Diane’s Trips

Today’s strenuous adventure was climbing the wall surrounding the old town. The restoration work, since I was here in the 1970’s, has been extensive and the wall and surrounding buildings are in wonderful condition. Three cruise ships arrived in the port at the same time and so it was crowded getting into the city centre to begin our climb to reach the wall. Once on top, the beautiful view and scenery more than made up for the congestion and delays. Our stairs work out was the equivalent of 45 stories or 7.5 km.

We found a fabulous restaurant just outside the Pile Gates and I had mussels and Jessi had the King Prawns both harvested locally. We had a view of the beach below and the GOT’s Red Keep-King’s Landing to our right.

The GOT tour was 2.5 hrs and included information on locations for shoots, behind the scene extra observations, how the locals were dealt with during filming, photos of scenes with CGI, and anecdotes about the behaviour of some of the actors. Our guide, Nina, was a walking encyclopedia on all things GOT. Several of her friends had roles as extras in the HBO series.

It was such delight to revisit Dubrovnik, with my daughter, after so many years!

We journeyed 1.5 hrs by bus to visit the longest waterfall in Krka National Park called Skradinski Buk (cascades down 147ft). I was surprised how many tunnels and bridges we crossed to reach our destination. The abundance of water flowing, from the Krka River, means there is a wealth of flora (over 1,000 plant species) and fauna including non-poisonous snakes and frogs in the pools. 🐍 There were schools of trout swimming along the shaded river bank.

The temperature was in the low 30’s but the 100% humidity made the 2.5 km walk, to the falls, feel like being in a natural sauna.

The living travertine or limestone in this area dates back 7,000 yrs and are still growing (3mm annually). I found a lovely little church (1700) constructed using the limestone. There are remnants of an early Roman palace, military settlements and an aqueduct that is still in use in Split today!

I learned the Dalmatian dogs were bred here to herd sheep in this mountainous terrain. I happened to see one just after I finished a 200 stair climb up to the bus from the bottom of the falls.

Jessi and I sat on the deck and watched the lovely view as we left this very popular and busy port.

Our view as we departed Venice was spectacularly scenic and gave me yet another perspective of this historic and beautiful city. Arrivederci Venezia!!❤️🇮🇹

My daughter, Jessi, arrived last night and we decided to re-visit the Basilica as the lineups were respectable. The Pala d’Oro, the gold and silver altarpiece is priceless and has nearly 2,000 gems (pearls, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and other semi-precious stones set in the enamel.

We climbed the steep stairs to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the cathedral as well as, a panoramic view of the canal and plaza.

The Byzantine mosaics both on the exterior and interior of the church are breathtaking. You can get closest to these in the museum which has a Roman and Byzantine collection of sculptures and mosaics.

Our choir sang accapella in this designated area of the church. It was difficult to sing here as there was construction going on and thousands of sightseers paraded passed us talking. It was definitely an unforgettable experience-did I mention it was stiflingly hot as well.

The Palazzo Ducale is where the Venetian administration (the council of 10 from 1310-1797) carried out government and judicial matters of the Venice Republic. They functioned like a secret police with networks of spies reporting to them.

The Palace was also a terrible place of detention, torture and executions of those convicted of crimes against the Republic. I took the secret tour through hidden passages, narrow stairwells, secret chambers and small prison cells which had little light and even less air!! I learned how Giacomo Casanova and a monk managed to be the only escapees from this prison. The interior of the palace is grand and ornate, a real showcase for visitors. I completed the tour by crossing over the Bridge of Sighs and peering out the window.

Leonardo’s museum was interactive and educational with working models of his inventions. Among his many inventions are the parachute, helicopter and the tank. It has been suggested that the Vitruvian Man is a self portrait of Leonardo as a young man.

I toured “The Phoenix” Opera House which earned the name because it was rebuilt after being destroyed by fires three times.

I loved the fact that the seats are individual heated and cooled for maximum energy conservation. Bel Canto era composers such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi had their Opera works performed here. There are 5 lovely appointed social/performance rooms called the Apollo rooms and one is dedicated to Verdi!

The Theatre hosts a Maria Callas exhibition, which focuses on her 7 Venetian years. She made her career debut, in 1947 at 24 yrs of age, in this Opera House singing Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde .

Gallerie dell’Accademia has an exhibit of human anatomy drawings by Leonardo da Vinci collected during his time in Milan, Florence and Venice. In particular, I went to see The Vitruvian Man, the most recognized symbol of the Italian Renaissance which he sketched around 1487. It is a powerful and intense drawing which is accompanied by notes based on the work of the Roman architect Vitruvius. In this one image he was able to solve an architectural problem of proportions which combined mathematics, philosophy, religion, and artistry. The V man is on a no lend list and can only be seen in this Gallery.

I was surprised to see one intricate drawing of a war machine included in this human body collection by Leonardo. Sorry 📵no photos of “V” man permitted.

The rest of the Gallery is full of masterpieces up to the 18th century. It was well worth the visit!

I took the vaporetto to St. Mark’s Square and visited the Bridge of Sighs-the last glimpse of freedom for prisoner’s going to jail from the Doge’s Palace.

The Piazza San Marco was full of seagulls who have driven out the pigeons. I finally found the displaced pigeons at the Rialto Market!

The Rialto bridge is the oldest bridge (11thC) spanning the Grand Canal and was packed three deep with tourists trying to get their photo taken;)

Vivaldi’s church is a venue for chamber concerts, almost every day of the week, throughout the year. The church was built in the mid 1750’s and was where Vivaldi’s choir, of orphan girls, sang behind beautiful ornate wrought iron screens. I climbed the stairs to see what these young girls would have seen looking down into the church.

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The acoustics were great because the church dome is small and there was no echo. We sang Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Monteverdi’s Gloria in excelsis Deo à 7 voci. The 7 soloists were composed of Capilano music students majoring in voice.

On my way to visit Margaret and her 500 yr old organ upstairs, I came to several chambers displaying exquisitely embroidered robes from the 18thC.

Tonight we head to Da Bruno for our finally group dinner. Tomorrow night we perform in our last concert on this tour!

An unforgettable city made up of many small islands in the Adriatic Sea. The Grand Canal is the main thoroughfare and is lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The canals are very busy with water taxi (vaperetto) traffic and gondolas. Our boutique hotel is located close to San Marco Basilica and the famous Rialto Bridge.

I spent the afternoon at the Guggenheim Museum which houses art works by Picasso, Pollack, Warhol, Kandinsky, Severini, Dali and a special exhibit of the works by Jean Arp: “The Nature of ARP.” I reserved an audio set which was most helpful as it is often challenging to get around people to read the plaques. My favourite piece was by Jean Metzinger called At the Cycle- Race Track (1912) and features the Paris- Roubaix. This is a popular one day race in France, on the World Cup Circuit, that Ryan has competed in. I visited the museum’s lovely garden which is the resting place for Peggy Guggenheim’s ashes and that of her 14 dogs. The garden is surrounded by fragrant Jasmine hedges and dotted with unique sculptures, mostly of the human form.

Tonight I walked around the streets, enjoyed a cello recital and did some window shopping.

Ryan Anderson, my son-in-law, is a World Cup cyclist riding for Team Rally in the Tour de Suisse starting today!!! 🇨🇭 🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭

My collection of bike’s is in recognition of his dedication and leadership, especially his mentorship and support of young cyclists in 🇨🇦!! #soproudofyou

Go Team Rally!! 🚵‍♀️🚵‍♂️🚴🏼‍♀️🚴‍♂️🥇🥈🥉

This morning we drove to a family owned vineyard & olive grove called Frattoria.We sampled 3 white and 3 🍷 wines, olives, sundried tomatoes on bread followed by a dessert chianti known as the holy wine which I poured over a fruit bowl. We were then given a shooter of Grappa, a very potent Italian brandy! Our hostess requested a song but we sang 4, danced and partied away the morning. Overcome by excitement, fresh air and heat, not to mention the wine tasting, I took a long siesta on the bus ride to Ravenna.😴

Our trip into Ravenna to see the mosaic ceiling and walls at the Basilica Di Sant Vitale and Mausoleo Di Galla Placidia was wonderful but truncated due to traffic delays getting to our hotel.

We managed to get a reservation for dinner, on the beach, at a seafood restaurant called Aloha. I had grilled shrimp and squid that were cooked to perfection. Our server gave us a complimentary limoncello to end our meal.

An evening stroll on the beach was the finale to another fun-filled and rewarding day!