The Eternal City [30 September 2007] [ time started | 12:30 p.m. ] September is over, and with it my summer has officially ended! By which I mean, all my summer visitors are finished. Peggy caught her flight back to Toronto this morning (well, I hope she got it - she was only getting through security at 9!) We had a great visit while she was here, and she was able to keep herself amused while I was at work, which is good! The day she arrived, we WALKED, around my work neighbourhood, down to the river, over to the City, where we met up with a free walking tour from St. Paul's to the Tower, and then up to Brick Lane, back to the Tower, and all the way back to Parliament along the south bank. Whew! That, of course, was just a warm up for our trip together last weekend, which was 3 days in Rome! We ended up getting moved to another hotel when we arrived at ours, but it worked out all right, as the one we got moved to was directly across the street from the train station, where we needed to catch our bus to the airport, and which is the major public transportation hub for the city. We did a bus tour of the city first, and after nearly falling asleep (we did wake up at 2:30 after all), we hit the city on foot, visiting the Piazza Navona, the Parthenon and many churches. We also hit the Trevi fountain to throw our requisite coin in, and the Spanish steps, which were PACKED. We ended up just getting some food at a grocery store and eating back in our room that night, as we were pretty beat. The next day was up early and to the Coliseum...or that was the plan, at least! We didn't realize the Via dei Fori Imperiali is closed to traffic on Sundays, so we stayed on the bus for way too long before figuring out it wasn't going to go to the Coliseum. By the time we finally made it there, we joined one of the offical guided tours, and then headed on our own to the Palatine and the Roman Forum. There we encountered the longest bathroom line ever (seriously), and many amazing ruins. After a bit of wandering among the Imperial Forum, we went back to the hotel for a nap (it was HOT), and then went out later for pizza and gelato! Monday we headed for the Vatican. Of course, so did everyone else who was in town and couldn't visit it on Sunday! So the line was HUGE, and we didn't actually get in the doors until 11:15. But it was more than worth the wait - just overwhelming collections of painting, sculpture, artifacts...and of course, the Sistine Chapel. (thereby crossing #13 off my life to-do list). After that, we waited in another line to get into St. Peter's, and yet another to go up the dome. We were pretty tired of lines by the time we got home (and we hit another big one at the passport control at Stansted). St. Peter's is amazing though, and I think Michelangelo's Pieta was my favourite piece of art we saw on the trip. I have to mention that Peggy was a real trooper on this trip because, as some of you know, I keep up a pretty fast pace on my trips, and she was suffering from a really painful blistered foot, 'caused by a week of walking in London in less than comfortable shoes (she wrecked her good walking shoes the day she arrived in London). But she kept up and complained much less than I'm sure I would have done in the same circumstances. :-) I liked Rome, but the reality of it was quite different from how I'd imagined it. For one thing, I always pictured the Trevi fountain in a big open square, with cafes all around, and it's actually really tucked away. And St. Peter's, on the other hand, I had imagined to be completely enclosed, and it's quite open, with a big boulevard leading up to it. Anyway, it was back to work for me when we got back, but yesterday we took the day and went up to Cambridge. It was quite busy, as it's the beginning of the school year over here this week, but we did a really good guided tour, and had a lovely lunch and did some shopping before returning to London for another Brick Lane dinner. We also saw Billy Elliot and Chicago (with Kelly Osbourne) while Peggy was here, and as I mentioned, she did tons of stuff on her own, so I think overall it was a successful trip! Now I actually have three full weeks on my own before I head home for a visit in Toronto at the end of October. I am really looking forward to being at home, with Todd and Tiger, and seeing everyone there. Todd has also booked his flight over here for Christmas, and I've found out that we get from Dec. 22 - Jan. 1 off from work (SWEET!), so we'll have lots of time to enjoy the holidays together. But I won't get into all that now...I'll just end here with a few pictures from Rome. Hope all your summers were as wonderful as mine has been! The Coliseum from the bus tour The Trevi fountain The Pieta in St. Peter's [ time finished | 12:55 p.m. ]

Venice and back to work [15 September 2007] [ time started | 8:57 p.m. ] Well, Todd has come and gone, and his stay was much too short, of course. We had a really wonderful time, and it just reinforced how much I miss him when he left and I was alone again. But I am going to Toronto for a visit towards the end of October, which will be here before I know it, based on how time has flown so far! I've now officially passed the half way point of my time in London, and although I have done a LOT, there is still much more that I want to see and do. Pretty soon I will have to start making plans so that I make sure I do them before it's time to go! Todd arrived on Thursday, Aug. 30, and I met him out at the airport after working the morning. It felt so wonderful to hug him again! That day was mostly spent resting, as he was tired from the flight. On the Friday, we flew out in the evening to Venice, arriving around 9:30. We took the bus to the bus station, and from there took the vaporetto which let us off just a block or so from our hotel. The hotel was a little over-priced for what we got (no TV, and don't get me started on the shower!). But it was a really good location, and we did get a package that included a gondola ride - more on that later! Saturday we decided to avoid the main tourist areas and spent the day wandering around some of the "back streets". We quickly lost count of how many bridges we climbed over! It's an easy place to get lost in, even with a map, but we were in no hurry. We had wanted to head to a recommended pastry shop to get some breakfast, but it was closed for the summer! So we just went to a grocery store instead, and ate beside one of the canals. We went in a few churches and had a pizza lunch, but mostly just wandered. In the late afternoon, we headed back to the hotel for our gondola ride! We had a female gondolier, apparently the only one in Venice! We also got a free bottle of sparkling wine, which was kind of funny as neither of us particularly like wine, but we felt obliged to drink at least some of it. :-) Anyway, the ride itself was lovely - we did a little bit of the Grand Canal, where classical music was playing over the loudspeakers, and then spent much more time exploring some quieter areas - and when I say quiet, I mean QUIET. There was no noise, not even birds, and of course no cars. It's amazing how accustomed we get to the sound of traffic! After a quick break at the hotel, we decided we didn't really want supper as we'd had a late lunch, but we still wanted some gelato! So we headed to another place recommended in the guide book, which offered some really elaborate creations. It was good, but overall we preferred the "plain" stuff we had later. We took the vaporetto the long way around to get back to our hotel, getting off at the Rialto (where I did buy something to eat after all), and then wandering back to the hotel area, where we sat along the Grand Canal for a while before calling it a night. Sunday was the Storica Regata, an annual boat race along the Grand Canal that's been going on for 600 years! We decided we wanted to at least catch the parade part of it, so we decided to get our sightseeing for the day done first. We went first to the Rialto and wandered the markets there, and then had lunch along a quiet canal not far from the Jewish Ghetto. After finding one of only two bridges in the city with no sides, we went in search of a good spot to watch the parade. After much searching, we finally found a decent one, but then the parade didn't start until nearly 4:00! And it was supposed to be 2. Yikes! Still, it was definitely worth seeing! As the races started, we went back to our hotel for a quick rest, and then had a nice dinner out (I had pizza again, Todd had lasagne), wandered over to St. Mark's square in the twilight, and came back to the hotel with more gelato and sat along the Grand Canal again until it was bedtime. Monday was our last day, and we had saved St. Mark's Square until then in the hopes that it might not be so crowded. Our hopes were soon dashed, but we braved the crowds anyway, and went up the Campanile, into the Basilica, and for a quick tour of the Doge's Palace. After a quick lunch at a self-serve place, it was time to head back to the airport, where we enjoyed our last gelato before catching the flight back to London. I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so Todd explore the city on his own, visiting only one museum - the Bank of England museum. Men! We had supper with a friend of his one evening, and went to We Will Rock You in celebration of his birthday another night. Friday I had the day off, so we took a boat down the Thames from Westminster to Greenwich, and spent several hours there. On Saturday we went to the Simpsons movie (which we had been waiting to do together), and then for a late lunch/early dinner in Covent Garden. After that, it was time for him to pack already, and he flew out on Sunday morning. In the week since, I have been occupied mostly with work, which has gotten even busier as the auction season is back in swing. Today I have been running errands and cleaning, as Peggy arrives tomorrow! She is staying for two weeks, and we're going to Rome together next weekend. So I'll have more to update after that! In the meantime, below are pictures from Venice - enjoy! The Grand Canal Me looking out from the window of our hotel The view from our gondola Todd and our gondolier Boats on the Grand Canal during the Regata parade A restaurant advertising Italian Food - what were they worried we would think it was? [ time finished | 9:29 p.m. ]