Robin & Jim Adventures

Last night in Milan

This is our last night in Milan – and I can feel the trip winding down (sadly.) Tomorrow we set out for Paris by train. We have one full day there and then we fly back to the states… but I’m getting ahead of myself. I haven’t described our time in Milan. We toured Duomo Milan which is either the second or first largest Gothic cathedral in the world depending on which website you read. Needless to say, it’s big. We saw it our first night here. We were walking past a myriad of shoe and handbag shops when we rounded a corner and I think I blurted out “Oh my God…!” which seems to me to be the exact emotional response the architects intended to evoke. We toured the outside and inside of the Cathedral the next day – while a service was underway (oddly enough.) It seemed wrong to have people mulling around, snapping photos and yakking away while a priest spoke solemnly in Italian and a parishioner whispered into a confessional.

We also split one romantic evening into two. Part one of romantic evening we had a long candlelit dinner out on a terrace of the restaurant in our hotel – Chateaubriand, grilled vegetables, red wine, dessert – yum! Part two on the next night, we went to La Scala to see “La Traviata.” What a special evening. The hall was intimate and quite regal – red walls and curtain and many gold accents. The stage was extremely deep. I felt like I was experiencing an impressionistic painting because the sets and costumes were all pastels and muted tones. The singing and music was lovely – and of course it made me cry. I felt like a princess in the Opera house – I wonder if that was because Jim never stopped telling me how beautiful I looked. :)

Today we found out that we wouldn’t be able to see “The Last Supper” so we picked a point on a map and rode a train out to Como, a nice little spot on a large lake. We toured Lake Como a bit by boat, and stopped in a small village along the way. Later back in Como we had lasagna, red wine and cappuccino with dessert (mine was Cassata all Siciliana which reminded me of Canoli only more like a cake -- deeeee-lish!) Then we headed back to Milano Centrale (the train station closest to our hotel.) The spontaneity and ease of this day is a great example of how Jim and I travel together. We don’t get hung up on any one plan. We seem to always make the best of any situation – granted traipsing around Europe for three weeks isn’t exactly a hardship – but there are stresses associated with travel and Jim and I seem to navigate them well. It’s nice to learn this about us. :)

- Robin

Teatro alla Scala

Yesterday we saw an opera.  Robin had been reminding me from time to time that I should make sure I had something nice to wear since she was planning on dressing up.  I had no idea.  I had the pleasure of sitting next to the most elegantly beautiful woman in the opera house.  What a treat!

-Jim

Milan

The first sign we saw when we hit Milan read "Temperature: 40° C"   Phew! it's HOT!  I get to watch my Edmonton boy melt ever so slowly...

We're going to see Verdi's La Traviata at La Scala tonight..! wow...! Time to get on my sexy gown and strappy shoes. :)

- Robin

Tobermory (07/17/07)

I didn't have internet access for a while but I saved this blog post locally to my laptop:

Jim has outdone himself with this trip. He did all of the planning – some of it on the fly – and absolutely everything has been comfortable, interesting, beautiful… this vacation couldn’t be better.

We’re in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull in Scotland now. We’re staying in a large romantic hotel that overlooks a bay that is full of sail boats. It’s sunny and warm – the sky is a rich blue with clouds that seem to change constantly. Right now they’re puffy and white and are casting shadows over some distant green hills. There is a row of colorful houses that lines the water. I have felt intensely content since we arrived (and I haven’t even sampled the local scotch – yet. ;)

-Robin

London to Glasgow by train (07/16/07)

Yesterday, while I spent some time at Harrods, Jim made arrangements for a stay in the Isle of Mull in Scotland. (It’s good to be Queen – or at the very least it’s wonderful to be treated like one.) Right now as I write we’re on a train to Glasgow where we’ll be renting a car and then taking a ferry out to what sounds like an idyllic location overlooking the water. I’m so glad we’ve come to Scotland. From what I can see from the train, it’s beautiful -- I feel like I’ve come home. Are the Celtic bits of me responding to the rolling green hills and stone walls and sheep and castles… or does everyone feel this way?

I’m looking forward to some time away from the city life of Paris, Amsterdam, and London. We’ve seen SO much great theater, music and fine art but balancing that with some leisurely down time seems healthy to me and welcome, too. We will be staying in a beautiful hotel that overlooks the water. I can’t wait!

-Robin

Choices

There’s a tension when you travel because you have limited time and you want to somehow both cram in as much as possible and have lots of relaxation time before you return to the stresses of real life.  This is especially tough in a city and even more so in a city like London which overflows with history and architecture and art and such.  We stayed at a hotel just down the road from Royal Albert Hall, site of the famous Proms concerts that I’ve wanted for years to experience.  By coincidence, the series of concerts had just started!  Wow, what a treat.  I’d tell you all about them, but we didn’t see a single one, and I don’t regret it for a second.  We filled the days with events even more fun.  So many choices.

When I’m in London or New York, I want to see plays.  Fortunately Robin loves theatre too so that works out.  We managed three West End plays in two days which a lesser girlfriend wouldn’t put up with but Robin was keen to do.  Yay!

Whereas Broadway relies more and more now on spectacle, West End theatre continues to focus on acting and storytelling.  Sure the giant chandelier still crashes to the stage every night across the street at Phantom, but the three plays we saw each had simple sets and there wasn’t a single special effect that couldn’t be accomplished at your local regional theatre.  Two of the three were the kinds of serious dramas that are considered very risky to mount in NY.

It turns out acting and storytelling can be plenty enough for a satisfying night at the theatre.  In The Letter, we watched Anthony Andrews absolutely captivate our attention in a long first scene where he hardly spoke a word.  The day before we were equally absorbed in arcane papal politics in The Last Confession.  Don’t worry, it wasn’t all highbrow.  We also saw the musical Avenue Q which is exactly like The Muppet Show except that it is exactly different.

So those were our choices.  We didn’t see The Tower or The Eye or The Dome or The Abbey or the thousand other things that might have been just as much fun.  We saw some plays, ate some pub meals, and walked around various parks, and I can’t imagine having a better time in London.

- Jim

Faces

When Robin and I were at the Louvre, we spotted some tatty old frescoes by an Italian chap named Botticelli.  They weren’t in great repair – the colors were faded and big chunks were missing – but they were still beautiful and still very recognizably Botticelli.  I asked Robin what it is that makes them so identifiable.  It seemed to be the faces.  If all you saw were the faces, you would still have a good shot at guessing the painter, or at least the period and rough location.

A few days later we found ourselves in Amsterdam and Robin was all excited to see museums there too.  You’d think we’d have seen enough paintings in Paris, but apparently not.  On the way we stopped at a pub and just while I was thinking about some of my favorite Dutch artists and wondering what is it that makes a Rembrandt or Vermeer so identifiable and so different from a Botticelli or a da Vinci, a waitress approached our table to take our order.

She looked, and there’s no other way to say this, Dutch!  And what I mean by that is she had the kind of face one would see painted by a Dutch Master.  For some reason this had never occurred to me before.  The reason painters render faces as they do is because that’s what they see around them.  It’s as much geography as artistic choice.

I realize this is a surprise to nobody but me.  It was a humbling moment to come face to face, so to speak, with such an obvious fact that had somehow eluded me.

Easy travel has made humans more homogeneous but there are still moments when place and face come together.  Every time I fly back to Edmonton and settle down in a seat at the departure gate waiting for the late-again Alaska Airlines flight to board, I can look around and see something familiar in the faces of people flying to my old home town.  If I had Robin’s artistic eye I might even be able to pinpoint what that is but for me it’s just mysterious familiarity.

Isn’t it amazing the things one learns when one travels?

- Jim

Amsterdam

We left Amsterdam a couple days ago -- here's a quick report ;)

When we were in Paris, Jim and I kept ooo'ing and ahh'ing about different sights (that was mostly me) and the food (that was mostly Jim :) but I noticed a shift when we hit Amsterdam. We were definitely more quiet... Paris is a tough act to follow. Amsterdam has some beautiful architecture both old and new, canals with arched bridges and bicycles galore but it felt a little grungy.

That aside, we experienced some incredible art at the Rijksmuseum (Rembrandt…!) and the Van Gogh museum. We were also lucky enough to go to the Concertgebouw where the Vlaams Radio Orkest (Flemish Radio Orchestra) performed pieces by Ravel, Saint-Saëns and Franck. Jim bought great tickets – we were seated on stage just behind (and above) the basses. We watched the conductor as the musicians see him. I loved watching the pianist’s face as he played. The Saint-Saëns’ pieces had music written for the organ in the hall – which was such a treat.

I still can’t believe how much we see and do without it being exhausting. Jim is such a great travel companion -- more on that when I write about our time in London. stay tuned…

-Robin

Sunday - Last day in Paris

In the BBC show "Dr. Who" the protagonist rides around in a spaceship that from the outside looks small -- about the size of a telephone booth -- but on the inside it's vast. That's a little what time has felt like to me since we've been here. We seem to pack in many excursions (and oh...! so many great meals) and yet we have an overabundance of time to rest in the hotel. Marvelous.

Yesterday we went to Jim's favorite museum in Paris -- Musée Picasso. It houses Picasso's collection of his own work. It's a less popular museum so -- heaven!-- it's not very crowded. The work, well, the work was clearly inspired and extremely humbling. Damn that guy was good. What a great museum (it's now my favorite, too.)

We also spent some time in Notre Dame. It's grand and awe inspiring but it didn't scare me the way St. Etienne du Mont did (Pascal is buried there -- I'll let Jim write about the experience if he's so inclined. I remember he seemed moved by the experience -- or maybe just light-headed from having me clutch his arm too hard. ;) 

-Robin

Sacré Coeur

On Saturday we made our way to Sacré Coeur, a beautiful church that overlooks Paris. We sat for a long time in the chapel staring up at the huge fresco of Jesus. His arms are outstretched with beams of gold emanating off his body and there's an image of a heart surrounded by thorns on his chest. Sacred Heart. I thought of one of my Dad's recent blog posts about the power of the heart. Mostly I was struck by the believers who prayed all around us -- on their knees, making the sign of the cross, bowing to the alter before turning to leave. It's all about Hope. The desire for something more, something better. As I sat and stared up at Jesus with his starlike rays, Jiminy Cricket's voice sang out in my mind. He crooned "When you wish upon a star..."  I couldn't help but send out a silent prayer for guidance.

- Robin

Hotel du Vieux Paris

On Saturday we moved to a new hotel -- the Hotel du Vieux Paris. It's in a bustling part of the Latin Quarter just off the Place Saint-Michel and the Seine. The hotel has the smallest elevator I've ever been in (it's an upright coffin for two) and our room has decorative wallpaper (well, technically fabric) and wood beams on the ceiling and doorway.

- Robin

Scooter Slideshow - woot...!

Falling in love with Paris

It's true about the food... I had the best quiche ever today. It was a simple meal in a simple cafe but it was a piece of light, fluffy heaven.

We spent most of the day at the Musee d'Orsay and peeked into the Louvre. It was absolutely thrilling to see so many great works of art up close and in person. It was pretty much as I expected -- I was blown away. :) What I *did* find surprising today had to do with Paris itself. It's the scale. I knew this city from photos as a beautiful, romantic city -- but I didn't realize how immense all the buildings are. Falling in love here isn't a trivial thing. It's not a charming, quaint love. It's a big, overpowering, over-the-top love. How nice.

~ Robin

Food

Who cares about all the sights, the history, the art, or the culture?  The food alone makes Paris outstanding.  All we've had so far was one late-night snack and a perfect breakfast this morning.  Already it's a memorable trip.  Mmmmmmm.

- Jim

First Day in Paris

We’re in Paris…!  I’m starting to add images to my new Picasa web site here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/robin.troy

This is my first trip to Paris – we walked to Notre Dame across the Seine last night. I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty. This is truly the most romantic city in the world.

~Robin