Aboard Regent Again

A Different View of Monaco

We boarded the Regent Seven Seas Mariner at Rome's port on November 22, headed for Ft. Lauderdale with stops in Monaco, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Funchal.  As always, Regent put its best foot forward with excellent food, friendly people, a Thanksgiving Day parade (no kidding), and plenty of wine.

In Port in Malaga, Spain

In Malaga, we wandered around town after visiting the local market, and found a way to walk back to the ship instead of taking the bus.  A lovely walk through the town's park and along the beach.

Also captured on the way back to the ship...the local beach patrol enjoying siesta.

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on December 4 and spent a few days in Stuart, Florida with our friends Steve and Angie before heading home on a fun-filled Southwest Airlines flight.  So far, the weather in Naperville this winter has been unusual.  Not much snow, and temperatures warmer than normal.  If it just holds up until we leave for the winter in Nice on January 1, we'll be happy!

Inside the Pantheon, Rome

A quick video tour of the Pantheon in Rome!

Rome

When we got back to Rome, we checked into a great little hotel on the Via Nazionale called the Hotel Cortina.  It was one flight up, and the street below offered plenty of shopping, restaurants, and entertainment.  Great little find, and the price was right, for Rome.

Since we hadn't been in Rome for a number of years, we spent the next three days hitting the high points and checking out some areas that we had missed before, like the Circus Maximus.  We ate at some fantastic restaurants that were reasonably priced, and we returned to La Vecchia Conca, a restaurant that we frequented when we were there last, about 12 years ago.  It's still operated by the same family and the food was just as good as we remembered.

The Monte Pincio Park.  We call it "no-nose" park, since vandals seem to like to knock the noses off the statues.  The city replaces the noses, and the vandals get 'em again.

Piazza del Popolo from No-Nose Park

Castel Sant' Angelo near the Vatican

St. Peter's Basilica

A light moment inside St. Peter's. 

The Roman Forum ruins, with the Colosseo in the background.

For our last night in rome, the cruise line put us up at the Hotel Parco dei Principi, which was a very nice 5-star property with a spa.  It was 'way nicer than anyplace we'd pay to stay...they fed us a nice breakfast the next morning and we boarded the coach for the hour-and-a-half drive to Civitavecchia and our boat.

Where's Bulgaria?

We were amazed at how many people have asked us where Bulgaria is.  If you just say "Sofia", they nod knowingly, though.  Uh huh.  Anyway, we know where it is:  it's at the end of an Air Bulgaria flight from Rome.  We visited Jeff, Sherry, and the gang for a few days, and toured the local area.  Bulgaria was a communist bloc country and its architecture is a mix of the pre-, the post-, and the new.   Pictured above is the central cathedral, named for Alexander Nevsky, a Russian prince.  The building dates to the late 1800's.

 

The historic city center has beautiful buildings and parks, and the different influences are seen everywhere.  Above, the Russian Church sparkles in the sunshine.

This good-looking guy guards the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Bulgaria has a lot of monasteries.  About two hours south of Sofia, and up in the mountains, is the most beautiful monastery, Rila. We drove up and spent quite a bit of time walking around the area and staring at the architecture and the monks.

Rila Monastery.  The mechanical clock in the central bell tower.

Beautiful frescoes (ancient graffitti) on the outside of the chapel in the courtyard

Monk's quarters as seen from the chapel

Jeff, Sherry, Leo, and Isaac. 

The gang at home



Three generations

After a great visit, and plenty of good food and Rakia (local liquor), we rubbed our St. Christopher medals and boarded the Air Bulgaria flight back to Rome. 



2011 ALMS Race Road America

We had planned a 2-1/2 day motorcycle trip to attend the four-hour American Le Mans Series race at Road America near Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and we wound up rearranging our itinerary and taking the Cube.  No problem...we stopped at the outlet mall to stock up on underwear at Jockey and chocolates at Ghirardelli.  This also gave us the opportunity to actually go out in the evening, so:  FISH FRY!  At The Villager in Sheboygan Falls!  Check out
http://www.thevillager.biz/welcome.htm

It was raining Saturday morning, so we took some time to explore Sheboygan by car.  That took about a half hour.  Then we were off to the track.  We've been to Road America before and it's a beautiful venue with lots of excellent viewing locations.  When we arrived, the Mazda support race was underway, so we walked over to the pit area as the race ended.  Caught some of the drivers just arriving at the garages.

The next activity was the ALMS drivers autograph session where we saw a number of notables, including Bobby Rahal (riding a Vespa), who had two cars in the race.  Next we walked the track to decide where we'd watch the race from.  Another of the support races got going and we took this picture over on the north side of the track.

We watched the race  from Turn 2, where this video was taken.

2011 ALMS Race Road America Lap 2

And the winner was...Old Number 6, the Muscle Milk Astin Martin powered Lola.

For more on the ALMS series, check out their website at  http://www.americanlemans.com/index.php

Early next morning, we were off for home with a stop in Milwaukee at our favorite breakfast restaurant, Andrea's.  The food is wonderful and plentiful and the prices are dirt cheap.  Somehow, we were able to pass the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha without stopping.  This was very difficult, as they've just recently opened the new Castle:  http://www.jsonline.com/business/117446483.html  

What an adventure, and we got home in time to watch the race rerun on TV!

In Loving Memory

Lillian Elsie Lobban Smith

Born

 October 6, 1910 at Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

At Rest

June 14, 2011 at Tucson, Arizona, USA

We'll miss you, Mom

Le Mans 2011

We went to the 24 Hours of Le Mans two years ago and enjoyed it so much, we vowed to go back.  This was a good year to go because Peugeot and Audi each had three new cars.  We were not disappointed.  The way this thing works is you meet up with the group at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and take a four-hour bus ride to the hotel in Tours, have dinner with the group that night, then depart for Le Mans after breakfast the next morning.  You hang around all day looking at stuff and enjoying the carnival atmosphere, then get to your seat for the 3:00 p.m. race start.  Click below to see the start, then move to our post Le Mans 2011 Part Deux for more!


Le Mans Start 2011

Le Mans 2011 Part Deux

Early in the race, Audi had a spectacular crash and lost one of their new cars.  Check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s21pMzcd7iM&feature=related

for video of the crash.  As evening approaches, you have to decide what you'll do:  stay all night or return to the hotel for a quick shower, quick sleep, quick breakfast and return to the track the next morning.  Of course we took the sissy route and opted for a change of clothes and coffee.  Before leaving at 11:00 p.m., we caught the following video. 

Le Mans At Night 2011

Shortly after we left, Audi had yet another spectacular crash which put the track under yellow for about three hours for repairs to the Armco.  Obviously, they lost their second new car.  At the end of the race, however, their remaining car and one of the Peugeots were only 20 seconds apart...after 24 hours!  Good news and more good news...Audi won the race.

The next day, we bussed back to Paris and spent the night, then flew to Barcelona the next day.  Another quick overnight and we were on our way back home.  That's a lot of dirty clothes!

Hiking in Holland and Other Assorted Ramblings

So here's the whole story:  we had planned to go to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.  Then we got talking to Steve about going to the F1 race in Monaco at the end of May.  That led to further conversation about flying to Barcelona, meeting Steve and Angie for the F1 race there, then going on to Monaco.  Of course, the problem was what to do for the almost two weeks between Monaco and Le Mans.  As always, our answer was "we'll come up with something". 

After spending weekends in Epen, Holland during previous Belgian Grand Prix, we knew that some good-looking trails were nearby and we had really wanted to hike around there.  Couldn't get a reservation at the Inn, so we called up our favorite all-knowing, all-seeing soothsayer, Steve.  He has connections.  And they worked.  We were in!

So what was supposed to be a 7-day trip to Le Mans turned into a month-long adventure that went from Barcelona to Nice, back to Barcelona, thence to Paris, Epen, Paris, Le Mans, Paris, and Barcelona.  Again.  Transportation was a combination of planes, vans, high-speed trains, low-speed trains, busses and a lot of walking.  Anyway, short videos of Barcelona and Monaco precede this posting, and Le Mans photos will follow.

Now, here are some highlights of Holland.  Thanks to Steve, we stayed at the Hotel Ons Krijtland (http://www.krijtland.nl/) near Epen.  The photo above was taken from one of the trails south of the hotel.  That's the hotel in the distance.  It's outside of town, and there isn't much nearby, but the restaurant at the hotel is excellent, and they have an "honors system" beer cooler that's well-stocked with local brews.  The local Gulpener Dort beer was perfect to enjoy while sitting on our balcony after a day's hiking.  One day turned out to be a holiday and from our balcony we watched quite a parade of vintage autos, sports cars, and every kind of motorcycle imaginable, including trikes and sidecars.  Apparently, on holidays, everyone dusts off their treasures and takes them out for a run.

The weather was almost perfect the whole time, and we got 15 miles or so in each day, following the different trails, all of which are mapped and marked.  We walked through cornfields, pastures, wheatfields, forests, towns, and cow patties.  It was beautiful!

Speaking of pastures, Holland is a place where men are men and sheep are nervous...

Hiking south from Epen, it isn't long before one looks around and realizes that cars have Belgian license plates.  Turns out, it's because one is on Belgium.  We didn't realize that another country was so nearby.  We did venture into and out of the place without causing an international incident.  One really neat thing to see was the Castle Beusdal.  It's in Belgium, but we could see it from our balcony and wanted to get closer.  Of course, we did...

During our hikes, we passed a number of markers commemorating Allied war dead from World War II.  It's amazing how well they are cared for and the locals decorate them regularly with both fresh flowers and plants.  Some of the fiercest fighting in the war took place in this area.  It's hard to imagine the backdrop of war in this beautiful place.  This particular marker intrigued us, as it recognizes two RAF officers.

We discovered that in the nearby town of Margraten is the location of the American Cemetary in Holland.  We set the cemetary as the destination of one of our final walks.  Long hike, but well worth it.  Please look at the cemetary's website:  http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/ne.php  .  It was a moving experience.  We were there right after the anniversary of D-Day and were surprised how many Dutch were still coming to the cemetary to show their respects.

Now, back onto the bus to Maastricht, train to Paris, bus to Tours, and on to Le Mans!

Monaco 2011 Part Deux

Here's the view of the harbor from the balcony, during the race:

HDV 0054 Edited

Monaco 2011

As always, Monaco's beautiful!  Check out the start of the race:

HDV 0051 Edited

We watched the race from a different balcony this year and the view was fantastic, as was the food.

Grand Prix of Barcelona, May 2011

Circuit de Catalunya outside Barcelona, Spain.  Whatahelluva great track.  Enough said, take a look:

HDV 0047 Edited

Carnaval Ends

The Nice Carnaval ended on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras).  Next year's theme was announced:  The King of Sport.  Next year's king will probably represent the local people's favorite sports, so we expect a king in a football jersey (OGC Nice, of course) and riding a bicycle. 

At the end of Carnaval, an effigy of the King was burned offshore and they did one helluva fireworks display, set to music.  The firework were postponed from Tuesday until Thursday due to rough seas...the display was launched from seven barges and two boats.

Le Roi de Mediterranee e mort, vivre Le Roi de Sport!

 

The Raisin-Roll Eating Tour of Aix-en-Provence and Avignon, France

 We took a short trip to Aix and Avignon.  Most people would take the train to visit these cities, but when the letters "TGV" are included in a train itinerary, it means "Tickets Cost a Lot".  Fortunately, while walking past the last remaining portion of the bus station (it's being torn down, to be replaced by a garden), we noticed that there's bus service.  So, being the adverturers that we are, we took the bus.  The first leg of the trip took us via the Autoroute to Aix.  Aix-en-Provence was a watering hole on the road to Rome, and thus is full of ancient fountains, along with private mansions, monuments, and of course, churches and convents.  Aix's other claims to fame are several sites associated with its most famous resident, the artist Paul Cezanne.  We're not Cezanne fans, so we left those visits to others.  Raisin Rolls were found at a bakery down the street.  Both mornings. 


La Rotonde, built in 1860

The Four Dolphins Fountain, built in 1667




The clock tower, once the town belfry, has an astronomical clock (1661) on which statues representing the four seasons appear in turn







































A typical Aix street.  Mansions on the right, stables on the left, church in sight



The next leg of the journey took us to Avignon.  Home to the Pontiffs during the 14th Century, Avignon sits on the bank of the Rhone River and is surrounded by several miles of intact wall.  The Pope's Palace dominates the skyline no matter where you stand. 

After sampling raisin rolls from the local Carrefour Market's bakery, we walked across the bridge over the Rhone to Villeneuve Lez Avignon.  Equally medievel, this "new city" surrounds Fort St. Andre which was built to either protect the Popes from the French people or the French people from the Popes...we're not certain which.  The fort is very well preserved and its perch at the top of the hill provides some great views.

Fort St. Andre


 




















View of Avignon from the fort




















Returning to the Avignon side, we wandered through the Pope's gardens and looked back at Villeneuve Lez Avignon.

The next morning, before catching the bus home, raisin rolls were sampled at a nearby bakery, and we strolled through the Pope's backyard.

The bus trip home took the whistle-stop route, passing through vinyards (Cotes de Provence wines) and fields that are just now beginning to sprout with lavender plants.  It was a long bus trip, but well worth the time for the view of the countryside.



Carnaval Parade - "Big Heads"

Here's a sample of the Corso Carnavalesque with its Grosses Tetes ("Big Heads").  The Carnaval has 60 floats, 30 of which are Grosses Tetes.  It has 150 other animated features, 80,000 to 100,000 locally grown flowers, 1,800 employees, 1,500 street artists, and makes between 30 and 35 million Euros for the city.

Fire Breathing Sea Serpent!

Check out the dog!