Countdown

It is now 3 weeks today that we arrive in Istanbul. Joe is drawing up an itinerary for our complete three week stay in Europe. We have a tourist book complete with all the sites of Istanbul. It includes a few walking tours that we are likely to do as well as several must see sites. Those sites include:
Blue Mosque
Basilica Cistern
Spice Bazaar
Topkapi Palace
Istanbul Museum (Archaeolgical)
The Bosphorus
Princes' Islands
Istiklal Caddesi and more

We hope to take them all in as well as others.

Istanbul Hotel

We have picked and reserved our hotel in Istanbul. It's called the Petrol Hotel Palace and is located very close to Sultanhamet Mosque. We plan to stay all 7 days and 7 nights at this hotel. The location is great because most of the tourist sites are within easy walking distance. It is also located close to a tram system.

We are anxiously waiting for our trip to begin. It's only 4 weeks today today that we have arrived and spending our first day in Istanbul.

The Waiting Game

It's down to the wire. We have our airline tickets and accommodation in both Turkey and Hungary arranged.

We are now looking over some of the guide books and making some final details as to where we want to go and what we want to see.

Some interesting sights for travel are:

• Turkey welcome you
  
• Budapest
• Istanbul
• Trip advisor

I have decided to use my Minolta for this trip. So I will scan some pictures and post here for your enjoyment.

Istanbul and Budapest, here we come

Well we've pretty well decided to take in Istanbul despite the recent unrest over the images of Mohammed. We think that by the time we arrive it will have died down. We're planning on getting all of our hotels and airline tickets on line for the first time.

Digital vs. analog:

I really think it is time to change the format for taking photographs on this trip. I still have a very good SLR camera but even that make (Minolta) is getting out of the camera business totally. The camera I have my eye on is the Nikon D70s. It is a digital SLR camera which still gives me the benefit of adjusting aperture and speed.

Reflections

In the next 14 months, I will have to publish and hope that it remains on the site, information and photos that I have accumulated over the last 10 years. I want to put as much on line as possible.

I just received a few pictures of transit staff from 1959. These are invaluable for telling a story with a picture. The last one I received shows bus operators from the late 50's in their uniform of the day. They were very much in keeping with the military style that was popular in that era. Our uniforms today are much more casual.

If you're interested, here is the link: CAW Local 4304
Then go to the photos page.

On second thought

We are now looking at the situation in Turkey very closely due to 3 deaths because of H5N1 strain. It is too soon to cancel the trip entirely but we may have to take a few weeks to see what happens. I hope it is just a blip on the map of this virus but time will tell.

I went to see Brokeback Mountain yesterday afternoon and really enjoyed this same sex love story. The theatre had a mix of gay and heterosexual couples and groups. The two main actors were very good with their protrayals of two men who fall for each other during a sheep herding stint.

Tis' the season

Well, here we are again. The end of another year. I am turning 57 years of age in May. By then, I hope to have arrived in Budapest for the second of our three weeks in Europe. The first week will be spent in Istanbul Turkey.

I have already looked into a couple B and B's in both Budapest and Istanbul and am looking a booking our flights on line. That will the first time. Normally, I have used a travel agent. This time because I am familiar with the internet, I have some trust with transactions over the net.

Here is one place in Istanbul that we are planning on staying. A bit on the expensive side but it looks charming. The Sarnic Hotel

I have been going through my collection of slides and came across one from the late 80's that I kind of like.

A couple more

Just to get a better feel of the house. Here a couple more pics. The second picture is from the kitchen side of the glass block wall.

It's done

Here are a couple of photos of the finished product. The living room and the hall are the most restored rooms now in the house. These photos were taken by Joe with a limited pixel digital camera. They are not the best quality.

House and Home

Well, it's finally finished. The renovation and restoration of our home in the country is completed.

I spent most of yesterday just making myself at home with the new surroundings. I bought a couple of items for the living room including a ottoman and a candle holder. I'm trying to use the glass block wall as the main feature and then duplicating and mimicing it in other areas. I bought a carpet called blocks along with two scatter rugs with the same design. They enhance the wall of glass very well. I am also introducing some curves and circles into the room to soften the sharp corners of the glass blocks. The ottoman is one such item.

I'm convinced that with enough money anyone can design and furnish a room.

October 2005

Here it is, October, already.
The days are shortening rapidly.
The fall colours are about to burst.

I have been renovating and restoring my country home. It was built around 1871 and is now in need of some upgrading. I have changed most of the windows and actually reduced the size of one. The house already feels warmer. The biggest project was to put in a glass block wall which enhances the western sky. Just finished the sanding and refinishing of the pine plank flooring in the living and hall.

Surgery

After surgery on Tuesday, I am resting at home for several days. Then I start one weeks holiday where my plan is to go to Montreal for another visit.

Montreal

Warren, Stacia, Joe and I just returned from 3 days of fun in Montreal. We visited the Jazz Festival several times during the weekend and also went to a concert at Place De Arts where we saw the Dave Holland Band. The band consisted of 13 members including 9 piece brass, xylophone, bass and drummer. Although I am not a jazz fan, I appreciated the live jazz of the band. We also took in the Montreal Arts Festival where I bought a oil painting called 'Rue LaSalle' by Raymond Savage. I will be publishing some pictures in the near future from this trip.

Warren and Stacia visit in June 2005. We had a great time in the back yard on very warm and breazy day. They pose in front of one of our perennial beds. 

We've got it

Now that we have the satelite dish I would like to say that I am ready to watch many cultures, news, sports, movies etc. From what I have seen so far, it has many European as well as African, Middle East and Asian stations. To my surprise the satelite is actually above USA and is a relay. So far, I have really only spent time watching Euro News, which is a great alternative to western news stations.

Satelite Dish

A satelite dish would be good to watch the news coverage of Europe. I have found an installer for such a satelite here. I think that it would be beneficial to get the news from their prospective and will enable my partner to keep up on his mother tongue (Hungarian).

Another waterway, more typical buildings and some leaning. This city is truly beautiful and charming. It is a must-see.

The Herrongract Canal with many typical buildings. One of the buildings is leaning noticibly in front of a church tower. There are many examples of buildings leaning but still livable in Amsterdam. The city is built on fill below sea level and the water is controlled by dams.

This is our B & B called Sunhead of 1617. The building was built in 1617 in the traditional dutch style. Our room was on the upper level and had a ceiling that extended to top window of the building. The breakfast here was exceptional with fresh fruit, cereal and on one morning scrambled eggs and a fruit parfait.

Sunhead of 1617

Amsterdam

The final leg of our travel in 2004 was a short flight from Budapest to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We spent 3 days in a B & B on the Herongract Canal near Dam's Square. This wasn't my first visit to Amsterdam. I was there in 1990 with Randy, another brother and his wife, Brenda. This city is best viewed with one of the canal boats for hire.

My trip this time was marred by a bout of a flu that I got on my last day in Budapest. However, after a day I recovered to the point that I could at least enjoy 2 days there.

I only took about a dozen photos from Amsterdam and will show you some of the better ones here.