Roman Holiday

I cannot think of a lovelier activity on a Sunday afternoon in Rome than to promenade along the Tiber and wander through the maze of cobbled alleys and streets that is Trastevere. Literally 'trans river', or 'over the Tiber', Trastevere is a charming neighbourhood in this large and chaotic city.  It is often described as 'authentically Roman'.  It's Rome's left bank, and we are staying on the third floor apartment of a rustic pink stucco building on Via dei Vascellari.  Our afternoon wanderings take us to Tiber island - Tiberina - across Ponte Fabricio, the bridge built in 62BC.  It was warm and sunny so of course gelati from Caffe dell'Isola was just the thing.  Actually signore opted for a chilled Nastro Azzurro, rather than gelati.  We wander the grey cobbled streets and lanes, look up at the ivy covered buildings, then sit for a while and watch la passegiata - and again resume our own passegiata (slowly, slowly remember - it's a stroll).....buonasera, bounasera, bounasera is exchanged with passers-by.

It's 34 years since signore and I visited Rome.  Not much has changed it seems - except us.  We look older and Rome looks more beautiful than ever on this warm primavera evening.  We've allowed just a few days to revisit some favourite spots, as the Italian countryside and the sea is calling.

Santa Cecilia's Basilica is just a few steps away from the apartment and so it is our first destination.  Actually the bells call us to visit and to see the Stefano Maderno statue of Saint Cecilia lying at the altar,  the beautiful frescoes and courtyard garden.

5th-century Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

Santa Cecilia's frescoed ceiling

Under the alter the baroque white marble sculpture of Saint Cecilia.

Ponte Fabricio is the oldest bridge in Rome.  It was build in
62 BC and I had to read the inscription twice ....that's a very old bridge.

Lovely Trastevere I - stopping for an aperitivo.

Lovely Trastevere II

La Passieggiata - a most Italian and most beautiful time of day.

Our third floor apartment - via dei Vascellari

We took the numero 8 tram to Largo di Torre Argentina and spent the morning walking through the historic center visiting the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campio de' Fiori, Castel d'Angelo and on to the Vaticano.  The sky is blue fluffy with clouds, the sun is warm and the eternal city is casting it's spell on us. 

Each morning begins in Café Lillo and each night we eat in either a romantic Trastevere trattoria, or a noisy and crowded pizzeria.

Largo di Torre Argentina Square where the Roman Senate convened
and where Julius Caesar was killed in 44 BC.   

The stunning ancient Roman temple - the Pantheon

I love the Pantheon's ancient marble floor, the centre is concave
and the side are convex to drain the water.  I also love to slip
my shoe off and feel the cold, satin smooth marble on my bare foot.

Great suggestion L - thanks!

Fragola e nucciola, per favour.

Vaticano from via della Conciliazone.

Magnificent work, Michelangelo.  Sistine Chapel.

Dome of the Basillica.

Caffe time? Si. 

Fontana di Trevi.  There must be some truth to the
legend.  On 19 March 1979 signore and I threw coins into the
Trevi, and we did return - albeit 34 years later!

um....that's a lot of coins going into the fountain! 
This baroque hot spot was teeming with people.

A little rest on the Spanish Steps, a visit to Keats' house,
Babbington's Tea Rooms.....

...and a wander down via Condotti.

Arriverderci Roma.....

 

City of Gold

Turn a desert into a metropolis with 1,300 skyscrapers.....yes, they did!

World's tallest building on shifting sand.....yes, there is!

Ski down a snowy slope when the temperature is 40 degrees outside....yes, you can!

 

In fact, I think you can see, do, eat, buy, experience most anything and everything in Dubai. You can certainly shop at New York's Bloomingdales, or Paris' Galleries Lafayette, or eat gelati from Rome's Giolitti. 

 

At the moment we're marvelling at the engineering of building an archipelago of islands in the Persian Gulf that replicates the countries of the world - it's actually called 'The World' and controversial as it is (is it sinking?) it is amazing!  Also amazing is The Palm - an archipelago exactly resembling a palm tree.  We drove up the 'trunk' of the palm to the 7-star Atlantis hotel.  Along the 'trunk' alone we were told that there are thirty new 5- and 6- star hotels currently being completed.  The scale of construction, the canals and the water-front buildings are mind-blowing.  (It's a little concerning to think about who and how the construction industry source enough labour to work in this climate.)

 

We're staying in a 14th floor apartment, downtown on Emaar Boulevard - directly opposite the Burj Khalifa.  The view is extraordinary, the Dubai skyline is extraordinary, and any vacant land around the skyscrapers is.....well, it's simply desert sand.

 

Dubai is an oasis in this desert landscape, apart from the vacant blocks of sand, it's green and gardened and fountained at every turn.  It is hot....38 degrees yesterday, 40 today (relatively modest for the beginning of June say some of the Kingdom's locals), but air conditioned relief is only ever a few steps away. 

 

We took a dhow along Dubai Creek and watched these ancient boats still being used to transport goods.  I loved old Dubai and its contrast with the modern creation. We visited the souks, and got lost in its narrow lanes, and when 40 degrees seemed more like 50 degrees we jumped in a cab and went to Jumeirah Beach for a swim.

 

We shopped in the world's largest shopping mall, the Dubai Mall, with its own Olympic sized ice skating rink, aquarium and massive fountain. The shops in the mall are beautiful and the variety of luxury goods is astonishing.  The Emiratis in their traditional dress look elegant and cool.

 

At night the city positively sparkles, the fountains dance, and the temperature drops to a moderate 25 degrees.

 

Obviously, I didn't take this aerial photo.
It shows the amazing Jumeirah Palm Islands,
 and The World archipelago.

 

The Burj Khalifa dominates the Dubai skyline.

The view from one of our apartment windows.  Burj Khalifa can be
seen just to the left, the water in the centre explodes into
dancing fountains at night, and in the foreground is desert sand,
where an opera house was to be built, but since the GFC....well, it's still sand.

The beautiful Jumeirah Mosque - one of Dubai's 500 mosques.

When it became a little too hot for sightseeing we took ourselves
to Jumeirah beach for our very first swim in the (warm) Persian Gulf.

The Burj al Arab sits on the coastline and appears to be about to sail away.

By night Dubai sparkles, twinkles and shines.  This is Emaar
Boulevard at the base of our apartment.

Burj Khalifa by night.  Throughout the night
we watch its twinkling light show
dance from its base to its tip.

Beautiful cafes and restaurants. 
This one, just opposite the apartment, and
where we had breakfast each morning, is the Parisian café,
 Fournil de Pierre - open until 3.00am!

Traditional abra boats on Dubai Creek

In the 40 degree heat, you would think that sitting outside
would be unpleasant, however at most of the outdoor cafés and restaurants,
this one by Dubai creek, the outdoor air-conditioning makes it quite
pleasant.  They're not noisy, and in this Emirate I guess power
consumption is not a problem?

The Gold Souk in Al Khor Street.  Miles and
miles of merchants and markets of gold.



Inside the delightful Souk Madinat Jumeirah

Burj al Arab from one of the canals of the Souk Madinat.

I love the Dubai wind towers - a feature of the old Dubai skyline.
These wind towers are part of the modern Souk Madinat Jumeirah,
however all around Deira and old Dubai at the top of the buildings
can be see the differing designs of wind towers, designed to
capture and funnel air through buildings and at
the same time extract hot air.  Old design, very clever.

A week in Provence

From Malta we arrived back in Paris and couldn't resist staying overnight before heading south, to Provence and back to the Mediterranean.  For this visit we decided to experience Parisian suburban life and chose to stay in lovely Vincennes.  It is in eastern Paris and comes complete with its own Chateau de Vincennes and the beautiful, sprawling Bois de Vincennes.  In Vincennes you can blend in with the locals a little more than in the centre of Paris, and we knew that our French speaking skills must have improved considerably when we could (almost) keep pace with the butcher's conversation.  In fact, senor seems to have his 'bonjour' so perfect that not only is he often asked for directions, people often launch into conversation after him uttering only one word 'bonjour'!   The Vincennes butcher wanted to engage us on his take on the recent Tour de France and, without wanting to cause offence, tell us that Cadel was not his favourite rider.  I assured him no offence taken although, bien sur... Cadel was definitely our favourite!

There was time to jump on the metro to visit just one favourite sight in the city before a walk along the Seine and dinner on Ile Saint Louis. A visit to Sainte Chapelle late in the afternoon is magnificent. There is no queue at either the security point to enter the Palais de Justice nor the ticket window. Half an hour before closing time there were very few visitors at all, and then with just 10 minutes left before massive doors were bolted for the night I looked around to see that I had become Sainte Chapelle's solitary visitor.   At precisely 6.00pm the attendant appeared at the doors and pronounced, "Madames et Monsieurs, Sainte Chapelle est fermee!"  Seeing that there were no monsieurs and just one madame he walked toward me and said quietly in English "this is my favourite time of day in Sainte Chapelle, ze light is most beautiful.  You may take a minute."

There is a celestial-ness about standing alone in an empty Sainte Chapelle and seeing the last of the afternoon light illuminating its great stained glass windows and rose window, and the darkness gently covering its intricately sculptured and painted surfaces. Heavenly.

Quite beautiful

Nobody else.......just me.

Lyon was our overnight stay on the way to Provence. 24 hours is not nearly enough time to get to know this beautiful city, but it was enough time for us to hire two bicycles for a fast ride down the very steep and winding roads from Croix-Rousse where we were staying, to Lyon's UNESCO listed old town.

This is just one of over 100 painted buildings in Lyon.
Trompe-l'oeil - trick of the eye - it's difficult to determine
what is painted, what is real!

Lyon's night time illuminations make it a beautiful city for
an after dinner walk.

Lyon claims to be France's gastonomic heart and in Vieille Ville -
 old town Lyon - we found plenty of restaurants including
 traditional bouchons - inns serving Lyonnaise food.

In Provence we rented the top floor of a home in the ancient fishing village of La Ciotat.  It was the family home of 70 year old Alain who now lives 2 hours away in the Luberon.  Alain has a permanent tenant downstairs and rents upstairs to holidaymakers.  Five rooms and a large terrace overlooking the village and the sea was perfectly located - a short walk to the calanque and directly across the street to the local boulangerie. Yes, most days it was warm croissant for breakfast and fresh baguette for lunch.  

Saturday was market day and the waterfront around the little harbour and the centuries old maze-like streets surrounding it were bursting with produce, wares, and people carrying that icon of the French market, the couffin - market basket.  Without thinking about how I might get one home, I purchased our own lovely leather-handled couffin.  As I sling it over my shoulder I love how the fresh baguette pokes out the top.  

While it is a many centuries-old town, La Ciotat is famous for it's 'recent' history - the setting of the world's very first motion picture in 1895, and in the early 1900s France's national game 'petanque' was invented there.  All around Provence we saw (mostly) men playing petanque in the afternoon sunshine.

During our week at La Ciotat we swam in the calanques  (fjiord-like coves), drove along the cote d'azure to Cannes and St Tropez; ambled through the villages of Provence and the Luberon all the time considering which one we should retire to.  We marvelled at the spectacular Routes des Cretes, 'tasted' Provence in the cafes and restaurants, and noticed the subtle changing colours of the leaves in the vineyards.

After a glorious week in Provence the mistral blew into La Ciotat flapping the shutters and sending early falling autumn leave into eddys along the waterfront; it closed the Route des Cretes and literally blew us out of town and on to Carcassonne.  Frequently along the l'autoroute du soleil were signs 'vent violent' and 'soyez prudence'. The locals say that not only does the mistral blow the tourists away it also blows the chestnuts off the trees which makes for easy gathering.  An overnight stay in Carcasonne and then across the Pyrennees back into warm and sunny Spain.  

The spectacular view along the Routes des Cretes - the high road
between La Ciotat and  the lovely little port of Cassis, where we
swam at its fine sandy beach.

Routes des Cretes - a week after this photo high
winds closed this spectacular road.

Our favourite calanque at La Ciotat - calanque de Figuerolles.

La Ciotat cinema named after the Lumiere brothers.  La Ciotat was
the setting of the very first motion picture, filmed at the local train station in 1895.

A day trip to beautiful St Tropez.

St Tropez waterfront. 

Everywhere, the autumn sights
look like a Cezanne or a Van Gough view.

St Tropez petanque

Petanque in the dappled sunlight

A thrilling day trip up Mount Ventoux

The summit in sight

Breathtaking view from the top of Ventoux

In the Haute-Pyrenees we climbed where others had climbed before -
 this time Col de Tourmalet.  Lance on his bike, us in our car!

Down the Col de Tourmalet

The road to the Col du Tourmalet is the highest road in
the Pyrenees.

The finish line at the top of the Col - 2,100m.