A Life, Lived

Travel Tuesdays - Thanksgiving in Sonoma

In 2014 Mom, my sister Rose, Paul and I travelled to Sonoma for a week around Thanksgiving. We flew into San Franscisco and after spending a few days there we drove north to the Russian River valley area. We rented a house in Guerneville and spent the week travelling around Sonoma. We visited an art preserve, wineries, wandered historic Sonoma, checked out the historic towns of the Russian River Valley and Fort Ross the old Russian Fort on the coast. We recreated a pic we took on our last evening in the area in 2004 on our final night - dinner at the famous Rivers End restaurant.

Travel Tuesday - Eglise Notre Dame du Mont Carmel

The large imposing Roman Catholic church of Notre Dame du Mont Carmel is a late Victorian Gothic brick structure situated by the sea in Mont Carmel, PEI. It is built in the classic "T" formation with two bell towers at the corners of the front of the building.

As the third Roman Catholic church constructed on this site since 1812, Notre Dame du Mont Carmel is significant as the spiritual home of many Acadian families in the Mont Carmel area of PEI.

It was built in 1898 from funds raised by the parishoners and the work was completed by many local artisans, including Anglophones who were not members of the parish. All of the estimated 450,000 bricks were made nearby at Frederick Strong's brickyard in Lower Bedeque.

The architect for the design was Rene P. Lemay, the son of Pamphile Lemay, who had translated Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's influential 1847 poem, "Evangeline", in 1865. The centennary of the building was celebrated in 1998.

West Point Lighthouse

The West Point Lighthouse is a 67' tall square tapered tower with distinctive black and white bands, or day marks, located on the south west tip of Prince Edward Island in the community of West Point overlooking the Northumberland Strait.

The West Point Lighthouse is valued for its age, construction method and for its associations with the marine history of the area, its importance to its community and its role as a tourist destination.

Construction of the West Point Lighthouse began in 1875 by contractors Mugridge and Company of Shediac, New Brunswick very likely to federal Department of Marine plans. This was the first lighthouse built in Prince Edward Island by the federal government following Confederation in 1873 and is therefore associated with the transfer of responsibility of navigational aids from colonial government to the federal Department of Marine. The lighthouse became operational in May 1876 with William "Lighthouse Willie" MacDonald as first keeper. MacDonald held the post until 1925 when he was succeeded by the only other person to serve as lighthouse keeper, Bennie MacIsaac, until the light's automation in 1963. West Point Lighthouse is the tallest square tapered tower on PEI and stands 67' 8" tall. The square tapered design is a departure from earlier lighthouses which were largely octagonal in design. Originally painted white with red bands, the red was changed to black in 1915 for greater visibility.

Travel Tuesdays - the Bottle Houses

Over 25 000 recycled bottles ingeniously cemented together to create the Bottle Houses, a must-see tourist attraction situated in Cap-Egmont, Prince Edward Island, Canada. They were built by Édouard T. Arsenault. He gave birth to these houses after having received a postcard of a glass castle from his daughter in 1979, an attraction she had visited on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

That same summer, he started collecting bottles from his community, mostly from a local restaurant, community dance halls, friends, relatives and neighbours.

He spent the winter in the basement of his home, cleaning bottles, removing labels and dreaming of his project. In the spring of 1980, at the age of 66, he began his construction, a mere hobby yet.

As his six-gabled structure was taking form, visitors started coming in. Impressed by his work, they encouraged him to continue and to advertise it as a tourist attraction. And so, in 1981, the first Bottle House was open to the public.

From 1980 to the spring of 1984, he cleverly cemented over 25,000 bottles of various shapes, sizes and colours, into three fantasy-like buildings.

The site offers a multitude of angles for the photographer to capture the wonder of what an individual built out of recycled bottles. It is also truly an inspirational spot for anyone who cares for the environment.

Welcome to PEI

We recently spent a week on PEI. Because of the car rental shortage we flew to Moncton, New Brunswick (where we could obtain a rental car) and made the two hour drive to PEI. After we had crossed the Confederation bridge we pulled over in Bordern-Carleton to take some pictures.

On the Road . . .

We are out of town for a week and a bit enjoying Canada's only island province. There will be plenty of PEI pics over the coming months.

Travel Tuesdays - Bermuda

Six years ago today we woke up in Bermuda after cruising from New York City.

Travel Tuesday - Sant'Antimo

The Abbey of Sant’Antimo, a former Benedictine monastery is situated in a picture-perfect setting just about 10 km south of Montalcino, just below the medieval hamlet of Castelnuovo dell'Abate.

It’s one of the most important examples of monastic architecture of the 13th century and by far the most important Romanesque building in southern Tuscany. The church was built around year 1100 and took the place of an older 9th century abbey. Only a few parts of the first abbey are left. It belonged to the Benedectines, and to the Guglielmite friars thereafter.

The Abbey was founded in the era of Charlemagne, and is a prestigious example of the meeting between French and Lombard Romanesque architecture. It was then enlarged in the 12th century.

We were lucky to visit it on our last trip to Italy.

Bagno Vignoni

Bagno Vignoni is very unique: nowhere else in Italy will you find its main central square has a pool filled with hot springs water. 49 meters long and 29 meters wide, the Renaissance-era piazza is built directly over the original source of hot springs as enjoyed by the Romans.

The Etruscans and Romans loved hot springs not just for keeping clean, but for their medical properties. Since the 9th century, the springs here and in Bagni San Filippo, located a bit further south at the foot of the Monte Amiata, have been mentioned in old travel journals of abbots and others making their pilgrimage down to Rome (and many on to Jerusalem). Bagno Vignoni is, in fact, just a few minutes off the Via Francigena, one of the most important travel routes taken by pilgrims from England down to Rome and to the Holy Land. Famous historical figures, including Pope Pius II, Catherine of Siena and Lorenzo the Magnificent, enjoyed the hot springs at Bagno Vignoni on a regular basis.

The hot springs in Bagno Vignoni have always allowed water to flow even during the warm summer months, thus several water mills were constructed along the Orcia river over the centuries. These ancient mills, along with a complex system of water canals and gorges today constitute the Parco dei Mulini, or Park of the Mills, created in the 1990s.

 

 

Travel Tuesdays - Verona

My facebook memories remind me that 8 years ago we loaded up our rental car in Montisi and drove to Verona. Verona was a new spot to explore. Even thought it was super hot we still managed to get out and see the sites.