Mediterranean Cruise I

Kate and I are just back from a Mediterranean cruise on the Star Princess. The photo is Kate at Katakolon -- a gateway port to Olympia (which we did not visit) in Greece.

We left Rome (actually the port of Civitavecchia) in early November with stops in Naples, Santorini, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Mykonos, Athens, Katakolon, Corfu, Dubrovnik and finally Venice. Nights were spent travelling between ports, days were spent touring -- each day was sort of a "20 minute Louvre" where you dash in and try to see it all. We did a couple of organized tours but most ports we explored on our own. We have a lot of photos to organize.

The weather held for us. We had sunny days and no rain. The day in Mykonos was very windy. We had hoped to go swimming there but it was far too windy for us. Although I did some a couple of brave souls in the water.

We were well outside the tourist season. On Santorini and Mykonos most of the restaurants were closed. But we were surprised how busy things were. It must be really crazy during the heights of tourist season. I have a sense that travelling in late September through early October would be a good time to visit the islands. Perhaps on our next trip.

See also Photo Album of Mediterranean Cruise.

England

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In November of 2011 were were in England for a few days. Kate had a meeting in London so we arranged some holiday time around it. We took a train from Pancras Station and visited with our "No. 1 Son" Christopher in Nottingham where he's a student and I tramped around the city of London while Kate was at her meetings. After England we went on a Mediterranean Cruise of the Eastern end.

Nottingham is a pretty old town with canals and locks from the industrial age. Christopher took us to a couple of very old hotels. The "Trip to Jerusalem" (1189 AD) at the foot of the castle is supposed to be the oldest still standing inn in England but then we bumped into another, The "Bell Inn" that made a similar claim *(oldest in Nottingham, but isn't the other one in Nottingham as well?). Nottingham is of course famous for Robin Hood, Maid Marion and all that.

In London we stayed in Bloomsbury, not far from the British Museum which we both enjoyed. The Parthenon Marbles are found there and are an irritant between Britain and Greece. On the one hand the British say they've saved them, on the other hand the Greeks say they were looted. Our hotel was right across the street from Tavistock Square, there's a statue of Ghandi there.

I tramped around the city quite a bit. Kate's meetings were near Trafalgar Square and I walked from there down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Lots of pomp and circumstance there. Then to see the horse palace, changing of the guards and a walk along Whitehall to Big Ben and Westminster Palace.

Here's a photo album if you're interested.

Fred Picnic

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Another Fred Eaglesmith Charity Picnic at the Springwater Conservation Area near Aylmer. Good weather, good music, good fun.

The Rizdales, from London, played this year.

Fred's band, with the fabulous Ginn Sisters continues to evolve with new players on bass, mandolin and electric guitar.

Rizdales

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The Rizdales performed at the Fred Eaglesmith Charity Picnic. The album under the photo captures some of their performance.

Home County

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Photos from the Home County Folk Festival held in Victoria Park London, Ontario. Beautiful weather to enjoy work shops and hear some new music.

I was most impressed with the very young Ariana Gillis pictured at left. Her dad performed with her.

Pinery & Grand Bend

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My friend Charles wanted to take a photo trip out to the lakeside -- we visited Grand Bend and the Pinery Provincial Park.

Kate and I often go to Grand Bend, I've only been to the Pinery a few times.

Charles took pictures with his 35mm film camera. Today he's travelling with a well used Olympus; he's usually on Nikon cameras. He'll never go digital.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

 
(1 Apr 2011, Exmouth WA) This termite mound greets you as you arrive in Exmouth. Termite mounds are as common as dirt -- and are made of dirt. They're very big and hard as concrete. This one, which stands about 6-8 ft high, has been decorated. There was an area we drove through near Port Hedland where a great many mounds had been decorated with hard hats -- quite funny to see. I'm told that termite mounds, like icebergs, are an indication of a much larger structure under ground.

At our hotel we discover that termites are trying to build mounds all over the building. The laundry door was open and several were started on the walls -- hard red dirt structures with grubs inside. I discover this when I try to break one off the wall. You'd almost need a hammer and chisel. They're all over the place and this really creeped me out, you had a feeling that if you stood still too long one would start building on you!

One good thing about termites -- genuine didgeridoo's (the native musical instrument) are made from live trees that have been hollowed out by termites. I suppose they're edible too but I'm not going there.

The weather, having recently seen some cyclones, meant that the country side was very lush. That meant that locusts where everywhere feeding on the lush growth. The emu like that I'm sure -- they'd eat them! In Coral Bay the locusts had stripped the palm trees. One of the divers we met told us about a plague of "desert frogs" they'd had recently. Apparently the frogs burrow into river bottoms when the weather turns dry and will appear years later when the rain comes. After the recent rains a ton of frogs appeared.