tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993574553102535602011-11-02T05:49:15.499ZHollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.comBlogger2541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-44845932156943924512010-10-17T10:11:00.001+01:002011-01-28T06:44:03.183Z

Here are some highlights of our four days in London.Thames River CruiseOne of the most enjoyable experiences we had in London was an afternoon cruise in the sunshine down the Thames River, from the Embankment Pier to the Tower Bridge. It wasn't a fancy cruise, just a river taxi that is marketed as an extension of the London Underground. But it was really fun and an efficient way to get us to the

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-41366092305672824362010-10-16T15:32:00.001+01:002011-01-28T06:42:02.187Z

OK, I promise London highlights are coming soon, but there are a lot of pictures to deal with for that post and I don't want to get too far behind on what we're currently up to. So here's the latest. We are changing countries at a rapid rate these days and it's getting a little dizzying! In just the past few days, we've been in England, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Germany again. But

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-31226808497657448012010-10-15T11:13:00.000+01:002011-01-28T06:39:46.483Z

OK, finally catching up on Oxford! First up is a few more photos from Saturday night, when we slept on the nice farm outside Abingdon and drove into Oxford for dinner.Our room - really comfy.Dinner at Wagamama in Oxford:My amai udon, which is a lot like pad thai but with Japanese noodles.We had lovely weather in Oxford during our short visit and it was really fun to see all the old familiar

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-12936712194714176402010-10-13T15:10:00.000+01:002011-01-28T06:47:36.978Z

Another long, busy and fun day in London today, mostly spent in museums and doing a foot-numbing amount of walking. I walked over an hour west - which took me through Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Chinatown, Green Park, and a quick stop at Harrod's - to visit the new Medieval & Renaissance galleries in the V&A. It was wonderful and totally worth the pilgrimage - but I did

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-62079990358154933512010-10-12T12:03:00.000+01:002011-01-28T05:49:18.651Z

We had a great full day in London today, with lots more sunshine than forecasted, including a long (but not long enough!) visit to the medieval galleries in the British Museum on my own and a cruise on the Thames that we both really enjoyed. But first, some catching up with photos from the last few days.Friday: Herefordshire ChurchesOn Friday we visited some little country churches and a

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-21610866012184265082010-10-11T05:45:00.000+01:002011-01-28T05:46:55.967Z

I am happy to report that my laptop now has a brand-new hard drive and is working well - a big thanks to David for that! I'll try to finally post some photos tomorrow or the next day. Briefly, though, we had a really great time in Oxford. We had beautiful sunny weather both days, stayed in a former prison in the Oxford Castle, and visited some old favorite places. I especially had a wonderful

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-830819127671530682010-10-09T05:30:00.000+01:002011-01-28T05:48:14.702Z

We've been very busy lately getting lots of pictures in SW England. Today we visited Gloucester Cathedral and the Cotswolds, and this evening we drove into Oxford for dinner at our favorite noodle place, Wagamama. It was so fun to see our old home city again. Tonight we're sleeping in a nice B&B on a farm a few miles south of Oxford, and tomorrow we move to a hotel in Oxford proper.Tonight we are

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-73931262729212207922010-10-07T05:28:00.000+01:002011-01-28T05:48:00.110Z

After two days of mostly driving on freeways, we are back in southern England. Tonight and tomorrow night we are sleeping in Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border (and only an hour and a half from Oxford). We really enjoyed the natural beauty and lack of people in the Scottish Highlands and islands, but England feels like home and there's really nothing like stone fences and meadows

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-12685104495964108692010-10-05T18:35:00.000+01:002011-01-28T05:47:38.962Z

The last couple days have been more relaxed, in that we haven't had extensive photo must-lists, but they've been very full and busy nevertheless. Our eyes are worn out from all the gorgeousness of the landscapes. Not much time tonight either, so just a quick summary and some photo highlights. Sunday we took the ferry back to the mainland from Orkney, which was another remarkably smooth crossing,

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-30671810061885147422010-10-02T18:31:00.000+01:002011-01-28T05:47:20.616Z

We've had a great time on Orkney, especially today. Yesterday was mostly spent driving from Inverness and on the ferry, and the weather was not great. It was extremely windy at the mainland port town of Thurso - we took one look at the choppy waters and immediately swallowed two Dramamine each! But the ferry was larger and nicer than we expected and the crossing was remarkably smooth given the

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-33634736767043907782010-09-30T16:15:00.002+01:002010-10-07T22:59:12.698+01:00

Greetings from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. It is beautiful here and we've been having a good time. Our journey didn't start off so well, though! Yesterday, from the moment we woke up in Edinburgh until into the evening, it poured down rain. And I mean poured! This was no gentle British mist, but full-on Oregon-style rain. Apparently it hasn't been this bad since April. The rain and wind

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-51376256047253352532010-09-28T16:30:00.002+01:002010-10-07T22:51:15.096+01:00

Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities and we've been here for three days, so buckle up, this is a big one!Melrose and RosslynSunday morning in Melrose we had our first "full Scottish breakfast," which includes all the usual suspects of the "full English" (ham, sausage, eggs, tomato, mushrooms) plus a potato scone, haggis and black pudding. The potato scone is a delicious, soft pancake-type

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-19236690325742581622010-09-27T13:20:00.001+01:002010-10-07T22:45:07.072+01:00

Now that I have some free time in rainy Edinburgh, I want to share the fun we had on Saturday, a really busy day during which we visited no less than six great sights. Here's the route:View Larger MapDurhamWe slept great in our Radisson BLU Durham and had a delicious buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant. The bus-girls were so attentive that they reminded us of eagles, attentively surveying

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-28876209022176490882010-09-24T17:35:00.003+01:002010-10-07T22:40:32.696+01:00

Beverley, cont.It was another full day today! But I think that will be the case pretty much every day, so you can just assume that from now on. But first, here are the other photos of Beverley I wasn't able to post last night.Beverley has cream-colored phone boxes instead of the usual red, because they are municipally sponsored instead of nationally. Or something like that. They're pretty,

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-81942491714475477012010-09-23T14:20:00.002+01:002010-10-07T22:41:22.757+01:00

Lots of good stuff to share in this post so it's a bit of a long one, but I've included as many food photos as possible!Yesterday morning in Cambridge, we got up at 6am, David made another cooked breakfast, and we got on the road by 7. The 1.5 hour drive was fairly good, but there was a lot more traffic than we expected.Based on what we saw of it, Norwich isn't all that great of a town, but its

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-37511733684851321692010-09-21T19:37:00.002+01:002010-09-21T21:35:28.295+01:00

Yesterday morning we went inside Canterbury Cathedral as soon as it opened at 9am and started in the crypt, which was closed last time we visited so was great to see. It is the biggest crypt I've ever seen, stretching nearly the whole length of the cathedral. It's also the oldest part, dating from the early 1100s. That means it's Romanesque, my favorite flavor of architecture, and it has some

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-55403673289722265182010-09-19T12:00:00.001+01:002010-09-21T18:44:47.101+01:00

We are back in the UK and so happy to be here! It's kind of strange in a way - everything is so familiar that it seems like returning to the USA was all a dream and soon we'll drive back to our place in Oxford. We've revisited several of our favorite things already: Marks & Spencers, Pepsi Max (even more delicious than I remember), and Wagamama.But to start at the beginning, we went to bed early

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-32645352856710895372010-09-18T12:00:00.000+01:002010-09-21T17:58:00.740+01:00

Tonight I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open! And it is only 8:30. Sad. Hopefully we'll get a good night's sleep tonight and be done with the jet lag.This morning we were both wide awake at around 3:30am, so we went down to the hotel restaurant with our computers until around 5. David got a little more sleep after that, but I wasn't able to go back to sleep at all, so I've been a zombie

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-48326920382651637342010-09-17T12:00:00.001+01:002010-09-21T17:54:11.230+01:00

Greetings from the Netherlands! We are really tired but happy to be here. Our flight was very smooth and really could not have been better (in coach anyway). It was scheduled to depart at 1:30 and we backed away from the gate at 1:29. Impressive! We had good seats in the front just behind first class (although that means we had to look at them reclining back and enjoying their hot towels...) and

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-80485791162171677552010-09-16T07:35:00.009+01:002010-09-16T08:05:18.127+01:00

All my worldly belongings for the next 80 days.After two long years of withdrawal from medieval cathedrals, we finally get to return to Europe tomorrow! I'll be traveling for 2.5 months and will be joined by two different companions along the way: my husband for the first part and a college friend for the second. The trip is very much focused on research and photography for Sacred Destinations,

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-28871519455298996382009-11-02T23:03:00.013Z2009-11-30T20:25:31.749Z

Sacred Destinations has joined the Twitter revolution! You can now follow me at:twitter.com/sacreddestSince I haven't been able to find enough time for the blog these days but do like to share news and updates, Twitter's 140-character mini-posts are a great solution. My "tweets" will be a mix of Sacred Destinations updates and features, news related to religious travel and art, and occasional

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-13621171160757945452009-10-19T02:45:00.006+01:002009-10-19T03:06:28.774+01:00

While neglecting this blog over the past few months (sorry about that), I've been hard at work converting my old website to a snazzier new version. It looks similar to the old one, but operates a bit more dynamically using a database. It's a long project, since I have over 1,200 articles and a couple hundred cities to convert! I'm also taking the opportunity to update and improve many of the

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-32745042257385784242009-08-09T04:28:00.005+01:002009-08-21T08:47:06.295+01:00

Our article on St. Peter's Basilica has just been updated with lots of new photos and a much nicer photo gallery. Article: www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-st-peters-basilicaGallery: www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-st-peters-basilica-photos/Comments welcome, as always.

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-91079119909996721042009-08-08T20:33:00.001+01:002009-08-09T04:36:50.287+01:00

We loved Wyoming as much as we knew we would. Leaving South Dakota around 9:30am Sunday morning, we were soon over the border and on our way to Devils Tower National Monument. This spectacular rock formation had a starring role in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and it is also a sacred site for Native Americans of the area. There are lots of interesting legends about how it was formed, but

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-20736091876973046302009-07-29T17:30:00.000+01:002009-07-29T17:32:40.669+01:00

In May, David and I took a three-week road trip from our home in Portland to Minnesota, to visit some of my relatives and tour the Great American West along the way. This post is part of a series on the highlights of our trip.Downtown St. PaulWe didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing in Minnesota since we were mainly there to visit with Grandma and other family, but we did find time to see some

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-38410753950182286192009-07-29T17:26:00.001+01:002009-07-29T17:28:39.329+01:00

In May, David and I took a three-week road trip from our home in Portland to Minnesota, to visit some of my relatives and tour the Great American West along the way. This post is part of a series on the highlights of our trip.Our morning in Missoula started out with a unique and tasty breakfast of walnut, mushroom and zucchini quiche at our B&B. The rest of the day was spent driving across

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-65863167684564448522009-06-23T18:43:00.004+01:002009-07-29T17:32:59.178+01:00

In May, David and I took a three-week road trip from our home in Portland to Minnesota, to visit some of my relatives and tour the Great American West along the way. This post is part of a series on the highlights of our trip.Idaho MissionAfter driving through some lovely scenery in northern Idaho after Coeur d'Alene, we came upon a nice surprise - a state heritage sign indicating the presence of

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-58832858942765224372009-06-12T21:27:00.011+01:002011-01-14T19:50:06.227Z

In May, David and I took a three-week road trip from our home in Portland to Minnesota, to visit some of my relatives and tour the Great American West along the way. This post is part of a series on the highlights of our trip.The first day we drove from Portland, Oregon to Spokane, Washington. It was a long day of driving but quite enjoyable, with lovely weather, light traffic, and several

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-22651317586256976682009-05-09T00:24:00.005+01:002009-05-09T01:00:18.820+01:00

Despite its relatively short history, my home state of Oregon does have some notable and historic sacred places. Below are two that my husband and I visited recently.Old Scotch ChurchThe Old Scotch Church in Hillsboro (west of Portland) was built in 1878 by 12 settlers from Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Its style is called Carpenter Gothic, which is a modest, North American form of Gothic Revival

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-74822317965135374662009-05-02T22:18:00.007+01:002010-07-19T20:20:03.745+01:00

On Friday we continued our celebration of diversity by exploring Chinatown, Japantown, and the Fillmore District of San Francisco.It was a fine morning, so David headed out early to take pictures from the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower. He had a great time. Later we met up in Chinatown, which was absolutely fantastic. It is the largest one outside of Asia and the oldest in the United States.At

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-55143445073879704062009-04-30T06:39:00.003+01:002009-04-30T20:44:43.634+01:00

My conference in San Francisco was only one day so we had lots of time for sightseeing, including two full days spent exploring an amazing variety of world cultures without leaving the city! San Francisco is one of the most diverse cities I've visited, which makes it very interesting. In addition to the multi-ethnic population, we enjoyed rubbing elbows with many European tourists (especially

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-36965223582833884982009-04-28T07:00:00.004+01:002009-04-28T07:23:37.167+01:00

Last week we made a short road trip down to San Francisco on the excuse of attending a web-related conference. There is so much to see there and we had a wonderful time. We also stopped at some fantastic places along the way, including Sonoma, Mt. Shasta and Crater Lake. I'll be posting more photos from our trip over the next week or so, so stay tuned!

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-29815064764209180482009-04-19T01:57:00.002+01:002009-04-19T02:10:20.438+01:00

I am proud to announce that the Sacred Destinations Travel Blog has been selected as one of the Top 10 Travel Blogs on the Internet by the National Geographic Channel!You can check out all Top 10 Travel Blogs on the National Geographic Channel's brand-new website, Nat Geo Adventure. I've also been invited to do a short interview for their upcoming feature called "Ancient Megastructures" - watch

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-83326829196586951682009-04-12T14:26:00.003+01:002009-04-13T06:06:04.486+01:00

Happy Easter from Sacred Destinations! Below is a virtual tour of some Easter relics we've seen in our travels.Above is the Holy Nail and its beautiful medieval reliquary, displayed in the Cathedral Treasury of Trier, Germany. It is said to be one of the spikes that nailed Jesus to the cross. (The above photo was published in an article on Christian relics in Saturday's edition of the Wall Street

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-6883854749026279512009-03-24T20:38:00.009Z2009-03-24T21:49:04.895Z

Our article on San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (St. Lawrence outside the Walls) in Rome has just been updated with lots more information and a gallery of over 100 photos from our visit in April 2008.This basilica stands over the grave of St. Lawrence, a Roman deacon who was martyred by roasting on a gridiron in 258 AD. He famously called out to his persecutors, "Turn me over, I am done on this side!"

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-44212852868140292272009-03-22T02:47:00.011Z2009-03-24T21:38:09.428Z

I got my latest issue of National Geographic in the mail today, and the cover story is an interesting one (but isn't it always?). It reports that the body of Hatshepsut - the female pharaoh who ruled Egypt in the 15th century BC - has been discovered!Well actually, the body was discovered a century ago. But it has recently been identified as Hatshepsut thanks to a tooth in a box with her name on

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-73478567524541085072009-02-14T08:34:00.003Z2009-02-14T08:39:33.801Z

Today is the 150th birthday of my beautiful native state of Oregon - it became the 33rd U.S. state on February 14, 1859.Being away from Oregon for three years has given me an even greater appreciation for it, and I pledge to do it more photographic justice come spring!That's our state flag at the top, featuring a sunset on the Pacific Ocean and the famous covered wagon of the Oregon Trail. The

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-15653157637259692002008-12-25T08:13:00.004Z2008-12-25T08:29:43.995Z

Merry Christmas to all who still check this blog despite my terrible neglect of it recently! I have been busy with various projects but shall make it a resolution to post more often in the New Year. Adoration of the Magi on a Romanesque capital at Autun Cathedral, Burgundy, FranceNativity scene in bronze on Bernward's Door in Hildesheim Cathedral, Germany. The door was commissioned by Abbot

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-11878592502601149122008-10-28T06:26:00.005Z2009-03-22T07:19:41.712Z

The magnificent cloister of Moissac Abbey in southwest France is the oldest and largest cloister with narrative capitals in existence. Completed in 1100 AD, it contains 76 capitals plus marble pillar reliefs of apostles. Forty-six of the capitals depict narrative scenes from the Bible or the lives of the saints. Unfortunately nearly all human faces have been smashed by iconclasts, but the rest is

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-85033384610944291452008-10-21T18:42:00.004+01:002008-10-21T18:50:54.800+01:00

New on Sacred Destinations: the magnificent Abbey Church of St. Philibert in Tournus, France. One of many fine Romanesque churches in Burgundy, this was built mostly in the 11th century and has all kinds of interesting things to see. Click photos for captions, learn more in the detailed new article or just go straight to the big photo gallery.

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-91494990355172040692008-10-18T05:10:00.008+01:002009-05-03T23:08:07.386+01:00

Medieval art is one of my favorite things about Europe's churches and cathedrals. I've been working with photos of medieval art quite a bit lately, so you can now explore the following places in detail on Sacred Destinations:One of the beautiful early-1200s stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral in France. Shown above is the month of February, symbolized by a man warming up by the fire, in

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-92173921028619794592008-10-07T22:47:00.010+01:002009-05-03T23:08:23.723+01:00

I've started to upgrade the layout of the city pages on Sacred Destinations. This will be a long-term project that I won't do all at once, but so far Ephesus and Rome are available for your perusal: www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/romewww.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/ephesusHope you like it! Let me know if you don't. Comments are always welcome.And there are a couple new articles and photo

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-35556612468611809302008-09-21T20:10:00.032+01:002008-09-23T03:16:14.025+01:00

Updated Monday, September 22So here's what I've been working on lately while neglecting the blog, beginning with the newest first:San Vitale (Ravenna, Italy) - updated article, new photo gallery & new floor planGermigny-des-Pres (France) - new article with photo galleryAulnay-de-Saintonge Church (France) - new article and new photo galleryRegensburg Cathedral (Germany) - new article and new photo

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-21836419060065678182008-08-27T21:41:00.018+01:002008-08-27T22:07:19.448+01:00

Just a quick note to promise that, despite appearances, I won't be abandoning this blog entirely now that we're home! Since our arrival back in Oregon on August 6 we've been quite busy settling in, seeing family and friends, finding an apartment, setting up house, unpacking all the stuff we put in storage or sent from Europe, marveling at the hugeness of everything, and the like. And finally, in

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-78328670121170220082008-08-05T22:17:00.003+01:002009-02-24T21:17:04.750Z

Well, we've had a great few days in Amsterdam and are so excited to head home to the States in the morning!! We're really glad we chose to fly out of Amsterdam Schiphol - it's an excellent airport. It has always worked smoothly on our previous visits and there are lots of great shops and restaurants to wander around. We've already checked in electronically and scoped out our departure point, so

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-57778025496327108792008-08-02T22:15:00.001+01:002008-08-05T22:17:34.078+01:00

Tomorrow morning we leave Delft for Amsterdam, our last stop in Europe! It is pretty exciting to be getting so close to the home journey.Oostpoort (East Gate, c.1400 AD) in DelftThe second half of our week in Delft has been as pleasant as the first, consisting mostly of relaxing days around town plus a nice day trip to Leiden and The Hague. We've had a few more pancakes, a few more canal walks,

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-55629727569589094432008-07-30T18:21:00.005+01:002008-07-30T18:56:31.878+01:00

Well, Amiens (France) and Tournai (Belgium) were mostly disappointing aside from their excellent cathedrals, but we are now very happy in Delft, a beautiful town near The Hague in South Holland. We're having such a fantastic time here and I don't think we could have chosen a better place to wind up our European tour. We are here for a full week (Sunday to Sunday) and then we'll spend our last

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-19100361312006245752008-07-27T18:20:00.000+01:002008-07-30T18:21:08.694+01:00

Where to buy excuses in France. A funny little video and tribute to a former job I didn't like so much as my current one - alpaca grooming! Not our video, unfortunately.In actual news, we are now in the Netherlands and it is wonderful. More soon.

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-68358521659826060192008-07-24T22:13:00.002+01:002008-07-24T22:24:25.929+01:00

So on Monday we caught the 9:13 AM train from Chartres to Paris, which was incredibly easy since the train station is just down the hill from our hotel. The fare was not cheap at €23 return, but still better than in the UK. The train was clean and mostly empty and the one-hour ride was smooth and fast. Paris has many train stations; our train arrived at the Gare Montparnesse in the southern part

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-26788703791650361302008-07-22T22:04:00.002+01:002009-05-03T23:07:37.562+01:00

Greetings from Chartres, home of a Gothic cathedral considered to be one of the best in the world. We are staying here for four nights (leaving tomorrow) in a nice central hotel with a cathedral view! And yesterday we took the train into Paris, where we had a very long but very fun day among crowds of fellow Americans. That deserves its own post, which will hopefully happen tomorrow or the next

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-85100763906258413772008-07-18T22:00:00.000+01:002008-07-24T22:03:56.917+01:00

We have had a very busy last two days, with long day trips from our base in the outskirts of Tours. So busy, in fact, that we never got a chance to see Tours! Oh, well. We quite enjoyed our short tour of the famed Loire Valley. Here's what we did.Yesterday: West of Tours to AngersSaumur Chateau on the Loire River. The river is pretty and wide, but shallower than we expected, with lots of

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-59111654937597813092008-07-15T20:58:00.001+01:002008-07-15T21:01:11.161+01:00

This morning we went on a short road trip to the east of Poitiers. The first stop was Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, whose abbey church is a World Heritage Site. It is very nice on the outside, but the reason it is a World Heritage Site is all inside - the ceiling is covered in early medieval murals.So imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the entire church is closed for renovations! I knew

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-20977253745602894512008-07-15T20:56:00.005+01:002008-12-23T00:42:01.233Z

Poitiers is a medium-sized city with no less than six historic churches. We managed five of them yesterday, which are all scattered around the city, so it was quite a long and exhausting day. But I was thrilled with the abundance of medieval art and we had lots of fun, as always. Here are some highlights.The Baptistery of St. John, the oldest church in France. It was built in the 4th century and

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-37378503749979819152008-07-15T20:54:00.003+01:002008-07-15T20:56:31.888+01:00

The last few days we have been staying in a chateau hotel just outside Poitiers. It's not quite as fancy-pants as it sounds - it's a small chateau and not super expensive - but it still is a nice little treat before leaving France. It's called Le Clos de la Reibaudiere and dates from the late 1700s. The chateau itself isn't as pretty as others we've seen, but the grounds are gorgeous and the

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-5415592340737507102008-07-12T20:51:00.001+01:002008-07-15T20:54:29.573+01:00

Tonight we booked some plane tickets! We are flying home to the States on Wednesday, August 6. Pretty exciting! I will miss Europe very much, but I will certainly be back. We also have lots of travel plans for the States and the Far East, so hopefully this blog will continue to be interesting.

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-85158878808112326962008-07-12T20:49:00.000+01:002008-07-15T20:51:14.320+01:00

Thursday 7/10: MoissacOn Thursday we made a short day trip from Toulouse to Moissac, home of a Romanesque abbey church known for its excellent carvings. An exceptionally long-legged and graceful Prophet Jeremiah on the south portal. This guy shows up in every one of my books on Romanesque architecture.Funny little character elsewhere on the portalSome of the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse above the

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-58308371009513982782008-07-10T22:57:00.002+01:002008-07-10T23:02:11.115+01:00

Tonight is the last of three nights we've spent in Toulouse, one of the largest cities in France and capital of Europe's aerospace industry. It's actually pretty nice for a big city and we've enjoyed our stay here. It's been consistently sunny and in the upper 80s; a little hot but not nearly as bad as the South was.Yesterday I had a busy day of "work" here in Toulouse, with David joining me

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-18617006092982576102008-07-08T20:11:00.005+01:002009-07-12T01:53:10.676+01:00

Yesterday we drove 1 hour and 45 minutes north of Albi to a little village in the mountains called Conques (pronounced "conk"). It was absolutely worth the trip, which was relaxed and scenic, too. The church in Conques is one of the best Romanesque churches I've ever visited. And it's in the middle of a wonderful little village, which still has all its medieval streets and buildings. And finally,

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-64342151929037494792008-07-07T14:28:00.000+01:002008-07-08T12:33:10.000+01:00

Our favorable first impressions of Albi turned out to be correct - it has been a very pleasant city to spend a weekend. Our hotel has been great, too; it's cooler and darker than most, so we've slept late every morning. Saturday was warm and sunny but after that it cooled way down, hardly reaching 70 degrees and even raining a little. That has been a very nice change.There was a music festival in

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-41474710152876322362008-07-05T13:44:00.001+01:002008-07-05T13:47:02.923+01:00

The first of our day trips from Narbonne (last Wednesday) was to a couple abbey churches in the Pyrenees mountains near the Spanish border. The first church is called St Michel de Cuxa and stands in a very pretty valley setting in the middle of nowhere.Sadly we arrived in that witching hour between noon and 2pm in which everything in France is closed. It was 1:30 so we considered waiting, but

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-10979899283509168872008-07-04T13:43:00.001+01:002008-07-05T13:44:33.402+01:00

Happy Fourth of July! What an appropriate day to say we're just about ready to come home to the US of A. Europe is fantastic and we can never see enough, but moving from one hotel to another is getting tiring. And it's just been an awfully long time since we've been in our home country with family and friends and a place to call our own. So, we're winding things up a little faster than originally

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-72844501210929312522008-07-01T13:41:00.000+01:002008-07-05T13:43:02.799+01:00

Greetings from Narbonne, in the region of Languedoc. We're still near the Mediterranean Coast, but now we're at its west end, close to Spain. Yesterday 7/1: NarbonneWe arrived in Narbonne yesterday afternoon and for three nights we're trying out a new hotel chain called B&B Hotels. It's very cheap and feels like it. The room is small and the decor is depressing, but the air conditioning is

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-76112162096611833752008-06-30T12:21:00.001+01:002008-07-05T13:41:43.209+01:00

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday with a trip to Arles, in which I got to see ancient Roman tombs and other good stuff in a museum followed by Romanesque sculptures on a cathedral. Then we had a nice outdoor dinner back in Aigues-Mortes. Perfect! My favorite exhibit in the museum, an Early Christian sarcophagus from around 330 AD. Roman mosaic of Orpheus.Arles was smaller and less crowded than

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-21849987339773962492008-06-28T21:47:00.000+01:002008-06-28T21:48:01.875+01:00

Greetings from the Camargue, a region of ultra-flat wetlands south of Arles known for white horses, black bulls, cowboys, flamingos, salt and rice. And wine, of course, as with everywhere in France. We are still in Provence, but on its western edge. It is approximately a gazillion degrees outside but we are beginning to adapt. A little.We had a good drive here from Nice, although it was over

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-52080996715266631872008-06-25T21:45:00.001+01:002008-06-28T21:49:19.031+01:00

*This is a movie/book quote. Can you name it?This evening we took a fantastic drive to Monaco along The Corniches, the winding roads seen often in movies (including at least one Bond!) and where poor Princess Grace died in a car accident. There are three Corniches, each one higher up the cliff than the last. We drove to Monaco on the Moyenne Corniche (the middle one) and back on the Grand

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-77706390904954679162008-06-24T21:42:00.002+01:002008-06-28T21:45:21.982+01:00

The good times are continuing here in Nice. We did end up going to the beach late afternoon yesterday and it was absolutely glorious! Sorry there are no pictures, but we didn't want to leave our cameras unattended on the beach while swimming. Nice's beaches aren't sandy but made of large, smooth, rounded rocks. It can be a little uncomfortable for sunbathing and very uncomfortable for barefoot

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-16715252384249889972008-06-23T21:41:00.001+01:002008-06-28T21:42:52.491+01:00

Greetings from the French Riviera! We are very happy in Nice and so glad we changed our plans. Our hotel room is spacious and stylish with functioning air conditioning, and the ocean is as beautiful as we remember. It is still very hot, but that's always more bearable at the beach!Our arrival in Nice yesterday coincided with the Ironman France competition - a 3.8km swim in the sea, then a 180km

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-49362071288484239752008-06-22T08:18:00.000+01:002008-06-22T08:19:49.326+01:00

This not-terribly-clever title is a reference to Peter Mayle's book A Year in Provence, a funny narrative of an Englishman's adventures buying a house and living in Provence. I recommend it as good light summer reading if you haven't read it already.This post comes to you from behind the window at top right, in the city of Aix-en-Provence.Happy Summer Solstice! I hope everyone enjoys the longest

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-29585887116314579832008-06-19T08:16:00.000+01:002008-06-22T08:18:20.167+01:00

Greetings again from Provence, where it is finally, actually, hot! Too hot, really. We got good and sunburned yesterday and the temperature reached the 90s this afternoon.This is our last night based in Orange and the last few days have been busy ones. As soon as the rain stopped we got out on the road, exploring the countryside with its castles, churches and Roman ruins.Tomorrow morning we are

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-19748085568521119002008-06-17T21:03:00.002+01:002008-06-17T21:12:54.609+01:00

Partway through the long drive described in the last post we stopped in Le Puy en Velay, which is the largest city in a fairly remote and mountainous area. Every route out of the city goes over a pass of 1000m (3280ft) or higher, so it's pretty isolated in the winter. It is built on several volcanic formations and makes an interesting sight when you come down out of the mountains. The large rock

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-60325297837912334252008-06-16T21:01:00.000+01:002008-06-17T21:03:14.499+01:00

Our drive south from Clermont-Ferrand on Saturday was long but spectacular. The first part was in the Auvergne region, described in the last post, and the second part was in the even more rugged Ardèche. The highway weaved around forested volcanic peaks, passed meadows grazed by muscular horses and cattle, and even crossed over some pretty high passes. On one hill we got out to take a couple

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-54903381062813419542008-06-15T21:51:00.003+01:002008-06-15T21:56:18.635+01:00

Our apartment complex, with some sunshine the morning we left.Our stay in Clermont-Ferrand was short and sweet. The apartment worked out really nicely for us and we enjoyed several home-cooked meals. There was even a dishwasher, which I could hardly remember how to use, it's been so long since I've seen one! With my breakfasts I had quail's eggs! They were tiny but delicious. Mostly like chicken

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-41802948378209730132008-06-15T17:00:00.005+01:002008-06-15T17:26:54.431+01:00

The last major sight we visited in Burgundy was the Abbey Church of St. Philibert in Tournus, built in the 11th century. It was magnificent. Here are a few photo highlights.View of the west front through the abbey towers. We parked right here outside the gate, and there is even closer parking around the church.View from southwest.The west front is austere and castle-like with no sculpture, but it

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-69884114653765467902008-06-13T20:52:00.005+01:002008-06-13T21:09:56.162+01:00

Before moving on to our latest experiences, I can't neglect our last big day of sightseeing from Macon, which was last Monday. We saw a whopping eight churches, most of which were in small villages with long hyphenated names. The sun actually shone most of the day, which hasn't happened in a long time. We had such a nice day of driving around and enjoying ourselves at a relaxed pace. And we had

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-39717527944983773512008-06-11T21:17:00.003+01:002008-06-11T21:30:46.885+01:00

We were mainly in Mâcon because it is a such good base for seeing lots of Romanesque churches in southern Burgundy, but it also has a nice church of its own. It's called Vieux St-Vincent and has been in ruins since the 1700s. The very impressive facade above actually faces east, and was originally inside the church - when taking the picture I was standing where the nave was. Most of the church

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-52752742263156213472008-06-11T21:09:00.002+01:002008-06-11T21:15:57.088+01:00

MâconWe were based in Mâcon for 10 nights, but we moved hotels halfway through (for availability reasons), so it didn't seem that long. The first five nights were in the Novotel Mâcon Nord, which, despite an uninspiring location near a truck stop just off the freeway, was a nice place. The air conditioning worked great and we were able to make some good homemade breakfasts and lunches thanks to

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-2425146176682701992008-06-10T13:18:00.001+01:002008-06-10T13:20:13.972+01:00

As promised, here are some photos from our last stop on Wednesday, the city of Autun in northern Burgundy.Autun was settled in Roman times, when it was known as Augustodunum. You can still see some Roman ruins around the city, the best of which are the Roman amphitheater (which we didn't have time to see), a large gate, and the 1st-century Temple of Janus. We stopped at the temple on the way out

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-86968241115111245012008-06-09T13:14:00.002+01:002008-06-11T21:55:44.902+01:00

Last Wednesday we drove a loop north of Mâcon and saw some great churches as well as an ancient Roman temple and a Buddhist temple! We came back with lots of pictures; here's a small selection of them.The drive was, as always in rural France so far, beautiful and easy. There was almost no one on the roads and they were smooth and wider than those in Britain.First stop was the village of Chapaize.

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-61222596957079770832008-06-03T15:12:00.005+01:002008-06-03T15:19:20.561+01:00

Greetings from Mâcon (rhymes with bacon), a fairly nondescript town on the River Sâone in southern Burgundy. We're staying in the Novotel Mâcon Nord, which is just off the A6 freeway. This location means there isn't anything of interest nearby, but it is convenient for making our day trips. The weather has continued not to cooperate with our photography plans, but yesterday we visited some

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-39978858445024970212008-05-31T07:50:00.001+01:002008-06-01T07:52:07.742+01:00

Wouldn't you know it, the night before we leave our vacation rental we finally get the beautiful sunshine we've been waiting for all week! It's hard to believe it was foggy, rainy and cool most of the day. It made a nice conclusion to our happy stay here. This evening I got to spend some time outside with the cows, reading my new book on the Cistercians with the sun on my face and listening to

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-36249634861109308352008-05-31T07:39:00.001+01:002008-06-11T21:34:52.411+01:00

Chateau BourbillySorry it's been awhile since our last post. We've been out sightseeing a lot, and when we've been home I've been working on my website. It's been nice to have enough time to do that! Today is our last day in our little cottage and we've had a really good, relaxing time here. The cats are even more friendly now; one of them comes in all the time and we have to keep him from

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-84803791506279602432008-05-25T18:57:00.002+01:002008-05-25T19:01:50.145+01:00

This morning the sun came out for awhile so we drove to the nearest town, Semur-en-Auxois. It's a pretty medieval town overlooking a river, with ruins of a big castle and a nice 13th-century Gothic church.General view of Semur, taken another day in less-nice weather.View from the bridge.Fruit and vegetable market.East end of the 13th-century Eglise Notre-Dame.South transept and crossing

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-30196847173116991162008-05-25T18:54:00.001+01:002008-05-25T18:56:55.725+01:00

Yesterday we drove 30 minutes west to Avallon, primarily to check out the carved portal of its church. The drive was beautiful and there were hardly any other cars on the road, which was what we were hoping it would be like here! The countryside and villages we've seen so far look a lot like England. In fact, as we drove through one village, which had old stone houses on either side and a

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-81241943128643868492008-05-25T18:49:00.004+01:002008-05-25T18:54:54.044+01:00

After a few brief stays in France in the last couple weeks, interspersed with visits to Switzerland and Germany, our big tour of France has finally begun. We are settled in a rental cottage in northern Burgundy, France, and are so happy here. We've been looking forward to the France leg of our journey for a long time - dreaming of a more relaxed pace, peaceful countryside and beautiful old

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-89024562471564991942008-05-22T18:31:00.000+01:002008-05-25T18:49:22.572+01:00

After a night across the French border in Colmar, we are now back in Germany. We're staying for three nights in the Novotel Freiburg am Konzerthaus and we're very happy here. After only ever seeing Germany in the winter, we thought we might finally see it in the sunshine, but it was not to be - it was cloudy and rainy the whole time. Freiburg is another place we could see living in, even more so

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-62587272932213463782008-05-21T18:27:00.002+01:002008-05-25T18:31:14.766+01:00

Eventually we got back on a main highway and headed northwest into France. Our destination was Colmar, which is only about 20 minutes from the German border in the region of Alsace. We had originally planned to spend a few nights in Strasbourg, but nearly all the hotels seemed to be booked up for some reason, so I picked Colmar as our base for a day trip to Strasbourg. (Then we ended up ditching

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-74668842751731656492008-05-21T18:25:00.001+01:002008-05-25T18:27:38.135+01:00

On Monday we drove almost directly north from Bern into Germany. The drive was spectacular and relaxed; such a wonderful change from Italy. The roads were smooth, the lanes were wider, the other drivers actually stayed in their lanes, and the scenery was beautiful. We crossed the border into Germany at Basel, a city that sits right where the Swiss, French and German borders meet. On our previous

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-72657509108064079462008-05-19T18:22:00.000+01:002008-05-25T18:25:20.403+01:00

The drive from Chamonix to Bern was mostly through the Alps and quite spectacular. We spent just two nights in Bern and it was too short for both of us, but our hotel is only affordable on weekends, so we had little choice but to leave on Monday morning. It rained most of the time we were there but we still really enjoyed it. The hotel (Hotel Allegro Kursaal) was as fantastic as we remembered

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-37214014216748605832008-05-18T18:15:00.000+01:002008-05-25T18:22:12.675+01:00

In Chamonix I really enjoyed relaxing and working at the hotel while David was off on his adventures! (See previous post for that.) Besides his terrifying cable car ride up the mountain, he also took a funicular ride to the Mer de Glace ("Sea of Ice"), which is one of Chamonix's major attractions. It's a glacier that runs through the valley and is pretty impressive. And on our last full day in

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-23812392187332288182008-05-17T18:11:00.000+01:002008-05-25T18:21:46.888+01:00

Hello, David here blogging about Chamonix as this destination was one of my requests. My mother had visited here while I was in college and came back with stories of fantastic mountain adventures and the gift of a really great t-shirt. Chamonix has been high on my list of places to visit ever since and it sure didn't disappoint. As a side note, it is also the site of the first winter Olympics in

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-5756025726365478022008-05-13T18:41:00.002+01:002008-05-13T18:44:47.239+01:00

Above is a homemade map of our plans for France. Except for the first few stops, this is not at all exact and we'll likely veer off the path quite a bit. But this gives a general idea of the route we'll take as we attempt to see as many big cathedrals, little churches and picturesque villages as we can. As you can see, the plan is to come from Italy in the east, go north to Strasbourg, then work

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-43824468841130152962008-05-13T15:33:00.005+01:002008-05-13T16:52:34.494+01:00

The beautiful Galleria in MilanYesterday we took the train from Bergamo into Milan. This is the reason we're in Bergamo - hotels here are cheaper and easier to access here than in Milan. But we had a hard time getting ourselves to the train station and we considered skipping it entirely! We're just so tired of big cities and neither of us had any huge interest in Milan other than to get some nice

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-80828001469218462202008-05-10T23:19:00.002+01:002008-05-10T23:20:28.818+01:00

The Byzantine Empress Theodora in the Basilica di San VitaleRavenna is wonderful. We are here for two nights to see its ancient churches and Byzantine mosaics, which are considered the best in the world. I've been pretty excited about this stop, and I'm happy to say it has entirely lived up to my expectations.In the early 5th century AD, Ravenna briefly became the capital of the Roman Empire

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-84991026087256083692008-05-08T23:00:00.001+01:002008-05-10T23:19:09.659+01:00

Yesterday we walked the Cinque Terre, which is something we'd been excited about doing since before we left the States, especially David.The Cinque Terre ("five lands") are five villages along a stretch of the northwest coast of Italy that are connected by a scenic hiking path. See pretty map at right (which I didn't make).The Levanto BaseWe are in the area for three nights, based in the town of

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-67407780702895413622008-05-08T15:00:00.000+01:002008-05-10T23:16:42.268+01:00

Tuesday afternoon we left Lucca for Levanto, our base for the Cinque Terre. Along the way we made a detour to Carrara, home of the famous white Carrara marble that has been shipped all over the world since medieval times. My guidebook says 1.5 million tons of it are still shipped out every year.Our detour off the motorway took us first through Massa, quite an ugly town, where marble seems to be

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-80405260042040894252008-05-08T14:12:00.002+01:002008-05-08T14:18:43.571+01:00

The Ponte Vecchio, bridge over the River Arno in Florence.On Monday, our last day based in Lucca, I took the train into Florence. David stayed behind at the hotel because he had ordered a new camera lens from the USA and there were some technical difficulties with customs he had to deal with (involving many phone calls and faxes). These typically Italian complications caused more than a little

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-15242874972642630792008-05-08T10:44:00.002+01:002008-05-08T10:59:51.086+01:00

On Friday (May 2) we drove from Lucca to Pisa. It was just a super-easy (toll) freeway drive and then a bit of slow traffic once we arrived in Pisa, for a total of about 20 minutes. The parking situation in Pisa is far better than I would have dreamed - there is a large, free(!) parking lot just outside the north wall by the Campo dei Miracoli (where all the main attractions are), with separate

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-24790850677973170262008-05-05T11:34:00.003+01:002008-09-05T04:26:50.258+01:00

Siena cityscapeSiena rooftopsOn Wednesday we drove to Siena, which is only about 45 minutes from San Gimignano. Siena is a very popular city and we were quite overwhelmed by the crowds of tourists after our wonderfully relaxed visits to San Gimignano and San Galgano Abbey! We didn't fall in love with Siena like we did some other Italian cities, but it is a fine town with atmospheric, hilly

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-82346234349411513232008-05-03T17:38:00.000+01:002008-05-03T17:40:39.053+01:00

From our base in San Gimignano we made two fantastic day trips south. The first (on Tuesday) was about an hour's drive to the Abbey of San Galgano. The journey itself turned out to be a big part of the attraction - incredibly beautiful Tuscan scenery, nice winding roads, and little traffic. One part of the drive was quite strange - amid all this lovely nature, we came upon a valley with an

Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15305436622672803564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2099357455310253560.post-50802110595859401712008-05-03T17:23:00.002+01:002008-05-03T17:35:17.934+01:00

I'm sorry it has been so long since the last update - the poor internet at our last hotel gave me a nice hiatus from blogging but I sure have a lot to catch up on! Since I last posted, we have seen lots of wonderful sights and taken a gazillion photos, as usual. First, some catch-up pictures and brief notes from Assisi and San Gimignano. In Assisi, I must record that one of the best restaurants

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