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We left Venice yesterday, beginning an adventure of trying to get to Salzburg.  No one at the bus terminal seemed to know anything about a bus going to Austria, and only after going to the train station did I figure out how to get to Salzburg.  It's not a particularly interesting story, so suffice it to say we're in Salzburg now.  We came here mostly for the Sound of Music tour, but the city and surrounding areas are beautiful enough to make the trip.  Some pictures by Vanessa, some by me.

 

The [evening] view from our hotel room at Hotel Colombina

 

 

A water taxi ride through the canals of Venice

 

 

Our visit to a glassmaking workshop on the island of Murano (expensive…)

 

 

Another water taxi

 

 

St. Mark's

 

 

Insalata di polipi alla veneziana (octopus salad Venetian-style)

 

 

Carpaccio di branzino (carpaccio of sea bass)

 

 

Vanessa, somewhere in Venice

 

 

Gragnano linguine with fresh seafood

 

 

Tasting of fish starters (clockwise starting at bottom: smoke salmon, fried sardine, octopus, shrimp, white bait, two more kinds of sardine, and smoked tuna)

 

 

On the train to Salzburg

 

 

The traditional Tafelspitz (boiled beef)

 

 

Wienerschnitzel

 

 

There is no escape…

 

 

Two kinds of Mozartkugeln (pistachio center, marzipan, chocolate)

 

 

The view from the Festung Hohensalzburg

 

 

The Sound of Music Tour Bus

 

 

The gazebo from the Sound of Music

 

 

Overlooking the Mondsee (Moon Lake)

 

 

The church the wedding in the movie took place

 

 

Mirabell Gardens - One of the Do-Re-Mi song filming locations

 

 

Now to Hallstatt for two nights, then Munich for another two, then finally home...

 

 

 

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Paris

 

I left the camera at the apartment for most of the week, which is usually permanently connected to my hip.  Vanessa took most of the pictures you see in this entry, and I have to say it was nice not to have those extra six pounds weighing me down.  The week in Paris was casual, maybe one monument a day, the occasional sorbet, and daily macaron or two, of course.  For Vanessa and me, coming to Paris always means eating as well as we can.  Here are some of the gastro-highlights from the week.

 

 

Ladurée

 

 

Roast Lobster with artichoke and potato with Espelette pepper

 

 

Religieuse a la Rose - pastry filled with raspberries and rose-flavored cream

 

 

clockwise, starting bottom left: Caramel à la Fleur de Sel (Caramel w/ sea salt), Cassis Violette (Blackcurant Violet), Pétale de Rose (Rose petal), Réglisse (liquorice)

 

 

Roland Durand's Passiflore

 

 

 

 

 

Cote de bœf with a red wine reduction and potatoes cooked in salted butter

 

 

Pierre Herme's macarons - can't recall exactly, but there are combinations of strawberry, wasabi, apricot, saffron, blackcurrant, and chocolate are (or were) here

 

 

Berthillon - some of my favorites were passion fruit, rhubarb, raspberry and rose, and melon (cantaloupe)

 

Even McDonald's sells macarons.  BTW- they're terrible.

 

 

Next blog post - Venice!

 

 

 

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I was in Greece and Italy from June 24- July 3, on tour with some of my students and a handful of adults/parents.  My friends always say, "you're so lucky; you get to travel for free."  True, but not entirely.  I pay with stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep, all in trying to keep things free of problems.  There are always kids not getting along, or adults making the entire group late.  The one good thing about this particular tour was that we had no one was pick pocketed!

I've been here before, but here are Some highlights from this trip (other pictures also available at www.polychoir.com):

Wei at the Parthenon

 

On the Greek Island day cruise (going to Hydra)

 

On Hydra

 

The ruins at Delphi

 

Sorrento, Italy

 

Some of the best mozzarella I've ever had (made fresh on the farm we visited)

 

Pompeii

 

The abbey of Montecassino

 

The Spanish Steps

 

The [very crowded] Trevi Fountain

 

The Flavian Amphitheater

 

St. Peter's by night

 

St. Peter's Basilica

 

After our performance/participation at the 5pm Mass at St. Peter's

 

Wide angle shot of the Pantheon

 

My first "real" food of the tour - Gnocchi with fresh summer truffles

 

Beef carpaccio

 

Our last concert in Gallicano, and our awesome tour manager, Anna

 

 

 

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(two months late...)

I had a (very) short business trip to Athens during the last weekend of January.  I know, "What?  You're a teacher.  What kind of business trips do you take?"  I reply--"The free kinds."  :)

 

I was there from Friday morning through Monday morning, but the travel time was almost as long as my actual time in Athens.

 

Time in Country - a little less than 72 hours

Time in Transit - 38 hours

 

Despite this schedule, I shouldn't complain.  I had a completely free day on Sunday to myself, and most of Friday.  The rest of the time was spent orienting myself with the city, and primarily, inspecting several potential performances venues for Poly's performance tour this summer.  On Sunday, I actually found a Baptist church service in English to attend.  It was small, but nice.

 

The view from my hotel room

 

The unfortunate scaffolding at the Parthenon

 

The new Acropolis Museum

 

The Athens flea market...

 

...where they sell anything and everything.

 

And of course, what Europen city would be complete without illegal immigrants selling fake designer goods?

 

The terrace restaurant at my hotel

 

 

 

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