Venice is a Merry Go Round

It's hard to believe there is a part of me who loves carousels. Or do I just love the details I observe every time I stand by one?

This one I found in Piazza dei Signori, in Treviso. 

Too bad there is a TV antenna on the background; well, this is Italy, after all.

Wannsee-Kladow and Back

We had been to Kladow last year in late summer, with cloudy skies and an almost deserted  harbor walk.
Last week, though, the weather was clearly inviting us to give it another try.
As I had suspected, we were not the only ones who had had this idea.
The ferry F10 was jam-packed with day trippers and bicycles (up to 25 are allowed): one the way back to Wannsee the captain seemed to be a bit nervous about being on time and parted from us passengers with a "when you leave the boat, be quick!"

The ferry ticket to Kladow is included in the Berlin AB ticket, so you can consider this an inner-city trip. 

It doesn't look like that, does it? And it doesn't feel like that, I promise.

On our way to Kladow, meeting other ferries and sailing boats

Harbor front in Kladow, with the island Imchen (a bird sanctuary where access is NOT allowed) on the back

Playground in Wannsee, in proximity of the ferry pier

Note: if you live near Zoologischer Garten, you can take the bus X34 to Kladow.

Big City Idyll - Viktoria Luise Platz, Berlin

I observe the way people walk. I want to know how they relate to their surroundings.

Me, I walk with my head up high, so I don' t miss the shape of fun clouds. This one looked like a big smurf, or Grisú, the little firefighter dragon...

Lots of places in Berlin have the name "Platz" (square), but they are all quite different from the squares you might expect in Italy or France.

This is one of the few I consider a "real" square, even though its form is rather that of a circle. 

Here you can sit for a chat, eat some ice-cream, be hypnotized by the fountain's dancing jets and listen to the sound of the subway that runs just below your feet.

Prince and Princess Peacock - Part 2

I believe that Princess Peacock refused Prince Peacock's proposal because he was a bit vain: she decided he should be left alone. To think.

There he was, showing his...feathers. But he really felt lonely.

So, when you here the peacock chant, what you actually hear is "come back, come back". 

Is Princess Peacock ever going to come back?

Still thinking about a happy ending...

(I took these pictures about two years ago in Long Island, NY, and always thought there was a story behind that, until I read Part 1 of this story by Andreas Susana's in Travelwriticus).

Thanks Andreas :)

Les Abbesses, Carousel and...I feel Dizzy

Metropolitain Abbesses, in Montmartre

Carousel Les Abbesses

 Le Mur des Je T'Aime (The Wall of I love Yous)

Loving Is Chaotic, So Let' s Love!

You can read this above the Walls of I Love Yous

(of course I was intrigued, like many other tourists in Paris)

More cherry blossoms around the corner

Amour or Humour Noir? Oh Paris!

On the left-hand side: Saint Denis, patron of France. And of headaches. 

Hopefully you didn't take me too seriously when I said "I love Paris every day of the year, because my love is here". 

This would be a very interesting twist and a jaw dropping anecdote to tell my friends, but nope.

For my fourth time in Paris I had wished to (finally) visit the catacombs. No kidding!

Sure, there are enough majestic views of this city to make you crave for some "vintage postcard romance": the never ending elegance invites you to day-dream about how fantastic and perfect just any relationship would be in such setting. 

Your beau and you, biting macarons (not macaroons) and whispering passionate French words to each other. 

Think of that: you are strolling through the Tuileries Gardens after having visited the Louvre and admired Mona Lisa's smile.

A little exhausted, you'd need a short rest on the park benches so dear to the locals (or so you are told!).

 

 

How wonderful to sit in what had been the Garden for a palace wanted by Catherine de' Medici.
She wasn't exactly a white dove, being responsible for the killing of thousands of Huguenots on what's known as the Saint Batholomew 's Day Massacre, but her gardens are gracious.

Heading west, now, for Place de la Concorde.

It was re-named "Concorde", but it was called Place de la Révolution during the French Revolution and here, in this beautiful octagonal space sandwiched between Tuileries and Champs-Élysées, Marie Antoinette - but also the revolutionary Robespierre, Danton and thousand others - were beheaded.

La Révolution!I picture myself in 1794, fighting the monarchy, but - honestly - the guillotine is nothing I would have looked forward to. Even though it is said to have been less painful than other execution methods.

I love Paris. I have always loved it even before actually visiting, back in the eighties.
It is always very absorbing - sometimes overwhelming - to be surrounded by the beautiful architecture, the splendid gardens, the windows displays' perfection and people's relaxed elegance.

Finding the time to enjoy all this didn't leave much room for additional sightseeing, amazing discoveries or a thorough exploration of the underground.

This means I didn't make it to the catacombs (sadly).

Yet, I found something for my collection of manhole covers, on the north front of Les Invalides.

Aren't Parisians hilarious, sometimes?

Carousels of Paris - Je n' en Connais Pas la Fin

I used to know a little square
So long ago, when I was small
All summer long it had a fair
Wonderful fair with swings and all
I used to love my little fair
And at the close of everyday

I could be found, dancing around
A merry-go-round that used to play...

"Ah, mon amour
A toi toujours
Dans tes grands yeux
Rien que nous deux"

(Edith Piaf)

This carousel is next to the Pont d'Iéna. It's usually very busy but it offers one of the nicest view of the Eiffel Tower.

On a personal note: I never thought I'd be such a great carousels' lover, but I noticed that the nicest carousels are little jewels, with beautiful decorations and illustrations.

Are you a carousels' fan?

Cherry Blossoms in Paris

I love Paris in the springtime
I love Paris in the fall
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles

I love Paris every moment
Every moment of the year
I love Paris, why oh why do I love Paris?
Because my love is here 

(I Love Paris - Cole Porter)

Well, look what I found in Paris in the springtime!

Notre Dame and Cherry Blossoms

I loved to have a natural frame for such an imposing and wonderful building like the Cathedral of Notre Dame. 

It reminded me of the impermanence of the blossoms and the longevity of stones. 

Sometimes completely different things compensate each other.

Satori in Paris

I am aware this might be considered some kind of phobia, but I have to admit that I hate lists. 

So I won't write down a list of things to do in Paris.

Paris for me is like true love. One you haven't seen in a while and for which your feelings are crystallized, idealized and platonic; one with whom you can talk about anything, have a silly and flirtatious talk in a nice café or engage in the most intense, romantic and disorienting conversations while watching the water of a river flowing peacefully and confidently on its bed.

Paris has it all!But I didn't want it all.

This time I wanted Satori: the  enlightenment, understanding and all encompassing awareness of zen Buddhism, sought (sometimes in a not so proper way) by Jack Kerouac and the Beat Poets. 

Not that there was a chance to meditate, and of course I wasn't going to get drunk, but it was very clear for me that this trip was one to discover something more profound than the latest fashion or new hip restaurant.

Maybe it wasn't only a coincidence that the apartment's owner had placed a Buddha head above the fireplace, as it wasn't mere chance that the place we were staying, a nice little apartment in the Latin Quarter*, was right next to the Beat Hotel.

All suggested that I, too, was going to experience the creative mood that filled the streets of this (once) bohemian, literary and artistic area on the left bank of the Seine.

"Paris can't change", I told myself!

"(In the 50s)...The Latin Quarter was an area of dusty used bookshops, avant-garde art galleries, antiques shops, dealers in ethnological artifacts, and the tiny cramped offices of radical publishing houses and small presses specializing in experimental literature and the arts. Along the Seine the booksellers displayed tattered prints and well-thumbed books in boxes clamped to the river wall, which could be locked shut at night. All around the rue de Seine and Place St. Michel there were bookshops that featured titles in Surrealism, 'Pataphysics, medicine, the occult, alchemy, and Asian mysticism. These were sometimes hidden in courtyards or on the higher floors of buildings, known only to aficionados[...]".

excerpt from "The Beat Hotel. Ginsberg, Burroughs, and Corso in Paris, 1958-1963" BARRY MILES, Grove Press



to be continued...

Read more *About the Latin Quarter

Note: "Satori in Paris" is a novel by Jack Kerouac

Historical and Technical Museum Peenemünde - Baltic Sea in Winter

The original plan for a nice morning in Peenemünde was to visit the world's biggest U-Boot at the harbor, the weather - however - made us opt for a more reasonable combination of out- and indoor.

The Historical Technical  Museum is located on the ground of an Army Test Site which, between 1936 and 1945, was one of the most modern of its kind.

In those years, the Nazi regime was building and using the most advanced weapons to obtain supremacy over its enemies, but the victims were not only the populations hit by the bombs and rockets! The rapid construction of this site and of weapons had been made possible by a cruel exploitation of war prisoners and concentration camp inmates.

Rockets were mass-produced in Peenemünde and were called "Vergeltungswaffe 2" (Vengeance Weapon 2*) by the Nazi propagandists.

 *(V 1 was the flying bomb)

Very soon the snow made the outdoors pretty uncomfortable, so we found shelter in the old power plant, where original parts of rockets, scale models of the site, posters by the Nazi propaganda and old magazines are on display.

Future's Fantasies (not too far from today's reality)

Woman in the Moon (1929) by Fritz Lang is a science fiction movie which presented for the first time the possibility of space-ship travels to a broad audience.

We reached Peenemünde by train, using the Usedomer Bäder Bahn from Zinnowitz (on the right hand side of the map, south-east of Peenemünde).

The Historical and Technical Museum
A very comprehensive website about Slave Labor in the Space Age:  Dora and the V-2 

Note: I am not a fan of War Museums. It was very interesting, but in a very sad way.

Usedomer Bäder Bahn - Local Train in Usedom

A little present for the children - UBB

I like taking pics from the train...

Not having a car, we reached Usedom by train. 

From Berlin, the regional train reaches the town of Züssow (in the Land Mecklemburg Vorpommern) where you can hop the local Usedomer Bäder Bahn, which connects the seaside municipalities of the island Usedom as far as Swinemünde (Poland).

Baltic Sea's Charm

I still have a vivid memory of my friend Erika's expression when, some winters ago, I told her I was about to spend some days in Zinnowitz, a town on the German island of Usedom, on the Baltic Sea.

Unconcerned about below freezing temperatures .

Zinnowitz, February 2012

She stared at me with incredulous eyes and said something like: "You have been living in Germany way too long: don't you miss cute bathing-suits, ice-creams, beach volley tournaments, old men playing bocce in embarrassing outfits nor the sunshine ANYMORE?",

which could be translated with: "Are you out of your mind?"

To tell you the truth, I was very skeptical about a winter vacation by the sea - without all the above mentioned - as well. 

For many reasons it turned out to be a very positive experience, so this year we decided to spend the Winterferien (winter vacation) in Zinnowitz. For the second time.

What we didn't expect was that all Europe would be suffering the effects of the late cold snap just during those days.
For many people it has been a real catastrophe.

Zinnowitz on a map

On My Way...to the Ruins

Fountains

They abound in Brugg.

Perhaps this sounds very obvious, but it's not: we've come to see fountains as a pure decorative element in gardens and squares; we don't drink water from those fountains.

But here - on the Alps, in the middle of Europe - water from the fountain is drinkable. Unless a sign tells you it's not (and it would be an exception).

On my way to the ruins I didn't expect - aside from a couple of stones scattered here and there - such a huge historical treasure, included parts of a Roman aqueduct.

 

 Fountains and fall foliage

Brugg Downtown - Oh, How Nice It Was

Thinking - and writing - about a place we visited which is very different than the one we're living (and was about ten degrees warmer), is sometimes difficult, as there are always details our memory tends to deform: for a travel enthusiast like me, it's hard to mute the refrain that goes "oh, how nice it was".

Sure: the weather was beautiful. Mostly.
But we also had a couple of rainy days. And: we were in a small town, which means concentrated beauty, but - if compared to a city like Berlin - little choice for what concerns events or restaurants, stores or other attractions.

Oh, how nice it was!

When we arrived with the train in Brugg, 25 minutes away from Zürich, my first thought was: I guess we'll go to Zürich every second day.

That first thought, though, proved to be completely wrong.

We spent our first afternoon walking down the Hauptstrasse (first trying to find a restaurant and later a café) and some of the alleys that surround the center.

The buildings were really charming and well maintained, as well as the gardens. 

We took some pictures from the famous bridge (Brugg=Brücke in Swiss-German) which is supposed to be the first bridge in Brugg. 

At this point, I could tell you that this was it.

But, if you know me a little, you will also know that this wasn't all. 

At the train station I had already seen a sign that read "RUINS" pointing in the direction opposite to that of downtown...

My First Time in Switzerland

Watch hanging on the ceiling at Zürich Airport

Sometimes I like to joke about the fact that I am "made in Switzerland", like a watch, because my parents vacationed there nine precise months before I was born.

In fact, I had never been in Switzerland until three weeks ago and - although I knew it was famous for its watches - I didn't expect to find watches (and watches advertisement) EVERYWHERE.

I found it a bit overwhelming (as I stopped wearing a watch some years ago), but somehow this "time-filled" oasis gave me a strange sense of security. 

As much as it is a stereotype, being on time is one of the things that made our stay in Switzerland very smooth, especially regarding transportation.

Zürich Airport train Station

My first impression, watches aside,  was that we were still in Berlin.

Ticket vending machines, signs and colors were exactly the same.
Here and there you'd have a touch of French design, but - maybe because we were in the German-Switzerland - the difference wasn't that huge.

Only later, emerging from the "non- lieux" (train stations, airports...), we had a clearer vision of the differences we were going to experience.

Vending machines, too, revealed interesting details (tell me if I am wrong, but I don't think I've ever seen anything like this in Germany!)

 

 

Is buying pregnancy tests from a vending machine a sign of a liberal society or a sign that people would feel ashamed of buying them in a drug store or pharmacy?

From Zürich-Airport we took the train and reached our destination: Brugg, about which I'll tell you in the next posts.

Travel Soundtrack

I want to know: what music do people listen to when they travel?

Everybody is showing pictures and is narrating Odysseys, but what about your ears: what was on the radio, on the street or in your head?What were you singing, humming, whistling during your journeys?

For me, there are "standards" as well as songs connected solely to a special trip.
The year of the journey isn't necessarily the release year of a certain song.

So, let's start with:

France, Winter 1994: Mr.Jones,Counting Crows

I had gotten a tape with this song in the summer, I think, sent from a dear friend. In Paris it was playing very often on the radio. 

Naples, April 1995: Here I could lie, but I believe I used to listen to Jeff Buckley a LOT, so Last Goodbye

France, Summer 1999: Dream On, Dreamer, Brend New Heavies

Japan, 2000: I Try, Macy Gray
In Japan you have speakers on the streets and there is noise and music everywhere.
I had just arrived in Miyazaki,in southern Japan, and was walking out of the station. This was a nice surprise.

USA, 2001:
because this was a two month road-trip, the soundtrack is pretty consistent.
I find that Red Hot Chili Peppers are perfect companions when traveling. They gave energy and they have that desert-like warmth, which perfectly captures the atmosphere of a long and hard journey.

So, a lot of RHCP
Soul To Squeeze
Scar Tissue
Around The World
Snow
(it might be that some of these songs were released and heard in a later US road-trip)
Of course Blues Travelers
Hook
Run Around


Washington D.C., 2002
No one Knows, The Queens of the Stone Age


I have one for a sailing trip on the Baltic (I believe 2004):
La Nonna di Frederick Lo Portava al Mare, Quintorigo (it makes sense because it is about the seaside).

In between I think I was in Korea and Japan, where the soundtrack were some popular songs (Korean bus drivers' choice) cicadas (as loud as road works!), traffic light tunes and an amazing number of other unknown noises.


Tennessee, 2007: Can't no Grave Hold This Body Down, Mike Farris
Mike Farris is a Nashville based singer I had the chance to hear live at the Blue Plate WDVX of Knoxville.

Montreal, 2010: on the road from Long Island, NY to Montreal there were the usual RHCP and Blues Travelers.
But on the way back (much enjoyed at the Montreal Jazz Festival) the fun and amazing

Lost Fingers with
Thunder/You shook me all night long (AC/DC cover), which by the way, my kids kept singing and requesting for the whole trip!
Tainted Love (Soft Cell cover)


Generally speaking I like energetic songs.

What about you?

On Organizing Travels -2 And a Small Confession

The apartment is clean. I am ready to go.

No, wait...what does the apartment have to do with traveling?

Well, maybe cleaning is a sort of meditation to get the mind ready for new experiences. 

Maybe it's just a way to make the thought of flying as remote as possible (in fact, what does any house-chore have in common with flying???).

Jokes aside, I got a basic knowledge of the things I want to see in Grenoble.

I got myself a map and found very useful information on the web-page grenoble-tourism.com, which is very comprehensive (it covers information about the sights, the events, the transportation...).

For the Rhône-Alpes region I visited the web-site of the Rhône-Alpes (which covers the nearby cities of Lyon and Annecy).

As always, I'd be taking it easy: I am very confident that our stay will somehow follow its own path once we are at destination.

The next thing - probably the most important - is what to pack.

Traveling during the fall - and I could say the same for springtime - in central Europe. Mountains around.

My guess (with an eye on the weather forecast) is that we are not going to wear t-shirts. This means long sleeves. Maybe some turtle neck pullovers. Casual walking shoes.

I'm a spartan packer: I don't like having too much, but this depends a lot on how long we are away, on the presence of a laundromat and of course on the weather. 

I don't mind going around with spotted jeans (I have small kids, so I need to ignore some details), but if I have to be "social" (i.e. go to some restaurant with people other than family), then I will always have something elegant with me.
And something nice for the kids.
This adds weight, but makes me feel we are human again, at least at some point during the day.

Very important!Distractions: kids need paper, colors, stickers, little books (in Germany there's a huge collection that goes under the name of PIXI books), anything that can prevent a meltdown or plain boredom.

Time for a small confession: I have been to Grenoble some ten years ago. I have no memory whatsoever of that, apart from knowing I was there. 

If I had been on the téléphérique (the cable car that takes you from the city to the Bastille Fort) I am sure I would remember!!!

On Organizing Travels - 1

So, here I am, organizing the next travel.

We'll be in Grenoble, France, and I'll have to explain my daughter that on the map the Mediterranean looks much closer than it actually is.

I hate that I didn't learn enough French to order more than a "baguette, not too dark" at the bakery or a "pain avec buerre et jambon", but I'll rely a lot on my communication skills (read: fantasy) and on maps to find my way around.

In fact, I have been to France before.

Part of my mother's family lives south of Paris , where I was three times, and I was touring France some ten years ago. Without kids.

I have been traveling with kids, too. Which, put together, should just work fine.

Still, I know, every travel brings some anxiety and stress. 

If organizing a travel means putting a lot of to-dos on a list, traveling with kids means transforming the heavy labor into a family fun.

I have been writing before about flying from Europe to the US  and from the US to Japan with the kids.
But I think I haven't talked much about organizing a whole travel.

This time, like back when we traveled to Japan in 2009, we are accompanying my husband to a conference.

In most cases, there is something called "social program" for families or spouses. I took part to this social program once in Korea and it was - except for the very tight schedule - very well organized and fun: I had a great times with interesting people, I got to know some of them well and was taken wherever without having to decide myself what to see in a Country I had never visited before.

The same kind of program is not an option with kids (because their times won't always fit the schedule) and in places I trust I can handle fine by myself.

But, because those who organize the social program have a better idea on what to see in their own city/Country, I take a few guidelines from the program and skip things like restaurants, after lunch activities or cooking classes.

This gives me and the kids longer times to enjoy places we might find interesting and a better chance to rest, if it is necessary.

Conference travels mean that - during the conference at least - we will be staying in a hotel.
I won't discuss about different kind of hotels now, but having a bed and a shower is luxury when you have kids. 

I remember arriving in Knoxville,TN  24 hours after departure (we were stuck in Washington D.C. for a short night interrupted by the fire alarm...) and we couldn't check in, because we were "too early" to have our room.

We will be using public transportation, but I am also considering renting a bike because - despite the mountainous surroundings - Grenoble is a flat city.
Prices are reasonable and Carlotta can ride a bike. If the weather is good, why not?

to be continued...

The Waves of Kanagawa

 Kanagawa Warning Wave 

(taken on a walk to Enoshima's rocks)

 

 

Mount Fuji Seen Below a Wave at Kanagawa - Hokusai

(courtesy of katsushikahokusai.org)