A Traveler's Photo Journal

Paris, St-Ouen Market

Posted on March 1, 2015 by volovecto

A shop at Les Puces de St-Ouen

One word describes the St-Ouen market: wow! This famous flea market on the northern edge of the 18th arrondissement has anything you might be looking for and more. It would have been easy to fill a shipping container with all the pieces I found that I loved, but it would have completely drained all bank accounts. Block after block of shops held anything you could possibly dream of. My dear friends Teresa and Joanie would be lost for days in this shopper’s paradise.

Murano glass chandeliers in the flea market, reasonably priced around 350 euros

A chair I liked, also 350 euros, so reasonable I actually inquired about shipping to the US

I did find the one perfect piece on my must have list, a Schneider art nouveau desk lamp. I had two goals for my stay in Paris; one awesome photograph, and an art nouveau desk lamp. One down and one to go.

The art nouveau lamp that first caught my eye, unfortunately it was 2,000 euros

The Schneider lamp I purchased for considerably less than 2000 euros in the Marche Serpette, Aisle 4, Stall 10

Lamp being disassembled for packing

more shops

We saw many dogs accompanied by their people, like this wheaton scottie

We saw many dogs accompanied by their people, like this wheaten Scottie

More beautiful chairs, these were 1800 euros for two

And more beautiful chairs, a recent obsession of mine

You could easily spend days going through all the shops, but after finding my treasure we headed towards the metro station at a leisurely pace. Paranoid I would break the irreplaceable Schneider art glass, we made our way directly back to the apartment.

After safely depositing the desk lamp in the apartment, we ventured back out with a Rick Steves restaurant recommendation as our destination. It was in the Montmartre area, but away from the hustle and bustle of tourist traffic. This one turned out to be a good recommendation so Rick earns some points.

L’ete en Pente Douce

Our lunch spot

Looking down from the Montmartre hillside

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and looking into shops. Montmartre seems to be the windy spot of Paris, so I didn’t last too long without ducking into a shop to avoid the wind. The sun did shine now and then, but temperatures were still cool.

Macaroons in the window at Christophe Roussel Patissier Chocolatier

Nikon color outline feature

Posted in France | 2 Comments

Amsterdam to Paris

Posted on February 28, 2015 by volovecto

The train station in Amsterdam

I liked Amsterdam. It is clean and organized, from the ticket lines at the museums to the signage at the train station. It’s easy to get around and everyone speaks English. As our Heineken cruise guide said “There’s more to Amsterdam than prostitutes and coffee shops.”

It was an easy walk from our B&B to the train station, where we boarded the Thalys high speed train to Pairs. The ride was smooth, comfortable and fast, reaching a maximum speed of 300 km/hr, or 186 mph. It felt like we were rolling right along as the countryside sped by.

From the Gare du Nord train station in Paris it was a short 10 minute walk to the apartment at 74 rue Dunkerque. We rented the apartment through VRBO.com, and it was perfect; two bedrooms and roomy. We have found that apartment rentals beat hotels every time, and if you split the cost, it is more economical too.

The apartment we rented on VRBO.com.

A market is one block away, and a pastry shop is in the same block. We are also one block from the Anvers metro station stop.

Apartment building on Dunkerque

Pastries in the shop on our block

After unpacking and grocery shopping (food in the market was reasonably priced, a bottle of wine around 5 euros), we took a walk up to Sacre-Coeur to get our bearings. It had clouded over and there was a cold wind, still, the streets were full. There is no end to the tacky souvenir shops and even in February there were many tourists. We made an initial reconnaissance of the area for future lunch spots and found a money changing shop. All essential.

The carousel at the foot of Sacre-Coeur

Place de Tertre in Montmartre

Nikon color sketch feature on a pastry shop window in Montmartre

Back at the apartment it was heaven to relax in a toasty warm roomy place of our own with a kitchen.

There are endless tacky souvenir shops lining the streets to Sacre-Coeur

Le Chat Noir, an iconic poster art image from the Montmartre cabaret established in 1881. The artist was Steinlen. This is image is EVERYWHERE and on everything imagineable here in the Montemartre area of Paris

Posted in Amsterdam, France | 3 Comments

Another Day in Amsterdam

Posted on February 27, 2015 by volovecto

The only flower market stall with fresh flowers in the month of February

With the departure of the “cold, bleak, biting weather” (thanks Charles), we headed out into sunny skies and crisp temperatures. What a difference no rain and wind make, and how nice to have a little sunshine. We walked all day and checked off most of what we had on our ‘to do’ list.

The floating flower market was pretty much a bust in this pre-growing season month. The flower stalls had many bulbs for sale, but not the endless buckets of fresh flowers I was hoping for.

The Katten Kabinet

We visited the cat art museum called Katten Kabinet, and had the sweetest, most talkative little docent of any museum I’ve toured. Her name was Shirley and she had a hair trigger purr. She guided us through the rooms of cat art in a converted canal home; two museums in one really, as we were able to see what one of the old houses looked like on the inside.

Shirley the kitten guided us through the Katten Kabinet

A corner in the cat art museum

Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen. Compagnie Francaise des Chocolates et des Thes. 1895

From the cat museum we walked along Vijaelgracht, then followed alongside Singelgracht until we reached the Rijksmuseum, newly renovated and quite popular. However, I can usually only take one large museum per day, and my priority was the Van Gogh Museum, so on we walked, passing an ice skating rink, and then into line for the Van Gogh Museum. The Van Gogh Museum was truly fabulous, and with as many people as we saw in the exhibit in this off season, it must be shoulder to shoulder in the tourist season.

Amsterdams Rijksmuseum

The Van Gogh Museum is four floors of the world’s largest collection of his works, including 200 paintings. You work your way chronologically through his life, starting on the ground floor. It was quite informative, and we learned many details, including that without his brother’s wife, the world may never have known his art. His nephew, Vincent Willem van Gogh inherited the art collection and carried on the legacy by creating the Vincent van Gogh Foundation.

I bought some postcards of a few of my favorites, and the museum masterpiece book. Here are copies of the postcards, as best as I can post them without a scanner.

The Bedroom, Arles, October 1888

Wheatfield with a reaper, Saint-Remy, September 1889, the view from his room at the asylum

Van Gogh’s Almond Blossom. Saint-Remy, February 1890. Painted as a gift for his newly born nephew

Irises, Saint-Remy, May 1890. According to van Gogh the canvas needed a month to dry on account of its impasto (thickly applied paint).

Me in a pub next door to the Heineken Experience

A pub lunch, of course, followed the museum, and then to the Heineken Experience. I’m not a beer drinker myself, but I did want to see the stables where the Shire horses that pull the beer wagon are housed. Unfortunately, the stables were closed for repair.

The Heineken Experience was interesting, included two free beers (admission was 18 euros), and seemed geared towards a younger audience. I really did try the beer, taking a “manly swallow” and not a sip as advised, but I still have to count myself a non-beer drinker.

Inside the Heineken Experience

My sister sampling the “extra cold” Heineken

We boarded the complimentary Heineken boat and saved ourselves some walking, as it dropped us near the Opera House on the Amstel River, the only natural waterway in Amsterdam. We still had quite a few blocks to walk back to our B&B, and as the sun started to lower in the west, the temperature started to drop under the clear sky.

Heineken boat

We walked along the river as the sun faded and light turned magical.

A Van Gogh inspired caked in a bakery window

Using the Nikon color sketch feature on one of the canal photos

After a very brief rest at the B&B, we headed out for dinner in our neighborhood, the Jordaan. We know this is the off season, but for all our lunches and dinners, the restaurants have been packed and we can’t imagine what it would be like in the busy tourist season.

A canal just after sunset

Posted in Amsterdam | 4 Comments

Amsterdam

Posted on February 26, 2015 by volovecto

A canal in Amsterdam

February is not high season in Amsterdam. Still, my sister and I made the most of our first day here, despite cold, foggy, drizzly weather.

As we walked the cobbled streets along the canals, the inescapable fumes of pot permeated the air in nearly every block. Locals take this weather in stride as bicycles dominated the streets, while tourists stood in a long line even in the rain in Feb. to see the Anne Frank House Museum. We sampled the famous pancakes for lunch and took a canal cruise in a thankfully warm and dry boat.

The formidable pancakes found everywhere

One of the oldest pubs, The Papeneiland, provided a warm and welcoming respite to the drizzly weather.

Oldest pub exterior

Oldest pub interior

After the rain stopped we walked from the oldest pub to the oldest church, the Oulde Kerk, Amsterdam’s oldest building established in 1306. It is right in the middle of the red light district, and a beautiful old church.

Exterior of the oldest church

Oldest church. The view that some of the working girls have from the shop just behind me as I took this photo

Oldest church. The view that some of the Sex Workers have from the brothel just behind me as I took this photo

We walked around the inside of the church with its beautiful stained glass windows, wooden barrel vaulted ceiling and a floor made of carved memorial stones. The church is a covered cemetery with 2500 graves. The gravestones tell something about the people who had been buried there, but now all graves have been excavated and filled with white sand.

Gravestone floor of the church

There was a modern art installation on display inside the church, video clips by Tony Oursler. I found it rather disturbing, almost creepy, and not at all to my liking. The brochure described the installation as follows: Oursler “hacks” the church, using digitally produced performances that emphasize the evolving character of the architecture and the cultural usage of the monumental building.

I guess I just didn’t get it.

Gothic wooden ceiling

Stained glass windows in the Lady’s Chapel

The Adoration of the Shepherds window in the Lady’s Chapel

The square around the church is lined with sex shops, window prostitutes, pubs, and all other assortment of commerce. The world’s first condom shop had a delightfully colorful window display, and no lack of customers.

Bicycles line the back side of the oldest church with Sex Shops across the street

The colorful window display in the world’s first condom shop, the Condomerie.

Singel canal at night

Herengracht at night

Posted in Amsterdam | 3 Comments

Images of Christmas

Posted on December 5, 2014 by volovecto

Norwegian Christmas card

Christmas cards are a wonderful way to bring art to the holidays. As I’ve said before, my family is a card family. We share cards for many occasions, so Christmas is a big card holiday. I love to send and receive Christmas cards, and am always looking for the perfect card.

While I was in Norway this past January, I picked up these Tomte cards to send this year (first two).

Another card I particularly like:

“Starry Moose”, A Paris Bottman card. Bottman Design, Inc. Printed in Canada.

A few of the cards I received last Christmas:

Posted in Seasons & Holidays | Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2014 by volovecto

The First Thanksgiving At Plymouth, by Jennie Brownscombe, c. 1914

Happy Thanksgiving, on this day, one of the most American of all American holidays.

The modern day Thanksgiving with its emphasis on shopping, and football, or how much you can eat is nothing like the first Thanksgiving. The first thanksgiving gathering, in November of 1621, was truly about celebrating being alive, the fall harvest, and preparing for the winter. The 53 Mayflower survivors, “First Comers” along with several other ships, set out for America in 1620. They landed in Plymouth in December of 1620.

The First Thanksgiving 1621, by JLG Ferris, c 1932

By November of 1621 they had survived one year and were preparing for winter. Edward Winslow, one of the Mayflower “First Comers”, writes:

“our harvest being gotten in, our governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others. And although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God,
we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie.”

And from William Bradford, another “First Comer”:

“They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; For as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their
portion. All ye somer ther was no want. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports.”

The paintings of that first Thanksgiving are idealized of course, but they are probably what Americans envisions for that day. It seems a shame to me that so many of our traditions and holidays are now focused on shopping and sales, and really have no resemblance of what the original holiday was about.

Norman Rockwell’s famous depiction of Thanksgiving, 1942. What Rockwell said of this famous turkey scene, “our cook, Mrs. Wheaton, roasted it, I painted it, and we ate it.”

Thanks to the website http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.com

Posted in Seasons & Holidays | 2 Comments

Mid-October on the Central Oregon Coast

Posted on October 20, 2014 by volovecto

The Oregon Coast in October, looking south from the Heceta Lighthouse.

The beautiful summer months are my preferred time to visit Oregon. But this October my family celebrated a special occasion, so it was back out to Oregon for an Autumn visit. We took a gamble on the weather and rented a beach house in Waldport to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday. October can be very unpredictable as far as the weather is concerned, so we knew we might have cold, rainy weather. As luck would have it, my mother’s birthday was an unusually nice, warm, sunny, cloudless, windless day at the Oregon beach, pretty much a one in a million day in October.

The view from our rental home on Waldport beach

We had good luck again with vrbo.com. The house was perfect, gorgeous view, and let our three dogs tag along for the party.

http://www.vrbo.com/279256

The sunroom of the Waldport beach house we rented through vrbo.com

Everyone enjoyed a walk on the beach

Morning walk on the beach

Waldport is just south of Newport, Oregon and just north of the Heceta Lighthouse, both scenic spots I got a chance to visit.

The Newport, Oregon bridge, with the usual Oregon weather of rain squalls and sun.

Boats in the Newport, Oregon harbor

More fishing boats in Newport, Oregon

Color sketch of fishing boats

On my mother’s birthday, we drove south to the Heceta Head Lighthouse, built in 1892. It was restored in 2011, but the lighthouse, the lightkeeper’s house, and the oil house are all original structures. The Assistant Lightkeeper’s House is now a B & B. (www.HecetaLighthouse.com)

The trail up to the Heceta Lighthouse

The Heceta Lighthouse

Nikon Color sketch of the Heceta Lighthouse

The Heceta Lighthouse taken from a trail behind the structure

The Assistant Lightkeeper’s House, now a B & B

For the Big Day, we contracted with Chef Becky to come in and cook for us. (www.chefbecky.com). Her menu included; crab cakes with roasted red pepper aioli, hot artichoke and spinach dip, lobster bisque, greens with baby shrimp and dill tarragon dressing and puff pastry medallions, seared scallops with sage browned butter, couscous with pinenuts and petite french green beans with lemon. It was wonderful, and having someone else do the cooking allowed all of us to visit with guests.

Chef Becky with her crab cakes

The day was a success, the weather cooperated, and friends and family all had a good time.

My mom, beautiful at 79 years and 363 days in the photo

My mom, beautiful at 79 years and 363 days in this photo

Me with my mom on her 80th birthday

Friends and family gather to celebrate my mother’s birthday

My mother thanks Chef Becky for a wonderful dinner

Posted in Family, Oregon | 3 Comments

Lake Como

Posted on October 6, 2014 by volovecto

Color sketch of Varenna

With one full day remaining in Italy, I decided to spend it on Lake Como, and I’m glad I did. Varenna is just a one hour train ride (6.50 Euros) from Milan, and a good town to start a visit to the central portion of Lake Como.

Varenna in the morning light

Lake Como, the third largest lake in Italy, is almost like three long lakes that come together in the center. A cluster of small towns, including Varenna, Bellagio, Cadenabbia, and Menaggio, hug the shoreline at the center. I arrived at 930 in the morning and enjoyed a cappucino and a dolce (chocolate filled croissant) before walking the lakeside path into the heart of the little town. It is quite scenic and has a few restaurants and shops along the waterfront. It is much less well-known than its neighbor Bellagio, but I think just as quaint.

Varenna from the ferry

Only the garden was open to tourists at Villa Monastero, but it was definitely worth the 5 Euro admission. At this early hour, much of the garden was in shade, but I was assured I could come back later in the day with the same ticket.

Lakeside garden at Villa Monastero

View of Lake Como from the gardens at Villa Monastero

I hopped a ferry at 1130 to Bellagio, enjoying a front row seat for 15 minutes on the lake. Bellagio is larger than Varenna, and it was much more crowded. It seems to be best known for its expensive shops, which line the waterfront along with restaurants, pedestrian walkways, a few hotels, and a parking lot.

Bellagio waterfront

Alfa Romeo food truck in Bellagio

I found a wonderful spot for lunch up the hill on a side street and ordered the specialty of the area; lake perch with risotto and asparagus. I also sampled a caprese salad, and of course some local wine.

Caprese salad

Risotto with lake perch and asparagus

Of course it is impossible to go to Bellagio without doing a little shopping, so I obliged.

Looking up one of Bellagio’s streets

Leaving Bellagio on the ferry

Another short ferry ride and I was back in Varenna, which was much more peaceful. I went back to the gardens at Villa Monastero for some afternoon sun.

The seawall

Statue with a view

Fountain at Villa Monastero

Fountain detail

One hour on the train and I was back in Milano. It was a good day trip, but I would like to return and spend more time in the Lake District.

Nikon color sketch touch up to a garden photo

Posted in Italy | 3 Comments

The Last Supper, Ultima Cena

Posted on October 4, 2014 by volovecto

Leonardo da Vinci’s Ultima Cena (The Last Supper) painted between 1495 and 1498.

The one item at the top of my list for Milan was one that I had missed 18 years ago. It had been closed back then, and this time I wasn’t going to leave Milan without seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s Ultima Cena, The Last Supper, at the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie.

It is no longer possible to just walk up and get in to see his masterpiece. About one month in advance I went to the website to get tickets (www.cenacolovinciano.net), and to my horror (and near panic) discovered that they were sold out for our dates in Milan. But my Fodor’s guidebook said that if you call the box-office in Italy, they save some tickets out for phone in requests. So that’s what I did, and I got us three slots for 11:30 on Sunday Sept. 28th. The number to call is (+39) 02 92800360. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Last Supper with names.

It is a reasonable 8 Euros, and strictly controlled. This was the one place where no one tried to sneak a photo. You must pass through two sealed rooms prior to entering the Refectory. The doors open and close automatically every 15 minutes as the old group is herded out and a new group ushered in.

A Last Supper timeline in one of the waiting rooms

The number of visitors is limited to a small group. There was a nun in the room, and although she didn’t have a ruler, she certainly shushed our group several times as the conversation levels rose in excitement as visitors discussed the fresco with their fellow travelers.

Giovanni Donato Montorfano’s Crosifissione, on the opposite wall facing The Last Supper, also painted in1495.

It was beautiful and well worth the trouble to get there. We learned that Leonardo was experimenting with a new technique, one that allowed him time to contemplate and paint at a slower rate. Giovanni used the traditional method of fresco painting, and was finished much quicker with the colors lasting longer.

From History of Italian Renaissance Art, by Frederick Hartt (Fourth Edition 1994):

Leonardo’s Last Supper in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan is often known through prettified versions that conceal its poor condition, which is due to a disastrous technical experiment on Leonardo’s part. An artist as sensitive as Leonardo to the slightest throb of light in atmosphere was bound to be impatient with the fresco method, which could not allow the time needed to establish his customary shadowy unity to the painting and his perfect luminous finish to the details…Leonardo painted directly on the dry intonaco with an oil tempura whose composition is not yet known. According to literary accounts, he would sometimes stand on the scaffolding an entire morning without picking up the brush, studying the relationship of tone. When completed, the painting inspired extravagant praise, but in 1517, while the artist was still alive, it had started to deteriorate, and when Vasari saw it a generation or so later, he found it almost indecipherable. It was repainted twice in the eighteenth century, it suffered from the brutality of the Napoleonic soldiers and from the monks, who cut a door through it, and it was repainted in the nineteenth century. In 1943 Allied bombs destroyed much of the rest of the refectory but the painting, protected by sandbags supported on steel tubing, survived. Extensive conservation efforts after World War II disclosed more of the original under the repaint than anyone had dared to hope, and the picture is currently undergoing a cautious, scientific restoration that has already revealed Leonardo’s delicacy of touch and luminosity of color in the better-preserved areas.

The scientific restoration by Pinin Brambilla Barcilon described above was started in 1977 and took over 20 years. It would have been ongoing in 1996 when I was last in Milan.

Exterior and courtyard of the Santa Maria dell Grazie

Exterior and courtyard of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie

We found ourselves in Milan the last Sunday of the month. It just so happens that a large antique market is held the last Sunday of the month, so we headed to the Navigli district to see it for ourselves.

Last Sunday of the month in Milan antiques market

It was huge and covered many streets and along the canal. The canal was dry and there was construction in the area, but the market was good. I purchased an antique Deruta water pitcher for 25 Euros, and within one hour had dropped it on the pavement. Oh well. I also found another Deruta ceramic piece which did make it all the way back to the US.

We had lunch at a stellar local place called Osteria del Gnocco Fritto. We enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch, starting with a cheese plate and followed by linquine with black truffles. It was mouthwatering good. http://www.gnoccofrittomilano.it/en/

Cheese plate appetizer at Osteria del Gnocco Fritto

The very tasty spaghetti with black truffles

Walking back through the antique market, still under way, we passed a vendor with chandeliers. I would have loved to take this one back to the states, but with only one day left of the trip I didn’t want to spend it worrying about logistics in shipping.

The chandelier I wish I could have brought back

The 200 Euro chandelier I wish I could have brought back

Posted in Italy | 2 Comments

In the hills above Verona

Posted on October 3, 2014 by volovecto

Claudio shows us on the map where we will go hiking, and the area’s wine country

We considered ourselves fortunate to have found the Romy Rocker B & B. The next morning Claudio took us, and the two other Russian guests, on a personal tour of the nearby mountains. He has walked these hills and trails all his life with family and his own children. He said there were no tourists in that area, and he was right. It was all local people out for a Saturday hike.

Local wine country map

We also stopped to pick up some locally made cheese for the B & B. These are lucky cows to live in the mountains in the clean air and eating the fresh grass.

Cheese shop, up in the hills

Local cheeses

Local wine

Local cow

Claudio talked of the history of the area as we climbed higher. We should have been able to see Lake Garda from up in the hills, but it was too hazy on that day. We did see lots of walkers with dogs, and a marmot. One man coming down the trail said he had seen some mountain goats up higher.

Map of the park and the area

Claudio and Augie early in the hke

A little higher up the mountain

Near the top of where we hiked, but not by any means near the top of the mountains

After the hike, we stopped to have lunch at a small farm. We had “poor man’s meal”, a wonderful pasta with onions. The pasta was really good, paired with home made beer and local wine. Back at the house, Claudio gave us a demonstration of the difference in sound between his two bass instruments, and even played a few tunes on the piano. One is 250 years old. It was an unexpected and appreciated treat.

Claudio plays the double bass

The Music Room at the Romy Rocker B & B

We would have liked to stay longer, using the Romy Rocker B & B as a base and explore more of the wine country, but we had a train to catch for Milan, and three nights hotel already paid. Claudio generously gave us a lift back to the train station and we were on our way back to Milan.

Back on the train. Our last big train ride between cities. Only local Milan trains from now on

Posted in Italy | 1 Comment