Croatia - Part One - Zagreb and Dubrovnik

There was only one rule that we made when we decided to move to Europe: With all the countries available at our door step for travelling, we were only going to visit a country once. After our trip to Croatia, we may break this rule. We have fallen in love with this beautiful country. With gorgeous landscapes of mountains, oceans, beaches, vineyards, gelato, and seafood, what is there not to love! Croatians are very proud, very friendly and outgoing. They are always helpful and smiling: if Canada was a Mediterranean country, it would be Croatia. Most speak excellent English, and many speak several languages very well. We encountered one restaurant host whom we heard effortlessly speak English, French, German, Italian, and Croatian (obviously). 

We started our trip to in the capital, Zagreb, catching up with an old Vancouver neighbours from Burley Drive the Mikulics. Starting at the main square, Trg Josipa Jelačića we did a short walking tour to the large outdoor Dolac fruit and vegetable market where they weigh items with old fashioned weights. Then  a beautiful gothic cathedral beside the remnants of a medieval town, followed by Stone Gate, an outdoor church with a road that runs through it. Then off to Markov Trg with the parliament buildings and a church with the wildest tiles on the roof. After all that walking it was time for lunch on a pedestrian street.  After a hearty dinner of fire roasted lamb and a good sleep, we picked up our car and began the journey south to Dubrovnik. 

A new highway is under construction which made the trip pretty fast (which was met with the occasional but inevitable, “Dave slow down” once in a while). It is quite the project, and will eventually go all the way to Greece. The scenery was beautiful.

We arrived in Dubrovnik late afternoon and immediately set out to find a place to stay. A room (or sobe) in Croatia in June (the off season) is easy to come by, relatively inexpensive (30-50 euro per night for a double), and can be booked from any local tourist office.  Because it was the off season, we didn’t book rooms in advance and enjoyed the freedom of not worrying about making it to the next destination.

Drubrovnik old town is situated on a peninsula and is surrounded by a old fort wall. Although in tha past, the shelling of beautiful Dubrovnik old town is still fresh in the mind of many Croatian people: two out of three roofs were damaged by shells, 314 direct hits onto the marble streets, 111 hits onto the fort wall itself, and nine historic buildings were gutted by fires. Restoration work is still ongoing, and is being done in the traditional way using local materials and craftsman as much as possible.  The results are nothing short of miraculous. 

A walk around the city walls, built in the 13 and 14th century to guard against invasion by the Turks, is a must. The views over the town and sea are spectacular. It was also from the wall that we noticed a little restaurant, far off the tourist main streets, with a nice garden terrace under the shade of vines. The restaurant was aptly named Madam PiPi, in honour of its unforgettable (and delightfully scandalous) fountain in front.  Evenings in old town are magical. There are beautiful sunsets and an abundance of night life. We enjoyed cocktails at Buža, a must-have-drink place just outside the wall, and dined at Luongo’s at the harbour.  The tripod Kim got for her birthday was out in full force, capturing the cityscape and night life. And no night in a Croatian town is complete without the mandatory gelato.

More pics:  http://picasaweb.google.com/DKSPENCE76/201006Croatia#

Dubai

Well folks, it has definitely been a while since we posted some new travel and Paris blogs, and we are in the process of catching up. First up, Dubai.

In May I had a trip to Dubai for work. We were setting up a partner to sell and support our software in Dubai, so it was a work trip for me, unfortunately Kim didn't come. I only had a day and a half on my own to check out the town, and what a town indeed. I'm still trying to figure out this place!

To put it bluntly, it's a city that shouldn't really exist. When you look out from the top of the Burj Khalifa, it's just pure desert, like Vegas I guess. The city has grown tremendously quickly in the past 30 years, basically from nothing, but the economic crisis has certainly had its toll: virtually every building under construction is stalled and on hold. It will be interesting to see how they cope with the new economy post crisis. They had such big plans, including a new massive airport (in addition to the already new massive airport they just built). Now all these building are just sitting there, partly completed, being bombarded by wind, sand and salt air. As my colleague in Dubai said: it's like buying a Ferrari, opening up the hood and just leaving it in the desert, then coming back in a few years and expecting it to start. It will take untold millions just to get these buildings ready to complete the construction.

During my day to myself, I jumped on an open air bus tour that went from downtown, out to the old Dubai. There I found a tiny little Indian restaurant and had a huge plate of Indian food and a drink for about 2 euros. A far cry from the western prices of 8-10 euros for a beer in the bars in the centre of town. I also had to opportunity to go up the worlds tallest building, the stunning Burj Khalifa. When you look down at the city below you feel like you are in an architects office looking at a model of a future development. It's really quite surreal being up there.

Burj Khalifa. 625m high and if you look closely at the top you can see it's shadow that extends hundreds of metres in the sky. Amazing!

The Address Hotel. Sat at the outdoor bar and watched the fountain show. Was like being at an all inclusive resort

View from the top of the Burj

Fountain and music show

Old Dubai - definitely different than the new glitzy Dubai

If you go to Dubai, make sure you get a chance to see both new and old Dubai. The open air bus is a good way to get around. If you like shopping Dubai is the place for you. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see the massive aquarium in the Dubai mall, but maybe next time. I have also heard the desert expeditions are great; they take you 4x4ing on the dunes, bbq dinner and belly dancers.

More pictures here, enjoy: http://picasaweb.google.com/DKSPENCE76/201005Dubai#

Stay tuned for more, as Kim and I have lots of writing and catching up to do. Next up: our fantastic trip to Croatia.

Skiing in the French Alps: Vars and Risoul

Who would have thought that moving to Paris would mean two consecutive blog posts about skiing. Well you eyes don't deceive you; it did happen.


February and March went by without much fanfare or activity in Paris, save for great visits from Alexandra from the UK, followed by McKay, also from the UK.


Before the onset of spring and summer, we figured why not one more ski trip. Who could argue with that? Especially with a free place to stay on the Easter long weekend, and cheap ski tickets! Our friends Karine and Pierre where spending the winter in Risoul; a small ski town in the southern French Alps and joined at the top of the mountain to Vars. www.risoul1850.com and www.vars-ski.com

We decided to try something new in terms of transport; the night train. Leaving Paris on Wednesday night at 10pm, arriving at Risoul at 8am. Other than a pretty firm bed, and only two-thirds of a full night sleep it was pretty good. At least we didn't have to use up valuable day time to travel to and from.


Arriving in Risoul we caught the bus up to the ski hill, about a 40 minute ride up a nice winding road. Ahhhh, to be in the mountains again. Karine and Pierre were out of town, and not getting in until later that day, so we ditched our stuff in the basement of one of the bars they run, got changed, and hit the slopes after a café for Kim and a shot of ginépy for me.


The first two days were fantastic; pure sunshine and no lift lines.


Fondue: well, of course you can't go skiing in the French Alps without having fondue for dinner. Needless to say this one didn't disappoint. A big pot of melted cheese, potatoes, charcuterie and wine. Another of life's simple pleasures.


The evening before our last day it started to snow. Could this really be happening? A few wake ups in the middle of the night to confirm, yes it's still snowing. 8am wake up, yes, it's still snowing. Up and out the door for our last day, still snowing. We managed to ski nearly the entire day with knee and thigh deep powder. It was absolutely fantastic. It had been a while since we had skied in so much snow. The bonus: no lift lines.

Thanks to Karine and Pierre for the apartment and to all their friends in Risoul for such a great time. See you all for the next dump of POW!

More pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/DKSPENCE76

Skiing in St. Anton & Lech, Austria

To put it bluntly, it was time for a ski trip. We left Vancouver nearly a year ago, ie it’s been nearly a year since we last skied. That is probably the longest streak in my life that I have gone without skiing; a record I’m not proud of, and a record I will now certainly not attempt to beat!

In November James told me he was planning a trip to St. Anton in Austria with a few friends. He’d been there before and had raved about it, so we teamed up for our trip. We had a mix of people with some staying longer than others.

Kim and I left Paris on Friday and flew to Zurich where James’ friend Sami picked us up and we hit the road for the 3 hour drive to St. Anton. We arrived in St. Anton and Katrin was already at the apartment we rented; she took the train from Vienna. The following day James and Stéphane joined us, since James’ flight from San Francisco was delayed, ironically, due to a massive storm that dumped 7 feet of snow at Tahoe. So by Saturday the crew was there: 6 people from 5 different cities: Paris, Vienna, Zurich, San Francisco and Mulhouse (near Strasbourg). The apartment we rented turned out to be fantastic; an apartment in a new house, just a 10 minute walk down the hill to the lift and the village of St. Anton. I would highly recommend staying here if any of you make it to St. Anton to ski.

Day one on the slopes was amazing, not only to get the skiing sensation back, but also to be in the fresh mountain air. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed the outdoors after living in Paris for a year. I think it’s safe to say that when you grow up and live in a city like Vancouver you are completely spoiled and it becomes easy to take it for granted. I had the same feeling after my 4 years at Queen’s but obviously got complacent in the 11 years since moving back. The weather on the first day was perfect: crystal clear blue sky, not a single cloud and endless mountain ranges. The ski area of St. Anton, Zürs and Lech are massive, and your ticket is good at all locations. The snow level this year was below average but you can’t win them all.


Zürs is a special place for another reason, my grandparents on my mum's side met there. My mum just sent me a note:
My parents met in Zürs!  Mamita had broken her ankle and was with a group of friends in the bar of the pension, when my father walked in.  He saw her, and thought "this one and no other"  (young Mamita was unusual as having jet black hair with grey-green eyes).  Mamita thought, "hm...somebody one can have a conversation with, probably a Russian".  As Mamita couldn't ski, my father abandonned skiing and took her for sleigh rides.  I have the photos...  At the time there were no lifts, you had to hike the mountain, assess the terrain and take the longest route down to maximise the climbing effort.  She could not understand modern skiing...

One of the great Austrian traditions is the après-ski and in St. Anton it’s plentiful. You have your choice of about 5 or 6 good bars on the ski hill to start your après-ski. We started at Taps, then moved next door to the Krazy Kanguruh. After a few rounds of beer, Jagermeister and pear schnaps it was time to ski down, not to the village, to the next bar about 100 metres down the hill in the dark. The Mooserwitz is where you will find the largest après-ski crowd, dancing on the tables, singing and drinking until goodness knows when. Of course we were willing participants in the action for another few rounds. Still another 500 or 600 metres to ski down, hammered and in the dark until we hit the village. We ditch our skis and boots at the ski shop storage that we have for the week before we head for another drink and some dinner.

The rest of the week the weather was a mix of clear and cloudy skies, with a few teasers of snow. Day 3 we went to Zurs which is a 25 minute drive from St. Anton, and only 5 minutes before Lech, the other big village in the Arlberg region. From Zurs you can ski a complete circle taking 5 to 6 lifts and covering about 20 kilometres. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time skiing in Lech, and we didn’t get back there he rest of the week, but we’ll be sure to go back next time.

Once a week during the main ski season, there is an outdoor Ski Show put on by the town and the ski hill. It’s a combination of live skiing events and displays along with a huge video screen explaining the history of skiing in the area. Did you know that the first ever ski school was started in St. Anton? And as the saying goes: “there is a first for everything” I think it’s safe to say that this was the first time I had seen fireworks being shot from a pair of snow cats as they did their display during the Ski Show. Imagine what the entire ski hill would look like at night if all the snow cats shot off fireworks!

We didn’t ski the entire week, we did take a day off after 5 days. Ulla, who owns the house and apartment, also has a fabulous dog named Lui and a couple of horse a few minutes away. We had planned to have a wandering day anyways, so Ulla invited us to walk with her to stables and then continued on with us as we walked in the forest near the cross country ski trails, with Lui in tow. As most of you from Vancouver know, Kim and I always enjoyed babysitting our friends’ dogs, and now we had a new one for a few hours. Throw anything deep into the snow and Lui goes bouncing after it, full speed ahead into the snow bank.

After a day break near the end of our trip it started to snow and snow and snow. On our last day we had fantastic dry, knee deep powder and no lift lines. Our apartment host, Ulla, skied with us in the morning and showed us some awesome lines. What a great way to end a fantastic week of skiing. 

If any of you plan to ski in St. Anton I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. The terrain is fantastic as over ¾ of the mountain is above the tree line giving you lots of free reign to ski where ever you want. I also wouldn’t hesitate renting an apartment from Ulla Winther haus.winther@st-anton.at

So now it’s back to big city of Paris. As much as we look forward to getting ‘home’ we also can’t wait for our next ski trip. Maybe we’ll be fortunate and will end up with a long weekend somewhere closer to Paris, such as Chamonix, before the end of the ski season. One thing is for sure, it won’t be another 12 months until we ski again.

I’m writing most of this blog on the train on the way from St. Anton to Zurich as we weave through the snow covered mountains and valleys. My phone just beeped to tell me we were in Liechtenstein. Hmmm, who knew that we would hit 4 countries in one day.

For all of you back home in Vancouver don’t forget to get out and enjoy the mountains and the outdoors which are right at your door step; don’t take it for granted.

A bientôt and happy turns where ever you find the fluffy white stuff this year.

Plenty more pictures posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/DKSPENCE76

November, December and Christmas in Paris

Other than the post about our trip to Reims, I haven't really updated the blog much in the last couple of months so here is a brief summary of what we did in November and December.

Near the end of November we went to one of the best museum's in Paris: Musée d'Orsay. It's housed in an old train station, so it's got a fantastic feel to it, nice and open and quite easy to get around. You don't feel like you are being shepherded through like in other museums. Of course the collection in Musée d'Orsay is phenomenal. We also lucked out with a neat temporary exhibit of Art  Nouveau. Certainly not to be missed on your visit to Paris. Plenty more pictures here: Musée d'Orsay

The following weekend was the Salons des Vins et Vignerons Indépendant (the independant wine producers trade show). We showed up as rookies, of course, and we noticed right away that people where showing up with either rolling carts or carry-on luggage in order to stock up on any good wines they found. Why didn't we think about that? It was free to enter, and free wine tasting at over 1000 exhibitors. Next year we will be there with empty suitcases, and a big list of wines to try, from our new Guide Hachette des Vins that has 10,000 wines listed and reviewed.

When we moved into our apartment in July, it came with a guide book with 7 walks in Paris. We have been meaning to do these for quite a while but simply never got around to it. No time like the present, so off we went on the first walk listed which was just down the street. Many of the things explained in this book won't necessarily be in the regular tour books from TimeOut or Lonely Planet. The walk starts at just in front of Notre Dame and walks you passed St Julien le Pauvre and gives you a great little history of the old small streets, the merchants that have been there for a long time, and even a few little surprises. When you come and visit us, we'll be sure to give you the book and you can explore on your own. Needless to say we'll definitely go through the rest of the book, and then there are other historical books and walks to do, including one taking you to all the places where people were executed! Plenty more pictures here: A Walk In Our Hood

The following weekend Luke, Mel, Ollie and Gabi arrived in Paris. Luke and I went to Queen's together, and he just finished his MBA in Rotterdam, hence our trip to Rotterdam in October (Rotterdam Trip). They had just came back from a week long trip in Italy and were on their way back to Canada so they returned the favour and spent a couple of days with us. We had just put up our Christmas tree so that kept Ollie and Gabi busy for a little bit. Since we didn't have many decorations, Ollie improvised and cutup anything colourful he could find. Our tree looks great. Unfortunately Saturday was really cold in Paris, so we were only out for a few hours, but got a chance to take them to Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower and the Christmas markets on the Champs Elysées. Ollie also developed an addiction to chocolat croissants!

The following day we had brunch with our friends Thierry and Aurélien, then headed out to the grands magasins. Each year the big department stores in Paris decorate the window displays, so we had to go and check it out. We had planned to do this with the kids the day before but it didn't work out. We then took shelter in the warmth of the department stores and people watched while we warmed up.

After les grands magasins I met up with Mack and some others and we hit the Paris-StGermain vs. St Etienne soccer game. This was my first time at a real European level soccer game, but I know that English premier league or the Spanish or Italian leagues are even a notch above. It was awesome nonetheless, and in typical soccer fan fashion the crowd was electric; chanting the entire time and setting off flares. Video & December In Paris Random Shots

No Christmas in Paris would be complete without pictures of the Champs Elysées all lit up. More pictures: Champs Elysées

We spent a fabulous Christmas eve and Christmas Day with Bernard, Josseline, Thierry and Eric Nicolet, long time friends of my mom from when Bernard and my mom were in graduate school in geology together.


To wrap up an adventuresome 2009 we spent New Years eve with some new friends, Maarten and Susan, who live in our apartment building. We cooked an excellent meal, followed by a ringing in of 2010 with Champagne.

Wishing you all and healthy and prosperous 2010! Bonne Année!

Reims & Champagne Tour

When living in the hustle and bustle city of Paris, you need to get away every so often. Our little Christmas get away was a two day trip to Reims: the heart of the Champagne region. Email marketing at it's finest (yes even the French have figured this out): a couple of weeks ago I got the typical email from SNCF advertising super low ticket prices for the next couple of weeks. As usual I was skeptical because as with most travel 'deals' they are never at the times that you want to go, or the one way price is fine, but the get you on the return ticket. Not this time though, 2 round trip tickets to Reims, €66 (and the outbound trip is in 1st class). Tickets booked: now time for a hotel. I found a good deal for Hôtel la Paix, a nice modern hotel with a pool and hot tub; perfect to recharging ourselves. A couple of weeks ago at a Chamber of Commerce function I met someone from Reims, so he emailed me a list of restaurants and places to go. So we were all set!

We arrived in Reims at 8am (yes we were on the 7am train from Paris). I knew we could at least drop off our bag at the hotel, so I figured it we might as well ask if we could actually check in. Ask and you shall receive! Yes, we could have our room right away, so we were able to get a bit more shut eye before exploring the town. It's still quite dark and cold here, even at 8 in the morning so this was excellent news.

After our power nap we hit the town, with cameras in tow. First up was the beautiful Notre Dame de Reims cathedral. If you have been to Notre Dame in Paris, the Reims cathedral is very similar, a bit smaller and not quite as detailed on the sides and in the back. However the great thing is that it is nearly empty, especially at this time of year.

A quick stop in at the centre de tourisme de see which Champagne houses were open, a great light little lunch in the center of town and we were on our way again.
On our way to the southern part of Reims where 5 of the champagne houses are, we walked passed the Saint Rémi museum. We noted it for the next day, but unfortunately didn't make it (next time I suppose). Next to the Saint Rémi museum is the Basilique de St. Rémi: another large church, but this time even quieter and more empty than Notre Dame de Reims. A truly amazing feeling to be nearly alone in such an amazing place.

With time to kill before the champagne tour and tasting that we had reserved at Taittinger we head over to a couple of other Champagne estates just to see what is going on. A few were open so we wondered in. For anyone who doesn't know (don't worry, we didn't really know either), the champagne estates are positioned on top of old Roman clay mines, which are now used as the caves to store and age the champagne from 2-10 years. Apparently there are all sorts of caves and tunnels leading all the way into the center of Reims. There isn't really a need to see more than one Champagne cave; one you've seen one you've seen them all. You are better off spending your time and money doing tastings at multiple estates and learning about the different types of Champagne. Due to our limited time we didn't really get to do this, but we do plan on returning to the region in a different season. There are also hundreds of champagne houses outside of Reims accessible by car so spending time in the Champagne region countryside will have to wait for another trip.

Note to everyone going to any Champagne tours: phone ahead and reserve your place. The tours only accept groups of a limited size, and times are not always consistent as they run as needed. Also, in typical French fashion, information on the web sites might not be up to date.

{- 72,000 bottles of Champagne

Dinner list in hand we head out after a fantastic first day in Reims. We had a list of 5 places to try all recommended by a local. L'Apostrophe was right near the hotel on the main drag, so it's the back up plan if everything else fails. Le Millenaire was on the top of the list, but they were closed on this Monday, merde. The menu looked amazing, so if we make it back to Reims we will definitely go there. Two other places around the corner (Le Bistrot du Forum and Edgar Bistro) look decent enough but we decide to try one more place, Le Boulingrin, a typical old school brasserie. Since the town was quite quiet all day and into the evening we didn't think it would be a problem getting in around 8:30 for dinner. We ask the bar lady if she has room for 2 and she says they are all full until the next seating at 10pm. I've eaten in enough restaurants to know that it isn't always that simple, so we hang around for a few more minutes. The manager walks up and says can I help you. I said we were two but that you were all full so we were just trying to decide what to do. He said, "Pour deux ? Pas de probème." So, in another typically French fashion, you have to ask multiple times until you get what you want. These old school brasseries, for the most part, don't disappoint and neither does Le Boulingrin. A dozen oysters to start? Why not! It had been a while since we had oysters, even though you see them everywhere in Paris. Entrées, main courses and wine were good, although I was expecting something a bit different for my 7 hour roasted lamb. A pair of excellent deserts to finish off a great day in Reims. €75 all in, and were were stuffed.

We took advantage of the nice quiet hotel room to sleep in right until check out time so we were a bit pressed for time, or so we thought, for our second day. First up: Musée de Beaux Arts. We saw some posters displaying a retro, art nouveau and art moderne exhibit so we decided to head there. Nope, it was Tuesday and it was closed. So this brings us to Rule #3 when travelling in France: always check when the museums are open, so you can plan your trip around them! (Rule #1 was book your champagne tour ahead of time, Rule #2 was ask multiple times to get into a restaurant, and ask the manager, not the bar staff). Having wondered around town the night before checking out the various restaurants, we had seen some places to come back to during the day, include Le Forum; a 1st century Gallo-Roman ruin (not open in the winter), as well as some nice buildings and courtyard to shoot. The Gallo-Roman Cryptoportique would definitely be worth seeing during hte high season of June to mid October.

We soon found ourselves back at Le Boulingrin and noticed that right across the street was a huge hall, called Les Halles. It was built in the 1920's and was setup as the market for the town. It was very modern for it's time and even though it has been out of commission since 1988, it was named a historic site in 1990. Now there is a plan to recondition it but it is going to be an immense amount of work since this building is in terrible condition, however it provides for some great photos to contrast with the (near) mint condition of the the rest of the 17th and 18th century buildings that you find in most French towns.

Just north of Les Halles is another Roman ruin, this time in the center of a round-about, and across from that another champagne house. Lunch time, and we are just on the outskirts of Reims, so we decide to take a look around and see what we find. A stones throw from the Roman ruin, at the start of the road that leads to a chapel that Kim wanted to see, we find a modern little bistro called: 2 F (2 frères). It looks good, it has starting to rain and we are hungry. This was a truly excellent little find on our trip. We shared the starter of paté, then had the daily special which was pork shoulder with paprika sauce, potatoes and long beans: fantastic, and better than my main dish at Le Boulingrin the night before. Desert was a nice slice of pear tart and then a post dinner drink of their house specialty alcohol which was a mixture of vodka, apple something, and some other stuff. They mix it in house and won't give you the recipe, but damn it was good. A double coffee for Kim to finish up, and all for €28 euros. If you go to Reims we definitely recommend this place.

A 10 minute walk, passed another two champagne houses and we arrived at the little Chapelle Notre Dame de la Paix, but unfortunately it was closed for the winder. Apparently it is worth seeing as the entire 200m2 interior is covered with frescoes by Léonard Foujita. We walk back to town and detour through the cemetery where are greeted by two black cats. Spooky! We spend the rest of the evening wandering the little streets of Reims, did a bit of shopping before heading to the train station for the return trip to Paris, only 45 minute away. You could even go to Reims for the day from Paris, but it's worth spending 2 days if you can hit one of two of the museums or want to spend more time learning and tasting champagne.

More pictures posted here:
picasaweb.google.com/DKSPENCE76/200912Reims
and
picasaweb.google.com/DKSPENCE76/200912ReimsChampagneTour

We ate at:
- Le Boulingrin, 48 Rue du Champ de Mars, 51100 Reims, 03 26 40 96 22
www.boulingrin.fr
- 2F Café & Restaurant, 2 boulevard Jules César, 5110 Reims, 03 26 07 4 60
www.deuxf.com

We stayed at Hôtel la Paix: www.hotel-lapaix.fr

Other restaurants that were recommended to us were:
- Le Millenaire: 4 Rue Bertin, 51100 Reims, 03 26 08 26 62

www.lemillenaire.com
- Bistro du Forum: 6, place du Forum, 51100 Reims, 03 26 47 56 58

www.bistrot-du-forum.com
-Edgar Bistrot: 4 Place du Forum, 51100 Reims,03 26 09 70 70