Stockholm, in December!

Third visit in this city! Did not realize how fast the darkness was coming down here, at this time of the year (3h30, and it was night time!) Staying at the Lydmar Hotel, next to the Grand Hotel. More intimate! Very good dinner at Frantzen (see menu and write-up under country file!).

Business meeting in morning; lunch (and breakfast) at the hotel. Visit at local (global!) heroes museum: the ABBA museum – music business oblige! Walked to it (on Djurgarten) but took the ferry coming back!

Bruxelles en novembre!

Un climat typiquement belge, Un ciel couvert et gris, comme je me les rappelle! Le pavé mouillé!

Une matinée d’affaires; bouquinage chez «passa porta » sur Danseart; déjeuner à coté chez «Bonsoir Clara» (cabillaud et mousse au chocolat); achat (pour Cy) à une boutique locale…

En après-midi, je me rends en métro à l’Atomium (« Le symbole de Bruxelles » comme dit la publicité), tout au nord de la ville. Souvenir de l’Expo ’58! Tout près du stade (est-ce le stade du Roi Beaudoin - renommé en 2000 - où s’est produite la tragédie (39 victimes) dite de « Heysel »  en 1985?  À l’intérieur (des bulles); une exposition sur le design belge à travers les âges. Temps humide; on distingue à peine l’Atomium  (métallique) sous ce ciel tout gris!

Diner chez «Comme chez Soi» (pas loin de l’hôtel): 4^e génération depuis 1926! Petit mais mémorable cuisine (voir entrée séparée dans le fichier Belgique). Dans un endroit style Art Nouveau, comme si c’était de Horta, mais l’endroit a été reconstruit en 1988!

Le lendemain : travail et exercice à l’hôtel (l’Amigo). Départ, sur Paris par train, et Fontainebleau par taxi.

Bruxelles, le 27 novembre 2014

Brazil – Fall of 2014

 

Long flight to Sao Paulo from Toronto (10 hours; I slept the first 3 – I left Paris that morning and had 6 hours overlay in Toronto! - but was awake for the remaining 7!)

First time in Brazil, this enormous country (if you look at a map, it is more than half of South- America, and half of its population – about 200 million people, made up of ‘diversity’ at all levels – race from everywhere – but all “Brazilian” in the end! – money-wise, etc.). Portuguese!

Sao Paolo, a real metropolis: Sao Paolo is the largest city of the country – municipality: 12 million people; metro area: 20 million (not that I counted them but wikipedia says! – if not of all the Americas. One of the largest of the world. Home of such museums as that of the Museum of Ipiranga, the São Paulo Museum of Art, and the Museum of the Portuguese Language. It is the site of the Brazilian Grand Prix of Formula One;  it is the host  of the world's largest gay pride parade. People from the city of São Paulo are known as paulistanos. The city is also colloquially known as "Sampa"; and also the "Cidade da Garoa" (city of drizzle) apparently.

 

The Intercon hotel (where I am staying) is very close to the Avenida Paulista, the emblematic thoroughfare of Sao Paulo with all its tall buildings! I walked down the street to nearby MASP (Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo). It is a private non-profit institution founded in 1947 by a local media tycoon,  Assis Chateaubriand, and an Italian art lover who became its first director,  Pietro Maria Bardi (a museum created in this city, rather than Rio where it was presumably intended, because that is where the money is –and a lot was needed to get it going!) It is lodged in a 2-story concrete and glass building, representing the modern architecture of Sao Paulo, built at the end of the sixties – I don’t like it much!. Free of charge that day! Mostly temporary exhibitions: photography “CIDADES INVISÍVEIS” on the first floor, and paintings: “PASSAGENS POR PARIS - ARTE MODERNA NA CAPITAL DO SÉCULO XIX”; “O TRIUNFO DO DETALHE (E DEPOIS, NADA)”; and “DEUSES E MADONAS - A ARTE DO SAGRADO” on the second.^I rember among others a few Modiglianis. (It is well known internationally for its permanent European art collection but I did not find\see it – nor was I gone there for that!)

Business meeting in Centro – busy streets!

Had dinner on the second night  at KAA, a favorite of my guest, a Canadian who works for a French firm (Thales)in Sao Paulo for the last 4 years and whom I knew from Shanghai (Alcatel)! A restaurant full of Atlantic plants! (They have a green wall – I did not see much of it as I was seating my back to it!) I had a Brazilian specialty, a fish cooked iin some local sauce – I cannot find the menu on line! Very good though!

 

Rio de Janeiro: flew from Sao Paulo and arrived at Santos Dumont airport at about lunch time andit took about one hour to fly! (Santos-Dumont who spent most of his life in France is a local hero of the aviation industry!) Staying at Santa Teresa Hotel (the pool,above) in the Santa Teresa neighborhood. French-developed; very nice! Had lunch at the hotel restaurant, Tereze: very good fish (grouper, in a very delicate sauce!)

Went to walk on Copacabana Beach, (half hour car ride from hotel) around the Copacabana Palace hotel (where I took the phone call from AGS succession manager); very Miami-like, with tall residential buildings all along the avenue that borders the beach!

Breakfast every morning at the Tereze (hotel designated place for breakfast) at 7H – good spread; could have eggs for same price!

Spent the day after arrival on business, at offices far away in Bahia (on Avenida Das Americas) Came back along the coast (one hour and a half in the heavy Friday traffic - twice as long than otherwise!) Went by several beaches – San Conrado; Vidigal, Leblon – before fabled Ipanema and Copacabana…Drove by another beach, Botafogo -  almost abandoned because it gives on a harbor dirty with leaked oil I suppose! Gone as far as the height of the Santos Dumont airport before going up to SantaTeresa!

Dinner at Aprazivel , one of the better restos in Brazil. I was told – not bad but noisy I found

Watched a documentary (on TV5, from Radio-Canada!) on Rio by night!  Dancing everywhere! Poverty does not seem to take the “joie de vivre” away from people!

Early morning visit to the Cristo Redentor, this 38 meter-high statue of Jesus-Christ, built (1921-31) on top of the Concovado (it sits at some 700 meter-high), facing the other site so defining Rio iin the imagination of people, the Sugar Loaf. The statue, considered to be Art Deco work, because of its design but also because of the 3-centimeter mosaic pieces from Paris that cover it, is a huge attraction for tourists, Brazilians or otherwise. Thereis a little chapel in the base of the statue…and devoted people (Catholics I would think) praying out loud (with a PA system) in front of the statue!... It is located in a jungle, the Parque Nacional da Tijuca, through which you gently drive! We stopped on the drive back (at the driver’s suggestion) at a place that seems not to be well-known, to admire the view on both sides…

 
 

 

Went then for a bicycle ride (did not think about my current condition of dizziness before I rented!) along Ipanema Beach, all the way to Leblon neighborhood, for lunch on Rua Dias Ferreira where one finds a succession of stark, modern restos, serving mainly International cuisine (settled on restaurante Quadrucci)

Visited temporary exhibitions at the Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR) in Centro. One of the temporary exhibitions focused on favelas: I understood where these rather poor urban settlements - there are apparently 800 in Rio some very small, some very large – come from (arriving black slaves in the 18^th and 19^th century squatted in the periphery of existing habitations and started a trend!)

Could not pass the cable ride to the top of the Sugar Loaf! It’s done in two steps: first on top of … then off to the top of the Sugar loaf. Magnificent view (360 degrees) of all Rio. This is the third cable system installed (in 2008); the first one (German) was in 1912 (only the 3^rd system ever in the world at the time), and the second one in 1972 (Italian)

Rio is getting ready for the Summer Olympic Games (5 to 21 of August in 2016). This is a prelude to a future visit!?...

Rio de Janeiro, Nov 3 2014

A long weekend in Palermo.- October 2014

Cynthia flew in Friday morning from Paris to join me there (I came in the night before by train from the Aeolian islands, through Milazzo).

.

Palermo is an old city: it is over 2,700 years old! It is the capital of Sicily and has a lot of culture and history! It was created by the Phoenicians, belonged for a while to Carthage, then it became part of the Roman and the Byzantine empires for a thousand years, then it was ruled by the Arabs (for 300 years), then reconquered by the Christians in the 12^th Century; then Napoleon conquered it and it became  part of Italy, after the unification in 1860! The city itself is about 650,000 people, the Palermitans or, poetically, the Panormiti! (the greater Palermo has a population of over 1,2 million).It is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

 

We are staying at the Ambasciatori Hotel, at 111 via Roma. A 3-star hotel:  Room OK except – and that is big! – the shower (temperature unstable!). Spectacular view on the skyline of Palermo from the roof-terrace though (“Seven”), where we take our breakfast and a drink in the evening. (See picture below) 

 

In Palermo, lots of churches (baroque, like the rest of Sicily as we discovered the first time around these parts – see bourlinblogue of Dec 2010!). We visited the churches on Bellini Piazza: La « Martonara » or the church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, built in the 12th century, first dedicated to Greek orthodox religion, than in the 13^th C. changed to catholic rites (this is contested by some guides; we witnessed a marriage celebration there!), and the church of San Cataldo, also built in the middle of the 12^th Century – totally ascetic; very few decorations if any; a few mosaiques on the ground! (The bell tower outside of the Martonara is a good illustration of the Arabic – Normand architecture). San Cataldo remains managed by the «knights of the Saint-Sépulcre » (others say it is by the « Knights of Malta » - another inconsistency of guides!)  Saw also the “fountain of shame” – not impressed!

 

Visited the Duomo at Monreale, about 8 kilometers from the hotel (went by taxi – 60 Euros return – but there is a bus service for far less). The cathedral (Santa Maria Nuova) is quite impressive (see wikipedia for a fiull descrition)! It was built around the end of the 12th century by the Normands (Guillaume II). It is a perfect example of the cultures that were prevalent in Sicily at the time: the Roman-Normand style, by its massive structure; the Arab style, by its arcades and what is “incerted” in the exterior walls; and the byzantine style, by the remarkable golden “mosaiques” on the interior walls. Built about the same time as the Cathedral of Palermo (we drove by but we did not visit –interior rather dull!), it was a contest between those responsible to the Pope (Cathedral of Palermo), and the recently conquerors from Normandy who were responsible for it and apparently did not have the right to name the bishop for Palermo. Royalty were buried in the Duomo (it includes of course the Normands  Guillaume I and II but also, as we saw, Louis IX – Saint Louis!)

 

(According to guidebook written by Rodo Santoro – Palermo and Monreale, there would be a mosaic in the Duomo depicting the assassination of Becket – strange place –would have expected it somewhere more faithful to the Pope – as Becket would have been assassinated at the suggestion of the king (Henry II) and the Duomo was built by royalty as well – is Santoro to be trusted?)    

 

Went also to visit the very large cloisters built at the same time as the Duomo (1176-1189), the only thing apparently left of the Benedictine monastery that used to exist there; it is right adjacent to the cathedral. (see picture above)

 

Took the day train to go to Cefalu (less than an hour away, a site of villegiature on the coast); Saw the cathedral, built about the same time, in the 12^th Century, as the ones in Palermo and Monreale (again see Wikipedia for more details) Thought, if we ever come back in that part of the world, that Cefalu would be a good base (rather than Palermo)! (See pictures immediately above and below)

 

There are many other things to see and do in Palermo (like going to the opera at the Massimo Teatro - the third largest in Europe; the puppets theatre; many other churches; a few museums, gardens, etc. See the following site: http://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/fr/thinksicily/guide-de-la-sicile/villes-et-cites-en-sicile/palerme.aspx but if we were to come back we could stay in Cefalu http://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/fr/thinksicily/guide-de-la-sicile/villes-et-cites-en-sicile/cefalu.aspx and come by train in Palermo for the day…

 

 

Went for lunch at the Mirto et la Rosa ristorante in Palermo: recommended by the German guide I met on the Milazzo-Palermo train, and by the hotel. It was very good but Cynthia did not think it was exceptional! In Cefalu, booked at the Grace but it was not open! After visiting the cathedral and going to the beach, went eventually to nearby restaurant  Vecchia Marina (on a terrace, with a view on the beach) which Cynthia found excellent (“best meal so far”)!

 

Flew back together  to Paris on Monday morning (on EasyJet flight)

 

Fontainebleau, October 21, 2014

B&B da Luca – Panarea

On the island of Panarea. Spent several days there . Très honnête et très propre! Cuisinette, en plus de la salle de bain (bonne douche – bonne pression!) et de la chambre (lit double – assez confortable). Off-season price (lower)! ‘Run’ by Luca (Iwould say in his thirties). Little English or French spoken (normal – we are in a non-English or non-French country !) Access to the Internet (better from the kitchen table where I am installed, or outside at the back, closer I suppose to the router!). TV; aircon; small safe. Breakfast included. Coffee (machine). Mainly pastry; I have asked for yogurt and some prosciutto. Nina, Luca’s mother, prepares breakfast and gladly agreed to my request! Luca picked me up at the ferry’s arrival – in his ‘golf’ cart. The B&B is in the village. About 4 to 5 minutes from the port-not on the sea proper but secluded at the back). I am in room #2, at the back (there are no more than 4 or 5, well-isolated). A very good palce to stay…if you don’t mind not being on the water directly!
 

Aeolians islands: Panarea, Stromboli…

These islands are on the North-east side of the island of Sicily, in the Tyrrhenian Sea. One goes there for relaxation; wonderful sight: the ocean, food and hospitality. But you don’t come for activities: there is little! Sure, you can climb a volcano on Stromboli (the only constantly active- very active see website - one in Europe!) or go to the beach on Panarea or other islands, but that is about it. At least that is what I found; I am here therefore to relax and discover the islands!

It is around the Aeolians that Roberto Rosselini shot (in 1949, released .in 1950), ‘Stromboli, terra di Dio’, when he dropped Anna Magnani for Ingrid Berman (she became his wife). The same year, ‘Vulcano’ was shot by the German-born Dieterle with Anna Magnani and Rossano Brazzi in the islands. It is in these islands also (mostly Lipari and Basiluzzo) (and all over Sicily!) that Michelangelo Antonioni filmed ‘L’Avventura’, released in 1960, shot with Monica Vitti.

 

 

Panarea: one of 7 main islands of the Aeolians, the smallest (only about a little more than 3 square kilometers!) I stayed there for the week I spent in the islands, see separate blog entry on the B&B where I stayed). They say it is one of the most interesting islands in the Mediterranean, especially at low season, which is now! To get here, (by ferry of course) you leave at Milazzo (on the « terra fimra » of Sicily, so to speak) to the island of Lipari where you change ferry to go to Panarea. But first you stop at the island of Volcano (they don’t tell you that unless you ask!) Panarea is located between Lipari and Stromboli, on the east (right) side (there is another ferry I believe going from Lipari to the other islands (Salina, Filicudi and Alicudi), to the west (right )of Lipari. It took a good 2 hours to get there from Milazzo!

 

Panarea is inhabitated since the 14th century… at least on a full time (there are I am told, some 2 to 300 people living there permanently)! For you discover later (at the villagio prehistorico) that there were people who were there in the 15th to 13th century B.C! (They left, I am explained later on, because the people who lived there were subject of razzia of pirates: they were enslaved; so definitely not a safe place to live, and a good reason to leave!

There is plenty of hotels (e.g. Raya to name the more well-known) and restaurants (many close for the season) There are no cars, only small ‘golf carts’ or mobilettes (one understands when one sees the “roads”). The beach is at about 2 kms from the port, going east (right of the island) on s’y rend à pied (au moins 45 minutes du port - çà monte et puis çà descend!)  or in a taxi-cart like I did the following day. (Je me suis rendu vers l’ouest qui mène vers le sommet de l’île (421 m – l’une des sommets les plus bas de l’archipel, lit-on). I walked up (dizziness was bad!) to the prehistoric village (Cala Junco) where it was established that people lived in the 15th to 13th century B.C. (see above). Lots of cacti: the vegetation reminds me of Arizona!

 

Restaurants: I had meals at: the”Cusiritati”, the “Eoliano” and the “Macellaio”. All very good!

 

Stromboli

Took the ferry to the volcano island (about half an hour ferry ride). You can see the cone well from Panarea! Same thing: no cars; fishermen island; Very active volcano (see on Youtube the summer 2014 film capturing the lava going down - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dXCfy7fNiQ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zTIl47fEaw ).

Lipari

This is the ‘capital’ of the islands, at least the commercial center. All the other islands above are part of the commune of Lipari. There are streets and cars there! If you stay there, it is probably on the left of the port (the Vittorio Emanuele II street seems to be the main touristic street!)

Sicily (on the train Milazzo to Palermo) October 16, 2014

Blog 2004 to July 2014; by country-city or by themes

Blog since 2004, by country-city or by "themes"; (finally!)

More than 250 entries! Some 33,000 pages seen!

-          Austria – Vienna (October 2013)

-          Argentina

o   Buenos Aires (December 2008)

o   Iguazu ( December 2008)

-          Belgium  

o   Brussels (June 2011)

o   Louvain (June 2011)

-          Canada –

o   Toronto (December 2013; December 2012);

o   Algonquin park/Arowhon Pines lodge (September 2013; August 2012; October 2011);

o   Stratford (August 2013; July 2012; June. 2011: August;& July. August 2010. August; June 2009; October 2008l; May 2008)

o   Banff (June 2013; June 2012; June 2009; June 2008);

o   Quebec City (October 2012; December2008)

o   Montreal (November 2012; July 2012);

o   Ottawa (December 2008)

o   Pembroke (March 2011);

o   Prince Edward County ( May 2010; August 2009);

o   Vancouver (March 2010; June2008);

o   Whistler (March 2010; February 2008)

o   Muskoka (September 2009)

o   Mont-Tremblant (march 2009; August 2008)

-          China

o   Peking (09/11)

o   Shanghai (October 2010; June 2010; December 2004)

o   Hangzhou (10/10)

-          Croatia – Dubrovnik (09/09)

-          Czech Republic – Prague (10/10)

-          Danemark- Copenhagen (07/09)

-          El Salvador – (02/12)

-          France –

o   Normandie (07/14);

o   Paris (06/14; 02/14 ; 07/10 ; 07/09 ;02/2009 ; 10/2007)

o   Chartres (6/14);

o   Fontainebleau (06/14 ;)

o   Cannes (01/10 ; 01/09 ;avril 2008)

o   St- Germain en Laye  (02/08)

-          Germany

o   Berlin (10/10; mars 2008; September 2007’ February 2006);

o   Munich (September & October,2008)

-          Great Britain - London (12/07)

-          Greece – (02/11)

-          Hong-Kong- (04/11)

-          Hungary – Budapest (12/11; 07/09)

-          Ireland – Dublin (08/12)

-          Italy

o    Rome (08/14; 01/13;June 2008)

o   Milan (03/12) ;

o   Sicily (01/11; 12/10)

o   Praglia (October2007)

-          India 

o   Bombay (October 2007)

-          Japan – Tokyo (11/09) ; Nara, Kyoto

-          Korea – Seoul (10/10 ; October 2008)

-          Malaysia – KL (05/12 ; 03/2008)

-          Malta – (03/13)

o   Gozo (05/14 ; 10/13: 12/12; 08/12 ; 07/11; 06/11;12/10;10/10; 01/10; 12/09 ; October 2008 ; )

-          Mexico – November 2008

-          Nederlands – Amsterdam (07/09 ; 11/06)

-          Norway – Kristiansand (06/10)

-          Portugal  - 02/13)

-          Singapore – Singapore (05/12)

-          Spain

o   Cordoba (04/14’10/07)

o   Sevilla (03/12)

o   Barcelona (03/13 ; 02/11; 02/10;03/09)

o   Madrid (07/09; 10/07; 11/06);

o   Ronda (10/07)

o   Toledo (07/09);

o   Bilbao (07/10)

o   Granada (10/07)

o   Sevilla (09/07)

-          Sweden- Stockholm  (07/09;08/08)

-          Taiwan – Taipei (04/11)

-          Turkey – Istambul  (02/10)

-          UK 

o   London (05/11;12/07: 08/07)

o   05/10

-          USA

o   NYC (01/14;11/12; 05/12 ; 08/11;11/10;  05/09; October 2008; Mai 2008) ;

o   LA (05/13; 04/10; 04/09)

o   Boston (04/12; 04/11);

o   Miami (October 2011; March 2009; November 2008) ;

o   SFO (08/11 ; 08/10)

o   Portland (August and March 2010) ;

o   Washington D.C. (June 2013 ; June 2009)

o   Las Vegas (04/09)

o   St-Petersburg (04/13; 03/09)

o   Sarasota (04/13)

Themes:

-          Books – (06/11)

-          Exhibitions, museums, etc… (2013 August; June: April ; January).

2012: October; July; April.

2011: December, November; August, May.

2010: July, March

2008:  October

2007 December.

-          Fall colours (October 2008)

-          Film – (Dec.2013 ; September 2012)

-          Luminato – June 2008

-          Music – (07/12 ; 05/09)

-          Queen Mary II: January 2014.

-          Restaurants – (08/09 ; 07/09; 05/09; May 2008)

-          Retrospectives:  (June 2007; December 2006)

-          Theatre; May 2009; August 2008; June 2006