ZFnYIi-wiBDAR7Td-t5-fHghj7sLlFiFRj1eaRQfl2j7xJrWM1MGwgPcchhsWRUxmTyQ-prqrGKfWP1VHH5_XQewkcqQ_8QKwdeCrFbP5S8xrNn5NsPYY/s400/a-kiveri1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2OmcrGtRDfcHvzL7If2SogpW-1ZAILOobMmuZrwIjqPzzhl0kAkW1fiEJbNP175mzNGmHpXc5PAf3IHb4eRjT_VRgtWXdXmpDmAuKPEytyHo_AgG1I_-EY8ccP3fj7GbA4s4rh_5AIY/s1600/a-nafplio1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-2OmcrGtRDfcHvzL7If2SogpW-1ZAILOobMmuZrwIjqPzzhl0kAkW1fiEJbNP175mzNGmHpXc5PAf3IHb4eRjT_VRgtWXdXmpDmAuKPEytyHo_AgG1I_-EY8ccP3fj7GbA4s4rh_5AIY/s400/a-nafplio1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Our rental was in Kiveri and was a beautiful place! <a href="http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p413446">Here is the rental info</a>, if you are interested.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFy_XVKP9Z_EGlOMH-27Q-FwUBFXcMJlb-79OrYOgXO1ZDiUXOZTPMoGVGG0Csmy56iXaDchQ6tKsC510SswsXAULIeAXl-kYtL4V3Yos4N4IBQAnRKeXd7atAvmgRhGTaBtdxp8s0w4U/s1600/a-kiveri5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFy_XVKP9Z_EGlOMH-27Q-FwUBFXcMJlb-79OrYOgXO1ZDiUXOZTPMoGVGG0Csmy56iXaDchQ6tKsC510SswsXAULIeAXl-kYtL4V3Yos4N4IBQAnRKeXd7atAvmgRhGTaBtdxp8s0w4U/s400/a-kiveri5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmyIOuz89zYBCm-gHKCNsjzOLfQeclXKsqvPHwmSQsdA3bY_3MWz4DMXJ-3TXismHpsOX8pLbn00XFLukNohWu8K3oj5BLUdBhpVjTQomYF3XwI4WkthAFwrfj9yTuVK64fpajxGYZlIA/s1600/a-kiveri4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmyIOuz89zYBCm-gHKCNsjzOLfQeclXKsqvPHwmSQsdA3bY_3MWz4DMXJ-3TXismHpsOX8pLbn00XFLukNohWu8K3oj5BLUdBhpVjTQomYF3XwI4WkthAFwrfj9yTuVK64fpajxGYZlIA/s400/a-kiveri4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Mediterranean was right outside the window, and down 4 stories.</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>There are a number of fortresses in the area. The most famous are the island Bourtzi.... <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixM2lF7HzIMGwTLURy0XFHKIgda6C0yomK_EP6_W40XQ4niQHNCtIc32iABoE1gxlh0UY8jnHSgLgQk7ogTplWcS9YEV0bjHKbZMGXz8CTTKzgAWBzTS0T6njgmi5rXTt7ZSTQGQ-j-aw/s1600/a-nafplio2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixM2lF7HzIMGwTLURy0XFHKIgda6C0yomK_EP6_W40XQ4niQHNCtIc32iABoE1gxlh0UY8jnHSgLgQk7ogTplWcS9YEV0bjHKbZMGXz8CTTKzgAWBzTS0T6njgmi5rXTt7ZSTQGQ-j-aw/s400/a-nafplio2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">...and the Palamidi, a Venetia fortress built in 1714, which you can climb to up the 999 steps from town. Great exercise! It definitely has a commanding view of the surroundings.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3f9PQsjmeSIYzhgzvfc07LHcOvHH3C-nzSqYZlX_2K8X7G06XMGuUauMiKqHukj_3hejgWGDM_J8ygMOAy45tHXYvI0-t-TmvO5LhvaZMUsX0n9iOhN2oj_HwGTVF4OuStxgoiwuQI0M/s1600/a-nafplio7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3f9PQsjmeSIYzhgzvfc07LHcOvHH3C-nzSqYZlX_2K8X7G06XMGuUauMiKqHukj_3hejgWGDM_J8ygMOAy45tHXYvI0-t-TmvO5LhvaZMUsX0n9iOhN2oj_HwGTVF4OuStxgoiwuQI0M/s400/a-nafplio7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">It would have been easy to spot invading ships from up here. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9quSXgfoxBPmXX5GraM5m1AnO1QdY1ujBnP-JfbOxoU2OxkcYj8PNDK7dw2oHwPy207t7uDvq13Zvu51FrDPpIPGq5sLsHILClz1NULn9QhfR2ouVtmE7LRULUGoW9FfU8rWwABRyBNI/s1600/anafplio8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9quSXgfoxBPmXX5GraM5m1AnO1QdY1ujBnP-JfbOxoU2OxkcYj8PNDK7dw2oHwPy207t7uDvq13Zvu51FrDPpIPGq5sLsHILClz1NULn9QhfR2ouVtmE7LRULUGoW9FfU8rWwABRyBNI/s400/anafplio8.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"> Some parts are in good shape.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9k_Fe35WUknp7AitKbl7IUWUJt9eKQ6bRkMom4hoTstUtKiOLWz2B-5HKiMKBbX60sR5IkDhg5DntXJi829HCAC8iOUfITRbXcW3h26j6qstKVZZx-wpydxlK5EByVUzS0uDBmbiNFs/s1600/a-nafplio6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9k_Fe35WUknp7AitKbl7IUWUJt9eKQ6bRkMom4hoTstUtKiOLWz2B-5HKiMKBbX60sR5IkDhg5DntXJi829HCAC8iOUfITRbXcW3h26j6qstKVZZx-wpydxlK5EByVUzS0uDBmbiNFs/s400/a-nafplio6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-27790630375591241262010-11-18T12:23:00.000-08:002010-11-18T12:32:31.641-08:00Summer Holiday in BC - Part Three<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: medium;">July 2010 - Little Fort, BC to 100 Mile House</span></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a wonderful breakfast and excellent conversation with our host at the Rose Garden Bed & Breakfast in Clearwater, we headed south to the road that would take us west to 100 Mile House.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One stop I was intent on making was to take a look at the ferry at Little Fort. CBC Radio gives road reports for our province and the Little Fort ferry is mentioned sometimes. For some reason I was intrigued and expected that we would be crossing on it. However the ferry transports people and vehicles to the east side of the North Thompson River, and we were heading west. That little ferry serves just a very few people on the west side of the river, along with any vehicles that take the alternate route to and from Clearwater.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVdFUvt6cqKSggNFBKEJhBmPJGgB7qJ6DDELkc9c80Ehnca4PSul3tJP4OcoKMijqdsE7Qipz2_s0TCrrfPAf6FNJMa0k078ofNSaWFfJlLdMD-TF3TGKS2gjNDwiUAkESoBZwtTgmgk/s1600/aIMG_7429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVdFUvt6cqKSggNFBKEJhBmPJGgB7qJ6DDELkc9c80Ehnca4PSul3tJP4OcoKMijqdsE7Qipz2_s0TCrrfPAf6FNJMa0k078ofNSaWFfJlLdMD-TF3TGKS2gjNDwiUAkESoBZwtTgmgk/s400/aIMG_7429.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXbvS7aoTvR_kyMoc-JdHtPPqzeGcDawtZ6kbzibi_O4hjUkTBD-95pLQc5XRrxY9jNTOPFIbFJxT0S1fnvVCi6RFLORXumKFMMhhzjFDgI6DlKCL1jncWWPhDUlXuXmS_hT0V7tTUgk/s1600/aIMG_7432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXbvS7aoTvR_kyMoc-JdHtPPqzeGcDawtZ6kbzibi_O4hjUkTBD-95pLQc5XRrxY9jNTOPFIbFJxT0S1fnvVCi6RFLORXumKFMMhhzjFDgI6DlKCL1jncWWPhDUlXuXmS_hT0V7tTUgk/s400/aIMG_7432.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left">See the man with the dark t-shirt? He operates the ferry, and since this is a pretty low-key job, he chatted with us for awhile. He even gave us a tip about the gallery of <a href="http://www.chrisharris.com/gallery/index.html">photographer Chris Harris</a>, just north of 100 Mile House. We did visit and were impressed! He has pictures in the Magma gallery on his website that I find are hard to believe were taken in BC! If I could snag a picture I would show it here, so you could see what I mean, but it seems that I can't.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">We proceeded west from Little Fort, over the hump to the Cariboo region. We were thinking that it would be nice to find a place for coffee. Since there was very few signs of habitation, once we did find a sign that said, in huge letters, Cappucino, we steered right in.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">A strange sign that said "Gated ...?" (we can't remember) then greeted us. Since we were truly in the middle of nowhere we couldn't understand why any kind of fence and gate would be needed. Maybe for bears, moose, etc? </div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">So we went into the log building's restaurant and placed our order with an Italian man. It was for a cappucino, a double latte and a piece of home-made lemon cake (no prices were posted). We ate outside on the deck, overlooking the lake.</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38Bc-c3kou6Xm2De7V7B5umZGvEtvDXuJi2rj7KW2G_kUWS7HF0UWHmnnJg7Viyx2nAwMQvl6-KlTgQI6IJ_s7_tJVNtmyIAXssuWqkjF0vq2FD2-JpMFhGHepbRlhHHKu3K3TOOnabs/s1600/aIMG_7414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38Bc-c3kou6Xm2De7V7B5umZGvEtvDXuJi2rj7KW2G_kUWS7HF0UWHmnnJg7Viyx2nAwMQvl6-KlTgQI6IJ_s7_tJVNtmyIAXssuWqkjF0vq2FD2-JpMFhGHepbRlhHHKu3K3TOOnabs/s400/aIMG_7414.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Had a nice chat with the him about how to make coffee (cappucino with Espresso, latte with a French press), the coffee was good, the atmosphere very pleasant, but things changed when we went to pay. The bill was $25!!!!! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When we reached 100 Mile House, we happened to see some fun Dutch people who had also stopped for coffee here. I asked them if they were shocked at the cost of their coffee and indeed they were, as they each had two cups and their bill was $60!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can only assume it was because of the remoteness. </div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-22259833864715089152010-11-16T22:19:00.000-08:002010-11-18T12:32:58.117-08:00Summer Holiday in My Own Backyard - Part Two<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: medium;">July 2010 - Salmon Arm to Clearwater</span></strong><br />
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Proceeding west from the Adams Lake, I was surprised to encounter a sign that said "Pick your own cherries." Having been raised in a orchard, I am particularly fond of directly supporting the farmer, as well as being able to pick tree-ripened fruit. But what really amazed me is that the area could grow cherries! It seemed like it would be too cold there in the winter. True enough the trees were on the small side, but the cherries still tasted great.<br />
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After we arrived at the door we found a sign that said they weren't home right now, but that we could go to the orchard and pick our own, weigh them, and just leave the money. I LOVE it when people do business this way. It helps me to maintain some optimism about society, in light of all the awful stuff we hear on the news. I guess the secret is to live remotely. Wait...that is exactly what we do. And I LOVE it. Too bad I didn't get to meet those orchardists. We have a lot in common.<br />
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On to the small town of Clearwater, where we found the lovely <a href="http://www.ntvalley.com/rosegarden/">Rose Garden Bed & Breakfast</a> for the night. It was another one of those small-town situations where we told them we were heading to the waterfalls, and that we would be back fairly late. They said to just go and all the other stuff could be taken care of later. Our room would be waiting for us whenever we returned, and it was.<br />
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Clearwater is at the junction of the Yellowhead Highway (between Kamloops, BC and Jasper, Alberta), and the road to Wells Gray Provincial Park, which is famous for its collection of waterfalls, including Spahats Falls:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfHIa9so2kRybrpFoBpaI5OL1wPR7EXGvCjLJet7cRZgDzdhbQmxhqh8M4NP1fPG5Pg0W3XYksxPwvHqfVYayoS2bXR9w99BGn6L0vWMrMTlgOPtF2J-dIDlgoLiz9QLUuLJyfEf_Pdc/s1600/aIMG_7401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTfHIa9so2kRybrpFoBpaI5OL1wPR7EXGvCjLJet7cRZgDzdhbQmxhqh8M4NP1fPG5Pg0W3XYksxPwvHqfVYayoS2bXR9w99BGn6L0vWMrMTlgOPtF2J-dIDlgoLiz9QLUuLJyfEf_Pdc/s400/aIMG_7401.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div align="center"></div>We gasped when we suddenly came upon this scene, as it was a very steep-sided narrow canyon (400' deep).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6wGC6_WN5wgHEL5sEQnVsCwE2nKj6efXAWjDeAp5RKO983Cs2W_j8Gdy8luRq34YuEACh0Agcn8tdOmrqhX1_Gv3tMyBrXB3kE_IGc44dTCpF9-YtCv89y3bZMaUbzozFS-ElggKgRo/s1600/aIMG_7400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6wGC6_WN5wgHEL5sEQnVsCwE2nKj6efXAWjDeAp5RKO983Cs2W_j8Gdy8luRq34YuEACh0Agcn8tdOmrqhX1_Gv3tMyBrXB3kE_IGc44dTCpF9-YtCv89y3bZMaUbzozFS-ElggKgRo/s400/aIMG_7400.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">I am always amazed to see how tiny a stream it is that makes such a dramatic waterfall.</div><br />
Next stop was Dawson Falls, with a much shorter drop, but has a significantly larger volume of water:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TGtLHKsqrL4H7zdzmtE5ZCe5nEqpIiBfolczfXQLYvseOcRLMS-Q-j9IAbuXzL4f_EnSjAXsdN54OOyH8ky8KdB0GC06K0lwpk4vV2bU3-KqllUJr6rf4YzdIgLAEarPp_bywTEEiC8/s1600/aIMG_7411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TGtLHKsqrL4H7zdzmtE5ZCe5nEqpIiBfolczfXQLYvseOcRLMS-Q-j9IAbuXzL4f_EnSjAXsdN54OOyH8ky8KdB0GC06K0lwpk4vV2bU3-KqllUJr6rf4YzdIgLAEarPp_bywTEEiC8/s400/aIMG_7411.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The tallest in the park, and fourth tallest waterfall in Canada, is Helmcken Falls, with a height of 141 mtrs (462'). <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwI4TJy8vUHMITY5L7-fnNpKr90o6mpVq7WU5DKasEHlmFHY4ZErFboinq4NUm-fGAWublS81UG5I4Uodrr4JmeCyJaomUiMelSdaCQE8BFNQDtndlBi9NX-_MhGBrZra_rufL4PxV_s/s1600/aIMG_7416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwI4TJy8vUHMITY5L7-fnNpKr90o6mpVq7WU5DKasEHlmFHY4ZErFboinq4NUm-fGAWublS81UG5I4Uodrr4JmeCyJaomUiMelSdaCQE8BFNQDtndlBi9NX-_MhGBrZra_rufL4PxV_s/s400/aIMG_7416.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: left;">From our vantage point on this side, it felt less dramatic than I expected. I think were were just too far away. <br />
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There is also a viewpoint on the other side, which is a longer hike, but it was getting too late to go there. <br />
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On the way back to Clearwater I was determined to check out Moul Falls. We had seen a sign, but the info on it was scarce, probably because it wasn't within the Park boundaries. It involved quite a hike in, and signage was not very good. My husband went up ahead and returned with the news that there didn't seem to be anything ahead. As doubtful as it seemed, could the tiny waterfall we had already passed been the Moul Falls? We decided to assume so and returned to the car.<br />
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A few miles closer to town we stopped for dinner at a sign indicating a buffalo barbecue. Down a lengthy dirt road we drove, past the buffalo, to the lovely <a href="http://www.buffaloranch.ca/grill.html">Trophy Mountain Buffalo Ranch Grill</a>, which is 20km (12 mi) north of Clearwater, in a location you would never expect to find a restaurant, let alone such a nice one. <br />
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While viewing the menu I noticed that there was a picture of a beautiful waterfall on the cover. I asked if it was the Moul Falls and sure enough, it was. My husband may never hear the end of this!<br />
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The outdoor restaurant was full and we may have been the only Canadians eating there. Next to our table were some lovely Dutch people. Their 13 yr son made the comment that they were seeing a LOT of trees. I guess to someone from the Netherlands, that would be a very significant feature of our landscape, as we have so many trees they become quite boring and we don't even think about them.<br />
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On the menu for 2011?:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiII3G1todmaIqPfdpbqhKwJK_DpZmeLrbfmksIJUHyZ6t9EVvQ1zKkeZR9A9_poFFOFtbwSrDdoYZByguHsXODeU6DLS5xNI4b6qOFVuN5NE3XZXHoDX1d2L-8r5AeXPX3JKEJi1sUX5A/s1600/aIMG_7426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiII3G1todmaIqPfdpbqhKwJK_DpZmeLrbfmksIJUHyZ6t9EVvQ1zKkeZR9A9_poFFOFtbwSrDdoYZByguHsXODeU6DLS5xNI4b6qOFVuN5NE3XZXHoDX1d2L-8r5AeXPX3JKEJi1sUX5A/s400/aIMG_7426.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"></div></div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-79367293245637906292010-11-08T13:49:00.000-08:002010-11-18T12:34:07.665-08:00Summer Holiday in My Own Backyard - BC<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: medium;">July 2010 - Grand Forks to Salmon Arm</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></strong>I love waterfalls, and could easily make a holiday of visiting as many as I can. So on our way to a wedding in 100 Mile House, we took a detour to Wells Gray Park, which is famous for having many waterfalls.<br />
<br />
But first, we found one in Fintry Provincial Park, while travelling up the west side of the Okanagan Lake, north of Kelowna. I was born and raised not too far from this waterfall, yet did not know of its existence!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkB_K8D3U8sG24l4uhoker7LTfmdoH6pwc4pfqF863vvmnskqxAqSg7076Z1v7Jo2fKhazYMCHi4Rc8E5fnPuKbBB74d2HSkhgZmPdH1QyNwNNcKQ5ZvU8YkW_to66_xrDOdHVTcZvk0/s1600/aIMG_7386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkB_K8D3U8sG24l4uhoker7LTfmdoH6pwc4pfqF863vvmnskqxAqSg7076Z1v7Jo2fKhazYMCHi4Rc8E5fnPuKbBB74d2HSkhgZmPdH1QyNwNNcKQ5ZvU8YkW_to66_xrDOdHVTcZvk0/s400/aIMG_7386.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Short Creek Waterfall</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46NR5yEK1trdAa5MdVwEM8zjrltSyizKk9Re0VzKeFJzgb31QvpTTHd4EA7vMVkxE93EhOYqpshA6SmVW3_X9c0LPD0G_ycQMxN7C-fnXddGcWfcGlKd0j-TFsXlgtbTypMC24CxHQMM/s1600/aIMG_7391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46NR5yEK1trdAa5MdVwEM8zjrltSyizKk9Re0VzKeFJzgb31QvpTTHd4EA7vMVkxE93EhOYqpshA6SmVW3_X9c0LPD0G_ycQMxN7C-fnXddGcWfcGlKd0j-TFsXlgtbTypMC24CxHQMM/s400/aIMG_7391.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div align="center">It had great steps going all the way to the top. Great exercise!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjja4GLm2mknPTcKlGVepkg0ZJ17BT8DIqdrL0L60RpaG6q90QQRhnfmkYASKd0Cjhcmqem_HeDfiguzAXZRFG9ggkN-oa7A3PcxGqYXsfHkCKeLw2fgwuEwSi30lcok5QPsLlfKm4tR-k/s1600/aIMG_7392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjja4GLm2mknPTcKlGVepkg0ZJ17BT8DIqdrL0L60RpaG6q90QQRhnfmkYASKd0Cjhcmqem_HeDfiguzAXZRFG9ggkN-oa7A3PcxGqYXsfHkCKeLw2fgwuEwSi30lcok5QPsLlfKm4tR-k/s400/aIMG_7392.jpg" width="321" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That's the Okanagan Lake in the background</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We were intentionally taking roads that were not the typical routes to get to Clearwater, which is the closest town to Wells Gray Park. So we found a gravel road that took us from Chase, alongside the Adams Lake, and then over to Barriere, which is north of Kamloops and south of Clearwater. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJlrBEmTVSJ69YUZP_mjY8aPhk6p59gKmPgZu8pA26NOVxbt4NYH68Usr__WMObBvw0jQEBq7q0dE0FHG0GPFL-Syr64dSYrUQdtaVxXbFGRpsOijQ5TGHpuDOxpaIrjUOJ_zwxOFnrUY/s1600/aIMG_7397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJlrBEmTVSJ69YUZP_mjY8aPhk6p59gKmPgZu8pA26NOVxbt4NYH68Usr__WMObBvw0jQEBq7q0dE0FHG0GPFL-Syr64dSYrUQdtaVxXbFGRpsOijQ5TGHpuDOxpaIrjUOJ_zwxOFnrUY/s320/aIMG_7397.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">View of Adams Lake</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the distance in the picture above is where the famous Adams River leaves the lake. This is where sockeye salmon come to spawn in October. I am writing this as the event is just finishing. This year was the largest run in 97 years. Millions of salmon returned to lay their eggs (the turn red before they do this), after which, they die. I did not take this video, but it is so nice that I thought I would add it here:</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="272" width="440"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ifrV053H8NM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ifrV053H8NM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="440" height="272"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
You can leave the maker of the video comments on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifrV053H8NM&feature=related">this page at YouTube</a>.</div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-28416316477022234422010-09-16T20:58:00.000-07:002010-09-16T20:58:45.880-07:00What Did I Learn on My Trip? Or Travel is an Education!<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">Belgium</span></strong><br />
In the hostel in Ljubljana I had 3 roommates from Belgium the first night and then 3 different Belgians the second night. From them I learned that the various ethnic groups in their country don't like each other and it is predicted that Brussels will become a city state and that the country will split into 2 (or was it 3) separate countries.<br />
<br />
Also, the groups do not speak the same language. Does this sound familiar to my fellow Canadians?<br />
<br />
It turned out that the two groups in my hostel were from opposing ethnic groups, but I witnessed that they met and there appeared to be no hostilities. <br />
<br />
I had no idea this was going on in Belgium. The country rarely makes the news.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">Switzerland</span></strong><br />
Next was my meeting of two Swiss cyclists. One from the German-speaking part of the country and the other from the French-speaking part. Guess which language they communicated in? ENGLISH! Otherwise they couldn't understand each other.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">Picture-Taking</span></strong><br />
In Zadar, Croatia, I had dinner with a young man from Japan. He spoke no English and I spoke no Japanese. Thank heavens for digital cameras! We showed each other our pictures. We had been at the same place earlier in the day (Lake Plitvice). What I found so fascinating was that we took pictures of such different scenes. He took many pictures of the lakes whereas I found the lakes so insignificant that I didn't take any pics. They were small and surrounding the lakes were low hills. To someone from the land of lakes and mountains (Canada) they were very ho-hum. However I did take a gazillion pics of waterfalls, but it seems that they did not interest him. You would think we had been in different places, but I remember him getting on the bus when I did.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">Showers</span></strong><br />
Lastly I learned that one does not need to use full pressure when running the shower. Partial pressure is more than adequate! We North Americans are so incredibly wasteful, though Europeans have far surpassed us when it comes to over-packaging their produce in grocery stores. <br />
<br />
Ah yes, and I met some Americans who liked Sarah Palin, or at least thought she got a bad deal from the media during the Presidential race.Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-72501053724335705152010-09-14T20:54:00.000-07:002010-09-14T20:54:32.192-07:00Saturday Market in Apt France - Part 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbuxwYtNKzbCseM_EKF8Zla8qYoVQVpS-3e85X0J8NyZWd89YEOpZMKfwSkD4q9sV9v6ajpZBMtc4YJeaWR7pxjpLD2oHywAjx0Xut-LzKUl8nAWWQBW8s6ImUKHNK9sikCDW9J6_AUg/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbuxwYtNKzbCseM_EKF8Zla8qYoVQVpS-3e85X0J8NyZWd89YEOpZMKfwSkD4q9sV9v6ajpZBMtc4YJeaWR7pxjpLD2oHywAjx0Xut-LzKUl8nAWWQBW8s6ImUKHNK9sikCDW9J6_AUg/s400/17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">Pentanque accessories</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOdSf9ny1-McM4_3DJDfupk0Mecm97UtzQpHVKejuX9Smf2qI-6Uzlr2C8MdHwTbB3P9ULCMSuID56Oimv3qzI4FeAICMTRC_OpzAyCAGhGRLLtbeKSzo1m-FJY8zLlwxFg7iDzGt1Fw/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOdSf9ny1-McM4_3DJDfupk0Mecm97UtzQpHVKejuX9Smf2qI-6Uzlr2C8MdHwTbB3P9ULCMSuID56Oimv3qzI4FeAICMTRC_OpzAyCAGhGRLLtbeKSzo1m-FJY8zLlwxFg7iDzGt1Fw/s400/18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">The booth with the best colour!</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnE0NnI8bQ7RWHfBFdMEtJyXETTNKy6kPGSsSybjw9HcU-0kAasc9pVvdDT2NVN8r5haShHyonHMIY_r6y3GsW5LdTdT0emTEsdhfVfCORYM4Y9xynZIth4-2DCXGi1uMaKjyh_3i0-X0/s1600/19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnE0NnI8bQ7RWHfBFdMEtJyXETTNKy6kPGSsSybjw9HcU-0kAasc9pVvdDT2NVN8r5haShHyonHMIY_r6y3GsW5LdTdT0emTEsdhfVfCORYM4Y9xynZIth4-2DCXGi1uMaKjyh_3i0-X0/s400/19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">These boys hammed it up while my son took a pic of them, and then <br />
did the same while I took one. I heard other tourists talking about <br />
them hoping to find them and so they could take a pic. </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrNccF7f2QjcCj1Q6gHeOple20RIr-122yLIvn_QvjDaWd6rkfO1P3ryzjO0k7SFzAn3yaezpXQ4nPqDm0x-31jnOqUQwgK_t2dZd1yubP5MNMeqbPgkUoMsAdmoEEOVL25P215xFQFM/s1600/21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrNccF7f2QjcCj1Q6gHeOple20RIr-122yLIvn_QvjDaWd6rkfO1P3ryzjO0k7SFzAn3yaezpXQ4nPqDm0x-31jnOqUQwgK_t2dZd1yubP5MNMeqbPgkUoMsAdmoEEOVL25P215xFQFM/s400/21.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39hvD2pNRrwXgh62whj3G6RFQQfNAMuNwveJYZY_mwnpknyqNk54S0zyswwdANEhf-QuXTWH0CSfLMCetvczD5RiDYgAS9HEkmll7DRblIRYuowgZDIiXq08UBt6NA1c4zwS9TRh-8VY/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39hvD2pNRrwXgh62whj3G6RFQQfNAMuNwveJYZY_mwnpknyqNk54S0zyswwdANEhf-QuXTWH0CSfLMCetvczD5RiDYgAS9HEkmll7DRblIRYuowgZDIiXq08UBt6NA1c4zwS9TRh-8VY/s400/22.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My son noted that everyone came to the market with bags.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNds1ZeeFzDSWQ6TW7JfXw7QTD8Rm9v7Sn-Y7ubYyzqyLnFzWotmGLi9es-v-_vnDnMKRawgRNiV0uIUK1pxsBg5of2ccnDdYMIgOQWhTD-msfTdpUoBAxPiGlweYF2vUifPbkymjDkU/s1600/23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNds1ZeeFzDSWQ6TW7JfXw7QTD8Rm9v7Sn-Y7ubYyzqyLnFzWotmGLi9es-v-_vnDnMKRawgRNiV0uIUK1pxsBg5of2ccnDdYMIgOQWhTD-msfTdpUoBAxPiGlweYF2vUifPbkymjDkU/s400/23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> What would a French market be without baguettes!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58w9EQr1LR5fzVN9-fLZM9hzsRN7nRfuu0iCTZIw32sXYvU2Rp039bhNysRYmGKKIbPc6atN9w2VhETcQmpHUu98gS0OJOfwKFiCI55LgMVYGcCUb_gCcCwCeMfrVsiBBlDgk0uPyQ8U/s1600/24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58w9EQr1LR5fzVN9-fLZM9hzsRN7nRfuu0iCTZIw32sXYvU2Rp039bhNysRYmGKKIbPc6atN9w2VhETcQmpHUu98gS0OJOfwKFiCI55LgMVYGcCUb_gCcCwCeMfrVsiBBlDgk0uPyQ8U/s400/24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhhA5hiFb8ZKc03f1lkcQWp06RgPjV4PXhtAlIfT3APhkzP3hLq7hD7J4s3XhBQ0hqSj2Mh5rgvGWiwm1D1kCWHuY0v4S9mwE0PLgDhn9XQtpMpSz5TPqsZwKLkSnv7VoWKj2vKXMbcE/s1600/25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhhA5hiFb8ZKc03f1lkcQWp06RgPjV4PXhtAlIfT3APhkzP3hLq7hD7J4s3XhBQ0hqSj2Mh5rgvGWiwm1D1kCWHuY0v4S9mwE0PLgDhn9XQtpMpSz5TPqsZwKLkSnv7VoWKj2vKXMbcE/s400/25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-18549806289446579922010-09-13T12:26:00.000-07:002010-09-13T12:26:19.806-07:00Saturday Market in Apt France - Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9Uhj5tJUCqrgltDCqiOQtYNntRppFVrxjuyVlD6NbQ87vu0iiF7FZ3V5SGaBehWNLV9tUAeCxTPBCJ2qJNcrurWXzTYEAUUYSAEtIBs2wZz1VPLedjSRmENR0dXV3dD942v4G5Eksc4/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9Uhj5tJUCqrgltDCqiOQtYNntRppFVrxjuyVlD6NbQ87vu0iiF7FZ3V5SGaBehWNLV9tUAeCxTPBCJ2qJNcrurWXzTYEAUUYSAEtIBs2wZz1VPLedjSRmENR0dXV3dD942v4G5Eksc4/s400/9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">Lots of olives</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTEZFPTszLSPp88DcXn4YzO-mmU2j5JhFzq_uCLyrD1maXToZsVfczlK6bLXwyk2S4Ef3274Bp6Mk0w9-BhJpcMfnVED6dhndWl5VfAo9zLGnQ5ELgA9OtdOVH9ZUALTaUlIFz2zwJyk/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaTEZFPTszLSPp88DcXn4YzO-mmU2j5JhFzq_uCLyrD1maXToZsVfczlK6bLXwyk2S4Ef3274Bp6Mk0w9-BhJpcMfnVED6dhndWl5VfAo9zLGnQ5ELgA9OtdOVH9ZUALTaUlIFz2zwJyk/s400/10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">There were free samples to be had here, cept I don't like olives</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMFWGzNF1Qb1reAkD1sudvOwjmqi72DxqVht2BU56iDMdxqXHXMhtJOiwGUoyOaooOglrglJOG3jNH5DPVG8-HdHxoORRgaA0Lzp6TZRdBavBsK7sDYH47KKwrF1MozlLiFwbwK3Ww8w/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMFWGzNF1Qb1reAkD1sudvOwjmqi72DxqVht2BU56iDMdxqXHXMhtJOiwGUoyOaooOglrglJOG3jNH5DPVG8-HdHxoORRgaA0Lzp6TZRdBavBsK7sDYH47KKwrF1MozlLiFwbwK3Ww8w/s400/11.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Biggest loaves of bread that I have ever seen! I seem to </div><div style="text-align: center;">remember them being about 30" long!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvBeTrAs7e1uAbf80KGwQw1isGr-msD2hlpoOw-7H2lEEvcHfhVZ7U2gV1BGqFwq6g01h7JnuCczAwhObDwaTh34Oc2KN5xd_CgZCe_KeORuL3f1dW5TJJoUTz3mOBY1XQEqhp73nlak/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvBeTrAs7e1uAbf80KGwQw1isGr-msD2hlpoOw-7H2lEEvcHfhVZ7U2gV1BGqFwq6g01h7JnuCczAwhObDwaTh34Oc2KN5xd_CgZCe_KeORuL3f1dW5TJJoUTz3mOBY1XQEqhp73nlak/s320/12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">French fast food. I hope they never change to </div><div style="text-align: center;">the garbage that North America puts out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNbZ3KX7TeSvI9wgZH9vojARUE1FI7zpd9Pq92pq1KQ-USzRyOAO4jdNBEcaCtJDeuiQqHzOeNdvGoedhpHJFmGP-yvknZzz632OEv-ZC24NkeeNeh-tGwaaki_8-qBIQdZVdqPDz6kU/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNbZ3KX7TeSvI9wgZH9vojARUE1FI7zpd9Pq92pq1KQ-USzRyOAO4jdNBEcaCtJDeuiQqHzOeNdvGoedhpHJFmGP-yvknZzz632OEv-ZC24NkeeNeh-tGwaaki_8-qBIQdZVdqPDz6kU/s400/13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There was a huge variety of cured meats at this booth. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6C-ulCC630gsV1gq3C-NX5kMPkgTILLZKv-1b5SviGQISkB30frONcyCEu3am5C1vHtVawWGcQWVOO7UJiyZfZQszD1Zw_AKjLZozdzhAt_1cLtZZrKBsPqpERQMybfH33Qgs4YptNk/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6C-ulCC630gsV1gq3C-NX5kMPkgTILLZKv-1b5SviGQISkB30frONcyCEu3am5C1vHtVawWGcQWVOO7UJiyZfZQszD1Zw_AKjLZozdzhAt_1cLtZZrKBsPqpERQMybfH33Qgs4YptNk/s400/14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I couldn't figure out how to capture this booth in way that show how much was available, yet showed how interesting the food looked.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_aimFbXVw0noiZ8lsIxsq4OxfpoNhdoDf417M7wZ3F02xz9HP2SlwHzLXfhHJ8VPd5Z6tCyyhnGmwhbA-MxTpoPR6t8agpIUpLxfqxuhjDO1_DsYmAd-MbjlrYeuDBugRpf1-S5EXww/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="395" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_aimFbXVw0noiZ8lsIxsq4OxfpoNhdoDf417M7wZ3F02xz9HP2SlwHzLXfhHJ8VPd5Z6tCyyhnGmwhbA-MxTpoPR6t8agpIUpLxfqxuhjDO1_DsYmAd-MbjlrYeuDBugRpf1-S5EXww/s400/15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Of course there was olive oil</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6N2Ceog0JfNkW0375uwNURzZAkkWrELfaOnInpAmKgYknz5VpcwFNzTRdZLNw7t7Vox9CC6is_nN0eLUEjuwPYvedn5-eeYxuvsdHKgCeFDeV-mEDcSVYwr6EtAP32RuXlsJsdDJqen8/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6N2Ceog0JfNkW0375uwNURzZAkkWrELfaOnInpAmKgYknz5VpcwFNzTRdZLNw7t7Vox9CC6is_nN0eLUEjuwPYvedn5-eeYxuvsdHKgCeFDeV-mEDcSVYwr6EtAP32RuXlsJsdDJqen8/s400/16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Should one get hungry, there was a restaurant to dine at. <br />
Love the use of a bike to hang the sign on.</div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0France43.866218006556394 5.405273437541.886073006556394 1.6699219374999998 45.846363006556395 9.1406249375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2705942886128347610.post-59438656126871733492010-09-12T21:23:00.000-07:002010-09-13T12:32:21.666-07:00Saturday Market in Apt France - Part 1I am about to leave on another trip, so I guess I should finish posting the pics from the last one, which happened a year ago!<br />
<br />
The market in Apt, which is in the south of France, due north of Aix-en-Provence and east of Avignon, is famous in France. I can see why. It was full of vendors selling a fascinating array of goods. Locals say that in the summer it is very crowded. We were there in early October, and it was perfect.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsKw00oa7XZYkDZy1Xt_QYiBGUKUE6c_hqeuS8YFGWcBwMW2GknE2rez1opQntSSyY_eUtj3eJsDzgeUOZJi4X_8Rs3XbMhsnOUIn30lBh7Hc1CyRqO2jnPSHKljrK7C09h1wCBAcoLU/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsKw00oa7XZYkDZy1Xt_QYiBGUKUE6c_hqeuS8YFGWcBwMW2GknE2rez1opQntSSyY_eUtj3eJsDzgeUOZJi4X_8Rs3XbMhsnOUIn30lBh7Hc1CyRqO2jnPSHKljrK7C09h1wCBAcoLU/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lKyrRjiOzORdiCTWBr3ibUmCC_A8pH7Gfj_tnX4SYtsv2GV0rE_sfgS9wbyU06aHbKfDPjGhjHpSMiWntg8_kWSG2AqPi9oMGUkmawLQ6XkpGHx6D_sa_1Rr-hjITszv75F-jbvH_4Q/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lKyrRjiOzORdiCTWBr3ibUmCC_A8pH7Gfj_tnX4SYtsv2GV0rE_sfgS9wbyU06aHbKfDPjGhjHpSMiWntg8_kWSG2AqPi9oMGUkmawLQ6XkpGHx6D_sa_1Rr-hjITszv75F-jbvH_4Q/s400/2.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There's a couple of baguettes in that bag. You see people carrying them all the time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65sEOMczv9neLfTMKhBhYk91ICXNcHrKmj-vFK2i5omy0HXFwIo8CrJMEzMEPwCJb0M1Ml8FaYrp_z7o1lv1AJ5N9Sp6V9iik7LPGmrJ9efgtUhkjtXue4hHxWOVC7Tax8TCnNwiJuBM/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65sEOMczv9neLfTMKhBhYk91ICXNcHrKmj-vFK2i5omy0HXFwIo8CrJMEzMEPwCJb0M1Ml8FaYrp_z7o1lv1AJ5N9Sp6V9iik7LPGmrJ9efgtUhkjtXue4hHxWOVC7Tax8TCnNwiJuBM/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">Free samples</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ClyZWc0qTyDwZch8-R8DGhk9EYPwDbjZ2-K_810vbB1FCJjNB8Boam_KzK6Jk8Jk3hn03XSU853jFwXkDTmawyEeF2j4zWD98Ww5N6yYT4aCVkNXBcNJt8oIiqhPQT5eVaYj6lRHndU/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ClyZWc0qTyDwZch8-R8DGhk9EYPwDbjZ2-K_810vbB1FCJjNB8Boam_KzK6Jk8Jk3hn03XSU853jFwXkDTmawyEeF2j4zWD98Ww5N6yYT4aCVkNXBcNJt8oIiqhPQT5eVaYj6lRHndU/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDBntEomOdiKRyFJaw3k71kVTsmlqfLU-Gz1FgtrciuW9-Q8ZhMxxHSlSKhAk7YGtE_6V8PX1zLdTV19gtcXGa5OLk2AJ_X5j0RcLlz4syvQ0ABWyMZZXuTMdHn0bkZ6ekfuXtw2OohA/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDBntEomOdiKRyFJaw3k71kVTsmlqfLU-Gz1FgtrciuW9-Q8ZhMxxHSlSKhAk7YGtE_6V8PX1zLdTV19gtcXGa5OLk2AJ_X5j0RcLlz4syvQ0ABWyMZZXuTMdHn0bkZ6ekfuXtw2OohA/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">The sign says it all</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9b1TPS2vO_7N-7xKY7tJB2jex7GvPFeh0CD5Qik3wtcT9hFnjYNFKs9BadyZrawS6v0d5DB4fDqQj2RKx-aEXL5WPQdbFe34fDNrBCD5M2ZUWkIllY-BP4lAOKm2F_XQsKrFwPiVbKU/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="383" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9b1TPS2vO_7N-7xKY7tJB2jex7GvPFeh0CD5Qik3wtcT9hFnjYNFKs9BadyZrawS6v0d5DB4fDqQj2RKx-aEXL5WPQdbFe34fDNrBCD5M2ZUWkIllY-BP4lAOKm2F_XQsKrFwPiVbKU/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center">Monster rounds of Gruyere and Edam cheese. Too bad I didn't <br />
have something there for scale.</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBqo5XRvWJ6T4AtQoRwUHE8tWLGW6d190vkSLnwlRbVb1TL0XrJVgFCRpknfE7rmx4U_R7Bk8XXcxn02KMd1PhfSlATgKLFM6ir3s9TC-0aLK2NdvBQX5oIHy1gmPMbbg3-nyU0XZMC4/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBqo5XRvWJ6T4AtQoRwUHE8tWLGW6d190vkSLnwlRbVb1TL0XrJVgFCRpknfE7rmx4U_R7Bk8XXcxn02KMd1PhfSlATgKLFM6ir3s9TC-0aLK2NdvBQX5oIHy1gmPMbbg3-nyU0XZMC4/s400/7.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This pleasant man was highly entertaining. Characters like this are <br />
an important part of a market!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXHadys5KH1TDKm4HbPMDW0GiY-PJYDrHZa-3vqe5ulznk7A8XAGUK4SZn_dxaCD0ViUfqPMrjikFYmgunpOFwHVoquGlRbAfZ_tCkKuZ5IU1qKGLHWHJQPqPxrJUdpoj4ZUeBCRHDJo/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXHadys5KH1TDKm4HbPMDW0GiY-PJYDrHZa-3vqe5ulznk7A8XAGUK4SZn_dxaCD0ViUfqPMrjikFYmgunpOFwHVoquGlRbAfZ_tCkKuZ5IU1qKGLHWHJQPqPxrJUdpoj4ZUeBCRHDJo/s400/8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It was mushroom season when we were in Provence. We bought <br />
some and cooked them up. Though no truffles for us!</div><div align="center"><br />
</div>Murielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00623111930137584183noreply@blogger.com0