Croatia (3)

On Monday afternoon, I took a boat to Dubrovnik, about an hour by water away. It was a gorgeous, warm day; here are some photos taken on and from the boat:

Cavtat from the water


On the boat


Dubrovnik Harbor

The old town of Dubrovnik is small and is surrounded by a high city wall, about 2 kilometers total circumference, and I bought a ticket and took a walk around the top. Other than the initial climb up the steps it isn't too taxing, but I felt slightly queasy the whole time due to the height. Still the views were outstanding and I can enjoy them now that I am not actually on top of the wall!

Rooftops of the old town


View from the wall of the Fortress Lovrijenac


Another view from higher up the wall


The wall and the deep blue sea

After descending from the walk around the town, I took some photos of the narrow streets and some of the more interesting buildings.

There is still a lot of damage from the war - much of it being repaired currently, some still pretty much rubble. In the foreground is one of the many semi-feral cats that I saw in Dubrovnik - lots of them in Cavtat also. They look pretty healthy and well-fed, although the adults are much smaller than North American felines.

Big Onofrio's Fountain: built in 1448. This is what survives the 1667 earthquake that destroyed most of the city.

Detail of fountain

Church of St Blasius, built in 1715 to replace previous church, destroyed in earthquake.

One of the many narrow streets in the town.

Rector's Palace - this structure has been repaired many times following fires, earthquakes, wars, etc. and is considered to be one of the finest secular structures in the Adriatic region.

View of the city wall from the water as I left Dubrovnik.


One of the small islands where the boat stopped to collect passengers on the way back to Cavtat.


The gate leading to our apartment terrace as I arrived home at the end of the day.

Sea Walk

We had another completely cloudless day today, so Sarah and I walked (well, she scootered) on the sea walk path around Stanley Park. I brought a camera and these are some of the better pictures.

Croatia (2)

This has been such a great trip so far! The conference has been great - lots of speakers who are discussing my area of research. I had been feeling during the week before the trip that perhaps it was a mistake to go to Croatia in the middle of a school term when I am so busy - and I felt guilty about leaving my family for 8 days! I have to say though that this has been a really good experience and I am glad I came (and grateful to even have had the opportunity). I LOVE that I will have a career that requires that I travel to places I wish to go anyway! (Warning to my family: my research may involve comparisons with Western and Northern European systems of child welfare: I may NEED to spend time in Scandinavia, France, Belgium and Germany.) Seriously though, European travel is a great pleasure and I can see that I will want to continue to visit fairly regularly, even when I take into consideration the expense and the unpleasantness of traveling so far by airplane.

I think I next want to visit Poland- Krakow is supposed to be fabulous, I would like to see some of the Holocaust-related historical sites, and I have done some internet research indicating that the Margolias clan originates from Bialystock, Poland (see Dad, that is why you like Bialys so much!) and it would be interesting to visit this area. My colleague, Neringa, is from Lithuania and she tells me that Bialystock is near (50km) to her home.

I made my presentation today and I think it was well received. I even dressed up in a suit and heels, even though this did not appeal given the warm weather and the 99 (and yes, I counted) steps up to the hotel where the conference is located. Nothing is quite as delightful as starting one's morning huffing and puffing (and sweating and swearing) up the bloody steps in a black suit and heels on a hot day.

Croatia is lovely, even the little bit I have seen so far - tomorrow afternoon, I will spend time in Dubrovnik (I am in Cavtat, the original settlement in this area), and on Tuesday, if the scheduling works out, I will take a bus to Mostar, in Bosnia Herzegovina and briefly dip into another culture there. Then, I leave early Wednesday morning for my trip home to Canada.

In between conference events, Neringa (a very amiable and compatible tavel companion - lucky me!) and I have been enjoying the fine weather and long late-evening dinners (an advantage of travelling without the child), seated outside on the promenade beside the harbourfront, with lots of homemade Croatian wine - such an indulgence! (I am fairly tipsy as I type this post, so forgive, please, my wordiness and occasional misspellings)

Tonight we had a appetizer of fish pate and anchovies with toast and then I had a lobster salad, prepared with a variety of fruit, for dinner. Tomorrow night there is a dinner of traditional Croatian foods at the conference hotel and it should be fun to spend time with the other folks attending. Representative from 36 countries and all of the continents - save Antartica - have come to the conference and it is a lot of fun to meet and talk with such a diverse group.

In this area of the southern Adriatic, the cuisine is Dalmatian and there is a lot of seafood. The waters here are beautiful - crystal clear and unpolluted - I hear that the sea temperature is still warm and am planning a swim tomorrow - though I am told to be wary of sea urchins underfoot as I enter the water. At least you can see them given the clarity of the water.

Here are some pics:

The Cavtat Harbor - fort in the background, water polo court in the foreground.

Cavtat harbour - church and bell tower in background.


Cavtat and her habour as seen from terrace of Hotel Croatia.


Margo's lunch of Octopus salad and local beer.


Margo, just after presentation.

Well, that's it for this evening - tomorrow, pics of Dubrovnic including views from the city walls.

Croatia!

I arrived in Cavtat, Croatia yesterday afternoon, after a great visit in the UK with my social work friends. (Some of the things I enjoyed revisiting in the UK: BBC news, reading The Guardian over breakfast, a couple of pints of Guinness, 2 full English breakfasts, a fish & chips dinner with mushy peas, a trip to Sainsbury's, Cornish pasty with steak and potatoes, roundabouts, the drive through Essex with my former manager, Andy, laughing a LOT with my old friends.)

Had an uneventful flight from London-Gatwick, and an arrival so easy it was nothing short of miraculous. Despite a delayed take-off, we arrived 5 minutes early. I was seated directly behind the first class section, so got off the plane pretty quickly. Ducked into the loo on the way to immigration which I cleared in, literally, 1 minute. Then on the baggage carousel- right in front of me where my bag was the first off the ramp. Directly adjacent to the baggage carousel were all of the taxi drivers, including mine, holding a sign with my name on it. She pulled the car around, loaded my bag and I arrived at the front door of the apartment 20 minutes after the plane had landed. Brilliant!

Our host, Andrusko, met me at the gate and brought me up to the apartment, then sat me down at the kitchen table and poured a glass of a homemade herbal liqueur made by a friend of his

Yesterday was the first rain in this area for 4 months - I suppose it followed me from Canada. And, it was not just rain, but a real deluge, flooding the stone sidewalks and drenching me within a few minute's walk - even with an umbrella. I gave up on sightseeing and took refuge at the restaurant that adjoins the apartment property and had an early dinner. It was really delicious: local cheese and brown bread followed by squid stuffed with Dalmation ham and smoked cheese, served with boiled potatoes, sauteed spinach and rice. Oh, and some beer too. By chance, I met two people from the states who are attending the same conference, and we were then joined by two of the conference organizers - one of them a Brit living in Australia and the other a Bosnian also living in Australia. It seemed only polite to have another small beer... and then I went back to the apartment and ended up sleeping early and soundly.

By early evening there was strong wind, which lasted through this morning, and thunder and lightning for an hour or so. Fortunately, the sun is now out and even with the wind still blowing a bit, the temperature is about 65, so it is nice out. The forecast is for sun and low-70's for the remainder of my week.

This morning I got up reasonably early and found a "mini-market" which has a butcher and veg counter and fresh bread, along with shelves of the usual staples. I brought a grocery bag home filled with bread, cheese, Dalmation ham, liver paste, yogurt, grapes, bananas and bell peppers, coffee, orange juice and milk. Tonight, I think I'll pick up some Croatian brandy to enjoy on the terrace once my colleague, Neringa arrives later today. Also picked up a walnut pastry at a bakery which is likely to see a lot of me this week.

The apartment is lovely. Below are views of my bedroom , the kitchen and the view from the balcony in my room. More to come later...

Victoria

Earlier this week I returned from three days of rest and recreation in Victoria. I felt like a visit was overdue - it's been a few years since we last visited, and I especially wanted to see it since our time in England as it's one of the most English cities in North America.

Getting there was half the fun. I treated myself to a seaplane flight on Harbour Air. Driving with the ferry must take a few hours; catching a charter bus is three and a half hours downtown-to-downtown. The seaplane, from harbour to harbour, is just 35 minutes. I don't like flying airlines - there's the security theater, the long queues, and it's pretty much completely unpleasant. This was much nicer: a fast and painless checkin, and a more visceral ride - you get more of the feeling of flying, though I did find myself gripping my seat during takeoff and in occasional turbulence. It was more expensive than the bus of course, but otherwise-unattainable views like this made it worth the cost to me. It was a visual feast, and I was grinning like an idiot the whole flight.



Our approach into Victoria's Inner Harbour was more steep than I'd expected. Look at how much water can be seen over the nose! But of course it was perfectly safe.



I couldn't have asked for better weather. The end of September is like that here: even though the leaves are changing colour, the temperatures are still summery, and the lower sun is more intense. (Days after my return it's all changed; I wore a winter coat to work today.) And Victoria was her lovely self; here's a view of some of the harbour, including the Empress Hotel and the Parliament building.



After an early dinner on Sunday evening I was able to witness the rush of transport to leave the harbour. For a while, this seaplane was racing the Victoria Clipper hydrojet, but the seaplane ultimately had to wait. But there was a third contestant - the cruise ship was slowly backing up as well; it was the last to leave as the others slipped behind it.



I spent my time doing just a few things: touring, enjoying craft beers, and reading. I'll write about the first two a bit.

I spent a few hours at the Royal BC Museum. With its well-executed exhibits, it's always worth a visit. The main exhibit was a travelling collection of artifacts from the British Museum in London, so perhaps some of the artifacts were ones I'd seen previously.

I hopped a bus out to the University of Victoria, strolled around, and got coffee. I saw the Royal London Wax Museum. And I also took time to wander the Parliament building.



But my biggest interest was (re)acquainting myself with Victoria's brewpubs. I think many of the tastiest beers in the province are to be found on Vancouver Island, and craft beer seems more plentiful here than any other BC city I know of.

The first pub I visited, the Bard and Banker, reminded me of one of my favourite London pubs, The Counting House. Both pubs were formerly banks, and this one wouldn't be out of place anywhere in the UK.



I had pints at Canoe, The Sticky Wicket and Spinnakers, the latter with a Slow Food menu and the boasting point of being one of two pubs laying claim to the title of Canada's First Brewpub. (The other is Granville Island in Vancouver.) A pint of cask ale at Spinnakers had a mouth taste that instantly brought me back to England: the warmer temperature, the consistency of the foam, the flavouring, even the pint glass with the bumpy rim were all the same, and I haven't had it quite like that since.

But for sheer flavour, my favourite was Swans. I tried two of their strong beers first, and ended up going back each day to get nothing more. Their double IPA was a knockout, but I especially enjoyed their Scotch ale (not to be confused with the weaker Scottish ale style). Hardly anyone brews them, and it was one of my favourite recipes when I homebrewed. I ended up bringing a bottle of each back; their beers are completely unavailable in Vancouver.



As the sun set on my second evening, I enjoyed another pint, and this is how I'd like to remember Victoria.

Outing

We're having a second summer, and today was particularly fine, without a cloud in the sky, so I brought the camera along as Sarah and I had an outing downtown and to Yaletown. These were some of the nicer pictures.


This clock is counting down to the 2010 Winter Olympics in February.








We spent sometime on the waterfront steps in Yaletown. The water is a bit too cold for swimming but bearable for standing in.

Whoa

This weekend I introduced Sarah to The Matrix. Even though it's one of my favourite films, I tried to avoid the Cool Dad Syndrome (where you spoil things by saying how Great They Are) by downplaying it and describing it as a mere action film.

But my efforts at daddy-daughter bonding were rewarded later in the weekend when she confronted me with a kung-fu pose and gave me the Morpheus/Neo "come and get it" fingers wave. I was so proud.