Ah Montreal

This trip was the best. We took in The Montreal Botanical Gardens and I was totally blown away. The feature for the next month is in the Chinese garden and it will feature the Lights Festival. And what a sight to behold. These aren't your ordinary garden Chinese lanterns, with some very large and look like a scene such as a fishing boat or row boat with a rowing crew. I'd definitely go back to the garden for other festivals. The Japanese garden is worth seeing too.

One of the areas of Montreal that I found fascinating was Outremont. Some of the streets are very pleasant for walking with a neighbourhood park on every other street. Very charming, although a bit pricey for living in.

I'm looking forward to another return to Montreal in the not too distant future.

This is a first

I have never done this before, but, what the heck, why not? Joe and I are going to Montreal for a second time this year. I have one more week vacation this year and decided to take in Montreal once more. We plan on visiting the neighborhood markets and the botanical gardens. We'll also just hang out on some of the streets of St. Denis and St. Laurent.

Again this time, we will take the Via Rail train. It is so comfortable and relaxing to let the train do all of the driving. We arrived relaxed and ready for a day on the city. We'll take the early train this time to maximize our stay. The best site for information on Montreal is Tourism Montreal.

I will not say if this is the last trip this year to Montreal. I always wanted to see Montreal in the winter.

Off to Montreal

In one week's time, we will be off to Montreal. This will make 5 years in a row that we have gone to this fun city.

This year we are taking in part of the 'Just for Laughs' festival. We have a live mike format with the 'best of the fest' performing at Comedyworks. Another venue is the 'Twins Weekend.' We haven't entered the contest yet but may once we arrive.

Some other events that we may take in are:

• International Fireworks Competition
• Sinatra sings Sinatra - Caberet du Casino de Montreal
• The Gay Body - contemporary art

We'll do things different this time though. We will nap in the daytime and then party at night.

Looking forward to it.

It's been 3 weeks

It's been three weeks since we returned for Europe. My, how time flies. I have posted many of the photos from our trip to Europe on Flickr.com. I am a bit disappointed with some of the results from the photo lab. I don't know exactly what happened. It could be bad chemical mix or the film got damaged going or coming from Europe. But they turned out a bit on the dark side and have a purple tinge.
Here is the link to my photos on Flickr.

We're Back

It's been a week since we arrived back home. I have been catching up on some my daily routines. The trip was exceptional and very adventurous. We spent a week in Istanbul and I was completely blown away by it's charm and beauty. We met some very friendly Turks in our hotel and spent some evening talking and smoking a water pipe with them. At first, I was taken back by the number of people on the streets but soon got used to the hustle and bustle of this city.

We then spent two weeks in Hungary visiting places like Gyor, Vesprem and Debrecen. Our hosts in Budapest were very helpful and accommodating.

I am anxiously awaiting the development of the 17 roles of slide film and will be posting several of my favourites here in the next week or so.

Even after this adventure, it is still nice to come home to the routine.

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.