October 22, 2006 - Venice, Italy

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2018: This was the first of two days in Venice at the tail end of a Mediterranean cruise with a group from our church that had stopped at Athens, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Dubrovnik in Croatia before returning to Venice.

Ah Venice!  What an interesting place.  Truly like no other city in the world.  I hardly know where to begin.

We had an early breakfast this morning and left ship around 7.45-8.  After getting our bags, Father Jerry hired a porter and all our suitcases were taken to the hotel by boat while we walked!  At the hotel we checked in and checked our bags.  Then we hooked up with Jeff and Stephanie, who have become good friends this week.  Somehow, we figured out how to use the vaporetto to go down the Grand Canal to the Piazza San Marco.

Once there, our first visit was to the Doge's palace (the Doge was the Duke of Venice) for a long, but interesting, tour.  The palace was immense.  There were rows of columns and arches on the outer facade.  Inside were columns from the previous palace.  Most of the palace dates from the 16th century, the older palace replaced after a devastating fire.  It served not only as home to the Doge (the Doge's quarters consisted of several immense and ornate rooms), but also the seat of government.  Venice was governed as a republic, although and aristocratic one, through the middle ages and until Napoleon took over in 1797.  All of the nobles belonged to the council and there was also a senate that consisted only of the higher titled.  When the Doge died, his replacement was elected by the senate in conclave.  The buildings also contained space for the Council of Forty, which later broke into three subcommittees to regulate foreign affairs, military issues, and domestic law.  Their chambers also served, when needed, as court rooms.  In 1317, after an attempted coup, the Council of Ten was formed, which functioned as a state security service/secret police with its own room for trying suspected traitors.

Outer facade of the Doge's Palace

The most interesting features of the building included la Scala d'Oro, the Golden Staircase, consisting of grand stairs with intricate gold work on the arching ceiling overhead that ascended from the courtyard to the Doge's chambers.  One of the most impressive rooms was the Grand Gallery with maps painted on the walls and two immense 16th century (or possibly 17th) globes, one of the world and one a star map.  Equally impressive was the Grand Council chamber, one of the largest rooms in Europe.  Most rooms were decorated with gilded ceilings and paintings, Renaissance masterpieces, really, painted on the walls and ceilings.  The artwork alone in the palace is priceless.  Many of the paintings are either religious or depict scenes from Venetian history.  In the Grand Council chamber, around the top of the walls, were portraits of all the Doges.  Several paintings in the palace depict Doges with Christ or the saints, speaking the the legitimacy of the Doge's just rule.

The tour continued to the armory, which housed an enormous collection of old weapons - swords, crossbows, maces, old firearms, and some weapons that were combinations of firearms and maces or firearms and crossbows...  The tour ended by crossing the Bridge of Sighs and seeing what would be a prisoners last glimpse of Venice (Ah...  Venice) before touring the prison cells where he would have been incarcerated.

The Bridge of Sighs

 After touring the palace, we set out for lunch.  A place called Harry's Bar was recommended by our guide book and was famous for being a hangout of Ernest Hemingway.  However, lunch there was more expensive than dinner at most places, so we went to plan B - a restaurant also recommended in our guide book called Chat qui Rit.  This was a cafeteria style place with excellent and affordable food just north of the western end of Piazza San Marco.

Following lunch, we went back to the square which, by this time, was thronged with pigeons (that tourists are actually encouraged to feed!) and more people than I have ever seen at one place at one time.  It was a chore getting around and staying together.  Things were also complicated by the Venice marathon that was going on and therefore many areas along the Grand Canal and half the bridges were cordoned off for the runners.

Our next stop on the Piazza was Basilica San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica).  St. Mark is the patron saint of Venice, having been chosen in the 9th century to replace St. Theodore (a Byzantine saint who slew a dragon).  Legend has it that St. Mark was shipwrecked on one of the Venetian islands and an angel told him his body would find eternal rest here.  However, he died in Byzantium and his body was kept there after his death.  In the 800's, the Venetians stole the body from the church in the east and brought it to Venice, where it now rests in a tomb under the alter of the Basilica.  St. Mark became the patron of Venice and the lion, used as a symbol of the evangelist, is displayed throughout the city and on the flags of the Republic under the Doges.  In addition to venerating St. Mark's body, the basilica houses an impressive treasure room, most of which is Byzantine loot from the 4th crusade when crusaders sacked Byzantium (at the request of the Doge of Venice) rather than going to Jerusalem.  There were some beautiful chalices and icons.  In addition, there was a relics room which included a piece of the True Cross.  It was not very well marked, but I think I spotted it.

Piazza San Marco with Basilica, People, and Pigeons

The Church itself was gorgeous.  Even outside there were beautiful mosaics, but the artwork of the dome inside was stunning.  Gilded mosaics depicting the Ascension and Pentecost.  The floor was an amazing mosaic tile as well.  The structure itself was constructed of marble in a Byzantine style and dates back nearly a thousand years [1071].

After seeing the Basilica, we stopped for some truly amazing gelato and cappuccino at a little cafe near St. Mark's Square before taking the vaporetto back to our hotel.

About half of us from the Church group that stayed in Venice (some flew home as soon as the cruise was over) went to dinner together in the evening.  Father Marty speaks fluent Italian and, with luck, we were able to find a place on the other side of the canal from our hotel that could seat all of us without a reservation called Trattoria Provoleda.  The restaurant had colour coded menus for men and women - they were the same on the inside, except the women's menu had no prices!  We were able to dine al fresca, it was a beautiful evening, and the food was fantastic.  Lisa and I both had the house white wine (which was good), appetizers of prosciutto and melon, and pizza Margherita (pizza with cheese and tomato).  The prosciutto was to die for and the pizza was truly the best I have ever had with a very thin, traditional, crust.  The company, atmosphere, and conversation were wonderful and in truth it could not have been a more enjoyable evening.

April 9, 2006 - San Diego, California

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2018: The annual American Academy of Neurology meeting brought us to San Diego for the first time.  Billy and Amy were neurology residents with me at the University of Virginia Medical Center in the late 1990's and Academy meetings are always a fun time to catch up with our friends from our time at Mr. Jefferson's hospital.

We leave San Diego today.  Unfortunately, our flight is late and that, plus the time change, is going to make tomorrow morning rough...

We had a wonderful day yesterday.  The weather was perfect, best we've had all week.  We rented a car with Billy and Amy and drove to Coronado and Point Loma.  Coronado is technically a peninsula, connected to the mainland by the, "Silver Strand," but the best way to get there from the city is by the Coronado bridge.  Once there, it is a sleepy small town within sight (and easy drive or boat ride) of downtown San Diego.  It has a beautiful beach and on this beach is the Hotel del Coronado - a grand 1855 hotel that is enormous and ornate.  It served as the set for the Marilyn Monroe picture, Some Like it Hot.  We got some ice cream there, with real raspberries on top, which was delicious.

From Coronado, we drove to Point Loma.  There is a national park at the end of the point that is just beautiful.  The view of San Diego, Coronado, and Mexico from there is breath taking.  We took some great pictures there and watched both fighter planes returning to the Navy air base as well as cruise ships leaving port.  It was fun.

Then, we finished up at Sally's, a waterfront restaurant attached to the Marriott hotel, where we had quite good crab cakes and wine and watched the sun set before Billy and Amy had to leave to catch the Red Eye flight back to Washington, D.C.  It was a fun day.

Hotel Del Coronado

Point Loma

September 16, 2005 - Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland

Today is our 5th anniversary (although we will be celebrating tomorrow).  Yesterday, we went to Ross Castle.  Built in the 15th century as a tower fort and residence to protect from cattle raids, it was just a ruin when the Irish government acquired it in 1973.  They have done a fantastic job restoring it, using other forts of the same era as a guide.  The construction is quite clever doors with metal studs on the outside, a murder hole in the second floor guards' room and uneven steps to discourage invaders.

From Ross Castle, we took a boat to an island in the middle of the lower lake called Innisfallen.  There are ruins of a a monastery of the same name there.  Though the ruins date to the 13th century, the monastery was founded by St. Finian in the 7th century.  In the the 13th century, the community became Augustinian and one of the greatest illuminated manuscripts, the Annals of Innisfallen (a history of Ireland), was written around that time.  The order also ran a school and Brian Boru was educated there.  The lakes of Killarney are beautiful and the island is quite peaceful.  There is a trail around the island we were able to walk.  The island is covered with Irish ferns and there are deer on the island, although we didn't see any of the latter.

Ruins of the Monastery at Innisfallen

In the afternoon, we went to Muckross House and Gardens, a Victorian-era manor.  It was nice, but not as interesting and by afternoon it had started to rain (whereas the morning had been gorgeous).

Last night, we went to a pub called Danny Mann's.  The band was excellent and played all the drinking song standards (Whiskey in the Jar, Wild Rover, Black Velvet Band) - but again, the patrons were all tourists and in our side of the bar there were speakers and video screen showing the band playing on the other side.  All too slick and put together.

Today, we had quite an adventure.  We drove an hour and a half to Portmagee where we got on a boat to the island of Skellig Michael.  It was a beautiful day today, but the ocean was choppy getting out there and back.  On the way back, Lisa and I got to stand in the cabin of the boat while the others had to put water proofs on.  The Skellig itself was quite impressive.  The view was incredible.  The climb to the top of of the island was very steep and very tiring.  At times I didn't think I would make it, even though there were stone steps.  I was also afraid I would be petrified of coming down, but as it turns out, the descent was not quite so scary as I thought.

At the top is a monastery founded in 588 and housing monks until 1222.  The monastery is very well preserved with two chapels, the abbot's home, and monastic cells all intact.  They are all just beehive huts made of stone, without mortar.  The newer chapel was about 3 paces in diameter.  The cells were about half that size and would have accommodated 2 or 3 monks each.

The courage and fortitude of those souls that voyaged out there in a boat made of animal skins stretched across a wooden frame and maintained a community there for centuries is astounding.  Oh, to have that degree of faith!  It was a breathtaking, renewing, and sometimes harrowing experience!

[AUTHOR'S NOTE 2018: Fans of Star Wars may recognize Skellig Michael as the planet on which Luke Skywalker was found hiding at the end of Star Wars Episode VII, The Force Awakens.  The Force did ineed run strong in this place...]

July 4, 2003 - Broughty Ferry, Scotland

Independence Day.

Lisa and I arrived in Scotland yesterday by train.  It was a about a four hour train ride from York to Dundee.  The countryside was beautiful - farms and rolling hills.  Although I missed most of it.  Since the train left York at 7.35, I napped.  However we did cross the Firth of Forth on a railroad bridge, which was beautiful.  Dundee is just on the other side of a smaller bay to the north called the Firth of Tay.  The weather has been glorious since we arrived in Scotland.  Sunny and mild.

We met Lisa's Uncle Peter, Aunt Anne, and cousin Seumas, at a place in Broughty Ferry (a small town just outside Dundee), called the Fisherman's Tavern, for lunch.  Lisa and I had haddock with chips and it was quite good.  Seumas is about my brother John's age and had just finished high school (that day, I believe) and they went out to lunch to celebrate.

Then we took a walk around Broughty Ferry, which is a delightful little town.  You can walk to everything and everyone knows everyone.  Peter and Anne live in an old house, built in about 1820, that looks right out on the Firth of Tay.  Down the street from their house is the ruin of a 15th century castle.  We also walked to an Italian coffee shop for excellent cappuccino.

Broughty Ferry Castle

Last night, we went back to the Fisherman's Tavern.  Apparently every Thursday night they have local music - area musicians just show up and play for free.  Sometimes it is only a handful of musicians, but last night there must have been 15 or 20.  There were fiddlers, Highland pipes, the drums the Irish call bodrhain (I don't know what the Scots call them), tin whistles, flutes, and even an accordion.  There was also a musician from Peru playing a 12-stringed instrument from his local country that looked like an ukulele and he joined right in with the Celtic music!  The music was splendid with lots of jigs and reels similar to Irish music.  There were also rebel songs, but I wasn't familiar with any of those, and at one point, "Scotland the Brave," was going on the bagpipes.

At the pub, we met Peter and Anne's friends and colleagues, Jerry and Kerry.  They were quite nice and fun to talk to.  Some others we didn't know (including one gentleman we couldn't understand) came over to say hello, realizing we were Americans.  We were made quite welcome.  I was drinking a Scottish beer called, "Sixty Shilling," that was quite good.  It was black like a porter with a thick head.  It was smooth to drink like Guinness, but much lighter.  Very tasty.  In all, it was a fabulous evening.  We have been having a wonderful trip, but that was by far the best experience.

Today we had another wonderful day.  The weather is still perfect.  In the morning, we went to Glamis castle, home to the late Queen Mother.  It is on beautiful grounds and has been in the Bowes-Lyon family since the 1400's.  It has been added on to since the the original medieval fortress and much of the interior is Elizabethan and some of it Victorian.  It is as if you walk from the 1400's to the Victorian era over just a few rooms.  Shakespeare set the murder of Duncan by Macbeth at Glamis, although in reality, the events of Macbeth take place approximately 400 years before the current castle was constructed.

Glamis Castle

After Glamis, we went to St. Andrew's, one of the most beautiful towns I have ever seen.  We had a picnic lunch in the ruins of what was once an immense 15th century cathedral - with a mix of Norman and Gothic styles.  It was built on the site of an earlier 12th century church, the tower of which is still standing.  Lisa and I walked to the top of the tower and the view from there was magnificent!  Below you are the cathedral ruins and you have a spectacular vista of the North Sea.  Facing the sea, off to the left is the ruin of St. Andrew's castle and with your back to the sea, you look at the gorgeous campus of the University of St. Andrew's.  We also took some pictures at the 18th green of the old golf course.

The 18th green at Old St. Andrew's

 From St. Andrew's, we went to the small fishing village of Crail.  Also a beautiful place.  We walked along the shore of the Firth of Forth to a little pottery store that Adam and Shannon (Lisa's brother and sister-in-law) raved about from their trip there two years ago.  They did have some beautiful things.

Crail

 Tonight, for U.S. Independence Day, Peter and Anne are taking us to dinner at a restaurant in Arbroath and tomorrow we plan to tour Edinburgh.

In addition to the "Sixty," I have sampled other local foods, such as Scottish porridge for breakfast this morning and Arbroath smokies, which are smoked haddock, for dinner last night (apparently these were a favourite of the late Queen Mother).

July 9, 2002 (0645 hours) - Arnstein, Ontario, Canada

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following represents about 45 minutes of continued observation from the dock at the lake front of my grandparent's cottage.

I woke early this morning.  It remains overcast following yesterday's rain and still.

I went down to the lake to sit. The water was perfectly still under the grey sky, giving it the appearance of obsidian.  The baritone croak of a bullfrog could be heard intermittently to my right.  All around a variety of songbirds chirped incessantly and discordantly, creating a cacophony of sound reminiscent of an orchestra tuning. To my left, a crow or raven cawed, but I could not see him.

Off to the right, two loons have just come around the large rock that juts out from the shore and has so oft served as a fishing point in years past.  They swim gracefully and silently along, not disturbing the peacefulness of the morning with their haunting call.  One dives underwater in search of food while the other stands watch.  He (or she) remains submerged for a full minute with each dive and emerges several metres away from his original locations (loons swim far better than they fly).  They are directly in front of me now.

On the far shore of the lake, a light fog presses down on the treetops.  To the right, almost midway between the fishing rock and the far shore, rests a small island - an island that I swam or paddled to many times as a child and was the source of whimsical adventure and exploration.  The island is mostly rock with some evergreens whose branches always point to my left (the east), reflecting the prevailing direction of the wind over decades.  It and the far south shore are reflected perfectly in the smooth, still, water.

The bullfrog continues to croak and the birds continue to chirp as the second loon starts making dives.  They are now off to my left; the original diver is still close to my shore, the second loon some distance away and now closer to the far shore. 

The trees behind me are still wet from yesterday's rain and occasionally I hear the soft landing of raindrops that drip from their leaves.

The loons have rejoined each other way off to my left and two-thirds of the way toward the far shore.  The drops continue to patter from the trees behind me.  The bullfrog still announces his presence to my left and the crow or raven still caws to my right.  The birds are fewer now, singing one at a time like soloists in a jazz improv session.

As I gaze across the perfectly still lake and look up into the grey morning sky, I hear for the first time this morning the four note song of the bird known colloquially as the, "O Canada," bird.

It is morning on Seagull Lake, and I am at peace.

Seagull Lake at dawn with island in the distance and fishing rock on the right

                                  

July 5, 2002 - Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

A long, but fun, day.  We left Hanover (Maryland) at 8.15 AM and checked into our hotel at 6 PM - not bad considering we stopped for gas twice, stopped for lunch (Fry's Turkey Ranch in Steam Valley, PA - I hadn't been there in years, but still had my usual turkey BBQ sandwich) and had slow crossings at the border and at the Grand Island bridge.  We split the driving - I drove as far as the Turkey Ranch and Lisa drove the rest of the way.  It's been a long time since I have come to the Falls by car, but it was nice to pass some of the old familiar places (the baseball card shop is still there in Williamsport, PA!).

After checking into our hotel, we went for our free dinner at TGIFriday's (included with our two day package) and then strolled down Clifton Hill to the Falls.

Niagara Falls never ceases to inspire wonder.  Its appearance is breathtaking and its power is mighty.  We stopped walking about midway between Clifton Hill and the Horseshoe Falls, having a good view of it and the American Falls.  They sky was clear.  The sun was low in the west, but still bright.  There was a gentle breeze and closer to the Horseshoe Falls you could feel the cool mist off the falls.  The temperature was a moderate 70 degrees F - a far cry from the 100 degree temperatures we had in Baltimore yesterday.  Admiring the view from the midway point, I tuned out the lights and the buildings behind me and focused on the flowing water with its gentle roar, the clear blue sky, and the gulls flying in the gorge.  I imagined the scene centuries ago when the Falls were first seen by those trappers and voyageurs exploring the rugged and untamed North American continent.  What awe it must have inspired then.

We walked down to the brink and watched, mesmerized, as gallons and gallons of water whisked by and over the edge.  Then we walked up past the Falls toward the power plant. 

It grew dark as we walked back again and we picked a spot between the two Falls to stop.  A band played behind us and we watched as lights were shone on the Falls - red, blue, purple, green, and yellow in alternating patterns.  I am so glad Lisa and I chose to make this trip (to Arnstein Ontario) by car and stop at the Falls.  The only time Lisa had been here before was for Jack's (my great-grandfather, or more accurately  my great-grandmother's second husband) funeral last August and we were only here for a few hours.  She really seemed to enjoy hanging out at the Falls tonight, watching the lights.  We miss the Falls flying directly into North Bay...

After dark (10 PM) there was a brief, but impressive, fireworks display, which was a nice finale to the evening.  Then we trudged, exhausted, back to our hotel after a long day!

Honeymoon in Baltimore (Baltimore, County Cork, Ireland - September 2000)

Unfortunately, I must rely on memory alone as the first tale I must tell from our first major trip together is from our honeymoon in Ireland before I started keeping the journal.

We were living in Charlottesville, Virginia at the time but our wedding was in Baltimore, Maryland (where we now both live and work) in the chapel of our alma mater, Loyola College (now Loyola University in Maryland).  We had picked Ireland as a honeymoon destination and decided no trip to Ireland for these two Baltimoreans could be complete without a trip to our city's namesake - Baltimore in County Cork (to this day, I am not sure why George Calvert took the name Lord Baltimore when he was elevated to the peerage, but it does not seem in any way related to the town of Baltimore as Calvert's Baltimore Manor was in County Longsford).  Baltimore is an anglicized contraction of the Gaelic Baile an Thi Mhoir (which apparently means town with the big house) and the Irish still pronounce it that way, with three distinct syllables, so that it sounds like Baal-Tee-Moor.

This was my first trip overseas, having only been out of the country to Canada previously.  Neither of us wanted to try driving on the opposite side of the road, so we planned our itinerary to rely on trains and buses.  We flew to Dublin on the 17th of September and arrived early in the morning on the 18th.  After a few days in Dublin we took the train to Waterford, stopping first for an afternoon in Kilkenny.  After two days in Waterford, we took a bus to Cork where he planned to base ourselves for the remainder of the trip.  In addition to exploring Cork City, Cork was a convenient location for bus day trips to Blarney Castle, the Ring of Kerry, and, yes, to Baltimore.

The bus station in Cork was near our hotel and I had figured out from the reading the literature I had picked up at the bus station that you could take the bus from Cork to Skibbereen and then transfer from there to a bus to Baltimore.  The bus back to Skibbereen got their in time to transfer to a bus back to Cork, so we could go visit for the day without needing to book any other lodging than our hotel in Cork.

So, our day started with a bus ride to Skibbereen, a tiny town in west Cork.  Not much to do or see there, but there was, of course, a Public House (pub), which actually doubled as the towns bus station.  After being dropped off, we waited for the bus to Baltimore.  And we waited, and waited, and waited, but no bus ever came.  After the bus became quite overdue, we went in to the bus station/pub to inquire about the bus to Baltimore only to learn that the connecting route to Baltimore was seasonal, for the summer only, and stopped running the previous weekend!  The day seemed ruined as our bus back to Cork wasn't until 6 PM and there really was nothing to do or see in Skibbereen (although, in retrospect, perhaps an afternoon of pints with locals might have been fun).  The barman volunteered that he could get us a taxi to Baltimore and, not knowing what else to do, we readily agreed.

Taxi's in Ireland are all hacks, private individuals using their own cars, rather than organized companies of drivers.  If you have never taken a cab ride in Ireland, I would highly recommend doing so as it is generally a delightful experience (it was the cab driver that took us to the Waterford Crystal factory a few days earlier that clued us in to the delightful historical walking tour of Waterford we took).  Our driver to Baltimore was a nice young lad named Damien, who seemed to be in his late teens or early twenties.  He did want to know why two American tourists wanted to see Baltimore County Cork and we told him we were from Baltimore, Maryland and he found that amusing.  He agreed to pick us up at 5 PM so that we could catch the bus from Skibbereen back to Cork City.

Baltimore County Cork is a small fishing village that made Skibbereen look like a metropolis.  Arriving around lunch time, we stopped in a small restaurant where I had a crab salad sandwich (in the passage of time, I have forgotten what Lisa had) - hey, when in Baltimore, eat crab, right?  After lunch we walked down to the harbour, where a small gift shop had a postcard of Baltimore, Maryland on display with the postcards of Baltimore, County Cork!  There is a ferry you can take from Baltimore to Sherkin Island.  We did ride the boat out and back, but with our time constraint, we really couldn't explore the island and basically just paid a few Irish pounds (this was before the euro) for the boat ride.

Upon our return from Sherkin Island, we decided to have a pint in Bushe's pub while waiting for Damien to return to pick us up.  Bushe's is the epicenter of Baltimore social life (in fact, sitting at the outdoor tables at Bushe's and having a pint is such a thing that there is a Facebook group devoted to it).  It was drizzly when we returned (it was Ireland, after all) and we sat inside.  Sitting inside Bushe's we realized that we were not the first Maryland Baltimoreans who had made this pilgrimage as some of the decor inside included Orioles' hats hanging from the walls and rafters that previous patrons had left.

As we were finishing our pints, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and Bushe's started to fill up.  Not only did the pub get busy, but people started congregating outside in the square in front of Bushe's and a band started playing traditional Irish music.  Soon, it seemed, the whole town had gathered in the square and indeed it had, for of all days we arrived in Baltimore County Cork on the day the town was officially dedicating the new Millenium sundial in the square (pictured below just on the right at the top of the stairs, Bushe's is the white building on the left)!

After the grand celebration, Damien picked us up and we made our way back to Cork City after a fun and interesting excursion to that other Baltimore...