TravelStream™ news feed for member hugoanddenis on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/hugoanddenis en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:45:11 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245902400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245902400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245902400/tpod.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:45:11 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Rome, Lazio, Italy

So we are back in Dublin. because of the very strange travel arrangements I made (you know - save a buck and forget the reality on the ground).  WE spent last night in a very seedy neighborhood in the back of the Rome aiport.  The day had started promisingly enough.  Breakfast with Iain and Chris in Barga - one of those impossibly cute, lovely , real Italian mountain top cities here in Tuscany.  The old woman leaning out of the window shouting, "Ciao" as the white cat crosses your path and meows, leaping through the thicket of rosemary and caper bushes.  We went into a 10th century church (despite Hugo's ban on such places.  He has announced that he will no longer go in them since they depress him and remind him of all the blood of all the peasants that went into building these monuments to God and money and power -- ooops, back to the travelogue Denis).  The church survived all the various invasions and the powerful, crushing thumb of the Medicis only to be partially destroyed by an earthquake in the 1920's.  Still very beautiful.  Hugo and I bade Chris and Iain goodbye (pictures soon!!!) and drove down thorugh Lucca and then Pisa (which we saw yesterday - pictures soon) and then onto Volterra - an ancient Etruscan town on the the highest mountain in the middle of the flattest plains.  Volterra (pictures soon) was charrrrmming in the way that all these amazing towns (except for Pisa) are charming.  Siena is perfect and posh. Lucca is rustic and rough and beautiful.  Barga is just too cute.  Volterra is a little touristy but there are real people living there and it has the feeling of a vital place despite the countless Alabaster stores.A little side note about the pictures. We've travelled all over the world.  I've maanged to upload pictures in a little Vietnamese village. In India, despite the chaos of plugs and converters and blackouts, I got pictures into my travelpod blogs.  Only here, in the western world, in a EU country, have I been defeated. I can't explain. It boggles the mind.  Never mind that I've used mobile phones here and even read mobile phone Italian now, i can't get pictures uploaded.  It'll just have to wait till I get home.We leave tomorrow.  We were going to go out tonight in Dublin but it is just too late, too far, and because of an Italian work stoppage in Rome, we are just too tired.  Also, oddly, when we arrived in Dublin, I was met by the costume designer and assistant for a movie I'm going to be doing in August. We came in with our bags, saw them in the lobby and then went up and the next thing you know I was down to my skivvies having most of my body measured.  Ahhhh glamour.  All for now. maybe I can convince Hugo to write some closing thoughts later. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246222973/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246222973/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246222973/tpod.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:44:10 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Tuscany, Italy

This page is for pictures only.  The wedding.  I hope they speak for themselves.Denis & Hugo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246090049/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246090049/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246090049/tpod.html Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:17:24 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Siena, Tuscany, Italy

Lindsay and Augustinus got married on Saturday afternoon around 2:00 - well, 2:15 - ummm, 2:30 -- under a huge Linden Tree in the courtyard of the Montalto Castle around 20 KM from Siena.  The night before was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner and it was there that we started to mix as a group. There were around 25-30 people from various parts of Lindsay and Auggie's life, from Australia, England, Switzerland, Italy, and of course from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Brooklyn and Brooklyn.  You know, W-burg, Fort Greene, Greenpoint, Park Slope.  No one lives in Manhattan anymore.So at this rehearsal dinner we sort of stuck to our known friends and waved to the ones we didn't know.  There was a little knot that went swimming at 11:00 p.m. and you found yourself swimming and bumping into people whose names you still didn't know but who were funny and good at water polo.The next day was the wedding day.  Big breakfast and the "CONVERSATION" started. You know, a big , cross-table, free-ranging conversation about relgion, society, sobriety, culture, politics, travel, childhood, adoption, child-bearing......I had to rehearse the song I was going to sing and so my mind started clouding over. Hugo ran off to Siena for a quick peek, LIndsay and Auggie dressed.  The caterering staff kicked into high gear and set up huge, beautiful tables with massive umbrellas. The clouds gathered.  The wind blew.Well, the wedding was beautiful.  Nigh on perfect.  I think the first tear rolled down the first cheek when the little kids appeared strewin petals.  Lindsay and Auggie performed flawlessly, John was the minister/master of ceremonies, Natalia (later our hostess at the Bulgari estate around an hour south) read a poem from Pablo Neruda, I sang and didn't make a fool of myself, Heather, Lindsay's sister, read a poem she had composed using all the words from "Lindsay" to "Love" in the dictionary.  Amazing.  In the end, they were married, we threw rice, the harpest played "Ode to Joy" and we all descended into the castle's courtyard to continue "THE CONVERSATION" only this time with more food.  Lunch just sort of rolled into dinner into dancing.  Some people slipped away to have naps and change into their dancing clothes.  There was a balcony where all the smokers retreated and this became the "fun" conversational zone.Hugo here... Ive got to hand it the former Ms. Ackroyd.  The lady knows how to throw a party!  I think I will always remember and be thankful for the new friendships formed from this highly diverse and international group.  I dont know if it is the fact that we are all that much older and therefore, having less to prove but the weekend fostered an amazing mix of people, cultures and personalities that hummed with quick witted conversation and laughter.  Thanks Linds and Auggie... a home run!Another of the once-in-a-lifetime events happened on Monday.  We were all invited to the Bulgari estate for lunch.  Oh my......!!!!!   I am not generally easily impressed but the understated elegance of their home and the easy graciousness of their hospitality was extraordinary.   that said, it is probably much easier to throw a party for  20 with a small army of cooks, maids and butlers at your beckon but the whole day had an effortless, easy, casual feel that often seems incompatible with such immense wealth.  Did I mention the 3000 sq/ft garage filled with vintage  mid century cars? Or the twin, spooned 19th century pianos in the living room?  I could go on but Im still trying to project an air of casual observation....lolAs if to say the day was over, the weather took a turn for the worse, the clouds darkened and we set off in the tiny Fiat for the castle to drop off  our passengers
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246092644/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246092644/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1246092644/tpod.html Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:16:11 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

So Chris O'Hare, my 1st cousin, has been saying for a while now, "come to Italy and stay with Iain and me in our place in Italy".   Cabin?  Farm?  Old stone house?  Who knows.  We were meant to go last  year or the year before but timing never worked out so when the wedding in Tuscany came up we figured we would just tack a couple days onto the trip, pop up there and see what it was all about.The "farm house" turns out to be a complete reconstruction/reimagination of the old farmhouse and buildings. We stayed in the barn.  Think barn as designed by the most well-polished and accomplished contestant on Design Star and you begin to approach the stunning beautiy of the place.  The location doesn't hurt. It's on top of mountain around 25 Km from Lucca, one of the great walled cities of Tuscany - an ancient rival to the Medicis.  We arriveed around 9:30 p.m. or so.  Chris and a friend, Vittore, had gone out to buy provisions so we waited in the driveway in the falling darkness until they arrived.  It had been a long day of driving.  We started out south of Siena at this party and then gave a lift to 2 of the guests back to Montalto, then rejoined our journey north with a couple of cappuccino breaks at a local gas station.  Yes, gas station.  it's italy.  The directions to Chris's place are confusing but accurate. There's just not simple way to describe how to get there.  In the end, with only a couple of wrong tunrs (no GPS - never!) we were in the dirve waiting for our host.    We had a lovely dinner, talked and then went off to bed.  The great thing about arriving somewhere at night is that you get such a limited view of your surroundings. The morning always is a revelation. The day started with a workout.  Vittore is a friend who is also a personal trainer and who is relocating back to his native Brazil to join his wife, dog and baby who recently moved there from the U.K.  Vittore had Chris and I doing 5 rounds of the most intense workout - albeit on a mountaintop.  Hugo stayed in his room and finished his 5th novel of the trip so far.  ( I think he eats book, actually).  After the work-out, feeling virtuous, we had a big healthy breakfast and then headed off to Lucca to have a bit of a wander.Lucca is just amazing.  A walled city that managed to withstand the Florentine power right next door until at least the 14 century. All of these towns - Pisa, Lucca, Barga, Volterra - share a certain Byzantine heritage that makes their churches unlike churches in so many other places.  The white and black striped stone motif, the mosaic, Byzantine renderings of Jesus and Mary and the apostles, the tall, multi-tiered facades, the animanls.  Oh, about the animals. In most churches, saints and pictures from the bible predominate. But here, there are just depictions of nature - animals, beasts, desings, flowers, trees.  It's so beautiful and so much more interesting. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245384060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245384060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245384060/tpod.html Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:02:51 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Rome, Lazio, Italy

I swear.  If I had a nickel for every time someone said, "oh my God -- I feel like I"m in a movie", I!d be a rich man.Hugo and I landed and strode out into the humid Italian air,-- about 15 degrees different than what we had just left in Dublin.  After walking what seemed like the entire length of the Rome airport in strange futuristic tubes (futuristic as evisioned in the 60!s), we got our rental car and plunged into the Italian traffic.  Italian drivers are not Irish drivers.  The Irish drivers seemed sort of amiable and non-chalant. In Ireland, if someone is on your tail, you put your left blinker on and you sort of go off the shoulder of the road a bit and then the Irish driver behind you puts on his right blinker and sort of edges out into the other lane and passes you.  As he passes you, he give a little jaunty wave of the hand.   The idea is I"m going faster, maybe I should be in front and you go, yeah, why don°t ye.  In Italy, 2 minutes on the A1 we learn that the car that is eating your bumper wants you out of the way NOW!!!!!!! and you better move, lights flashing, horn beeping .move move move move move.  Then once they"ve forced you out of the lane, the pass you and then almost skiming your bumper, then come over in your lane in front of you and speed down at 150 kph.  We"re not in Galway anymore.We asked at the airport if they knew where Montalto was. No. Oh, yes, Montalto di Castello? Ummmm, I think it says just Montalto.  Yes, Montalto di Castello ' just up the coast, you go here and then here, you take this, that, this and then you are there.  Ummmm, no, I think it was in the direction of Florence near Rapolano Therme - the train station there?  No!  No Rapolano Therme.  So we headed out toward Firenze toward a place that only we believed in against the advice of everyone at Avis. Lo and behold, we found our way to Rapolano Therme with no GPS, no printed out map, no lovely invitation that Lindsay and Auggie had assembled that we left in Brooklyn.  We found the bath and asked where Montalto was.  No idea.  Montalto.......there!s a castle there?  No idea.  May we use your computer?  Sure.  We search and search. I search my old emails.  Nothing.  I search my iMac server where I put things that I need. Nothing. I try Montalto Nothing.  I try Montalto castle.  Nothing.  Panic.  Panic.  Finally, we try Montalto + Tuscany and magically, the website comes up, there are directions and  a lovely map which the lovely lady at the Thermal baths in Rapolano prints out for us and we are on our way.  After several turns and near misses and a few back'ups, we see a sign for Monasterio and then a sign for Montalto. It exists!  We climb the dusty road and run right into a swarm of construction workers, cranes, vans and bricks.  The way to the right looks blocked so we go left-----and we are dumped back on to the highway we just came from. Ok.  We go back up and see that the road is blocked by a big crane.  We get out and ask a guy with a tie who looks like an architect where Montalto is, he says, No. NO. Montalto. Monasterio and points at the construction zone in front of us. We say, si si, capisco, ma dove Montalto.  He says, No. No Montalto.  No.  He walks away.  We begin to despair.  We see another two gentlemen, this time wearing ties but also carrying blueprints ' ahhhhhh engineers!  We ask, scusi, Montalto?  They frown. Montalto Castello?  They frown.  Shake their heads.  They point to the Monastery in front of us and say, This is the only building, there is nothing else.  So declarative. So certain. So Italian. There is no doubt. There is nothing else here but this.  Then I say, No, 3.2 Kilometres and I point up the hill and his face changes and he says, Ohhh, si si, certo Montalto and points to the crane blocking the road.  We gesture that the road is blocked - chiuso. He indicates that we simply go into the workmens parking lot and go around the crane.   We do this and we drive up the road and wind our way up and are rewaarded by the sight of an amazing 10th century castle --- Montalto.  What we loved while discussing this later, was the fact that the engineer was so certain that there was nothing else in the vicinity and then was equally as forceful about the existence of Montalto once we said it was 3.2 Kilometres away.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245384000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245384000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245384000/tpod.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:07:49 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Cork, Cork, Ireland

We took the really long way back to Dublin.  Not sure of when we would ever get back to Ireland, I plot a route back to Dublin via Cork. Check the map.  Its about an 8 hour detour but well worth the nearly 5 dollar per gallon petrol  I had decided not to leave the country without kissing the Blarney Stone!  The drive to Cork was beautiful as we have come to expect- rolling green hills laced with waist high stone walls, grazing horses, sheep and cows, neat little farm houses in pastel colors with shiny black roofs. It must be mentioned as well that the economic boom in Ireland over the past decade has also brought with it a healthy dose of unattractive housing developments (called estate homes) and big box retailers.  In Ennis where  Denis' family is from  they were celebrating the arrival of McDonalds two months prior.  Alsa, it used to be a 25 minute drive on the road to Galway for the quickest Big Mac. As Denis wound through the countryside I did a bit of reading up on the history of the Blarney Stone.  It was a bit of a let down to find out that the tradition is just over 100 years old and practically made up out of whole cloth.  I wont bore you with the details but lets just agree that a very clever, probably impoverished noble man figured out how to make a (VERY GOOD) living by offering a bit of magic to the swelling hordes of new tourists at the turn of the previous century.  The  Blarney Castle is a carefully manicured moneymaker complete with all the ye olde-y stuff  you could ask for including: a pricey department store selling everything green and labeled  Ireland or Guinness.  That said, the experience was fun and worth the diversion.  The castle itself is fantastically preserved, well curated and surrounded by gorgeous gardens. The 10 Euro entrance gets you most importantly into the  public restrooms and... up the castle stairs where you  bend dangerously backwards with the help of an older gent to kiss  a  stone which  hangs from the bottom of the parapet over an ancient window.  It was never clear why that particular stone or why the flirt with death but the line was filled with anxious, sometimes terrified people hoping for the "Gift of the Gab." For an additional 10 Euro you can have the moment certified with a digital picture.  Denis and I decided that we would save our money and vouch for each other if ever asked had we really done it. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245312162/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245312162/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245312162/tpod.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:43:29 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Ireland

After making a pasta dinner for the McMahons (chicken, pesto, pasta, a nice salad with toasted almonds and golden raisins and lettuce, garlic break) we spent the next couple of days exploring norhtern Clare and the Burren and then spent the next day with relatives I never knew I had but was delighted to meet.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245311304/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245311304/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245311304/tpod.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:12:06 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Clifden, Western Ireland, Ireland

So, in Galway City, actually Salthill, the suburb of Galway City, our very capable and friendly hostess, Cathy, says to us, "and tomorrow are ye going to see Connemara?"  We say that we hadn't thought ot it yet and she says, "Ohhhh, ye must.  Now. Here's a map.  Ye start out here, you'll want to take the coast road, it's slower but you'll want to stop at all the little villages along the way. Then.  Ye go to Barna, Ballylahinch Castle, where you can have a bit of chowder for lunch then onto Roundstone Village where they make the traditional Bowran, the drum.  After Roundstone, you head on up to Clifden.  It's lovely there.  Well.  After Clifden, you'll want to head on over toward Kilemore Abbey - there are lovely grounds there and the abbey which is a don't miss.  After the Abbey - take the Inagh Valley road - it's my favorite part of Connemara - so beautiful -- you don't want to miss that.  Then ye come back on the road to Galway.  So.  Can I get ye a fried egg? Did ye want anything else to eat?"We of course did exactly as she said and it was lovely. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245277599/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245277599/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245277599/tpod.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:12:05 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Aran Islands, Western Ireland, Ireland

Bit of a mad dash today. We woke up early (I was up early - couldn't sleep for some reason) went out at 7:00 in search of coffee.  Cooofffeeeeeeee.......Went around the corner, misty, foggy, joggers out.  The place on the corner was closed. Found a super-deli-7/11 type store open and had a cuppa.  Left and walked back along the shore after taking some shots of Galway Bay.  Bought another cup of coffee for Hugo and then headed back to our B & B.  Had our standard huge breakfast at 8:30 - rashers, 2 types of toast, fried tomato, egg, fruit, brown bread, coffee.  Again witht the coffee. We checked out and then ran to find a shirt for Hugo to wear to the wedding.  Then off back to Ennis where we were to pick up Mary and the gang and head out to Doolin to catch the ferry to the Aran Islands.  Apart from getting lost about 2 times and calling Mary about 5 times, we made it to the the ferry and departed at 1:00 (or thereabouts - as Pat McMahon said, Irish time can mean anything.  The old joke goes, the Kerryman walks into the bar and says, "What time does the half-twelve bus leave for town?"The boat ride was rough.  I couldn't remember if I got seasick or not. I don't. Hugo was calm as a cuccumber - sitting in the interior of the boat reading a book.  I stayed outside to get sprayed in the face and try to stay upright all the while watching the Spanish lady in front of me turn pale, then green, then greener.  She never did get sick although she was radiating unhappiness and glaring at the white plastic bag and her husband in succession.Inis Orrin is the smallest of the three Aran Islands - population around 300.  There is an Irish language college on the island in addition to the full time residents.  One of those charming residents talked us into paying him many euros to take an hour horse and trap ride around part of the island.  We went by the airstrip and through a maze of walls, little lakes and finally to an abandonded old fishing trawler that washed up on the shore in 1962 and has been rusting there ever since.  We continued on to the cemtery and the old castle on the hill.  Then off to the pub for toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and Guiness for the adults among us.We headed back to the mainland - the trip back considerably smoother but more crowded and oddly, wetter.  We stopped off in Kiilfenora to see some very old celtic crosses (12th cent.) and then went out to Jim Hehir's house where the clan had an impromptu feast put on by Jim and his wife.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245164244/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245164244/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hugoanddenis/4/1245164244/tpod.html Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:41:10 -0400 Back hom to Ireland - a wedding in Tuscany

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Clifden, Western Ireland, Ireland

And drove right into the rain of Connemara. Well, to be fair, it wasn't raining for the first half of our day as we drove through chaaarrrrrmmmiiinnnng little villages, past sheep cavorting and horses nibbling grasses at the roadside. Really. At one point, we were convinced we had wondered into a Peter Jackson movie, - like a re-tooling of the Lord of the Rings complete with unbelievable rock formations and grassy outcroppings with peat bricks stacked neatly against the brilliant green backdrop.  We came here to Galway after spending the first 4 days in Ennis which is the biggest city in the county of Clare.  Galway is the next county north of Clare and is very different in terms of population and feeling.  Galway City feels a bit like an overgrown frat town - many many pubs, street musicians, bongo players, young 20 somethings out for their first European vacation - drinking unsupervised and experiencing the frisson of meeting other young 20 somethings from other lands.  We're actually not staying in Galway City but in the first suburb out of it called Salthill which was built up as a resort area a la Brighton, back in the 60s.  It's about a 20 minute walk from Salthill to the centre of Galway and on the way you pass Galway Bay. The promenade feels like any promenade anywhere - are we in Bombay with the Queen's Necklace, the Quai des Anglais in Nice?  Oh no, look at all those very white joggers with ruddy faces!  We're in Ireland.
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