Europe

Chania

Posted by Mark Sullivan on September 25, 2018
Posted in: Europe, Greece. Leave a Comment

Having great Cretan food with Athena and Ann

When we were visiting Boston last spring we pleaded with our old neighbors Bart and Ann to meet us in Greece this fall. They were interested but non-committal at the time. Some time later their friends from California, Ken and Athena, also prodded them to come to Greece. So they gave in and set plans in motion. The result is that we all just flew into Chania, Crete and took up residence in a lovely apartment overlooking the harbor for a few days.

Elegant Venetian-era doorways in our neighborhood. This one features Roman script above the door.

It was not just any old apartment, but part of a lovingly restored “palazzo” built on top of Chania’s Byzantine walls during the Venetian rule of Crete somewhere in the 13th to 17th centuries. The building served as the residence of the Venetian rulers until Chania fell to the Turks in 1645, when it became the residence of the Turkish Pasha. The house survived heavy bombing in World War II and was eventually restored by an American painter named Dorothy Andrews. Today it is an elegant monument to all of those eras. Our apartment’s stately rooms and huge rooftop terrace offered sweeping views of the Chania harbor.

It was a wonderful place to reconnect with Ann and Bart — and to get to know their friends Ken and Athena. We also got lots of special insight into Greek food, language, and culture from Athena, who is a native of Greece and a very fun-loving person. (You might guess that Athena Georgakopoulos is Greek, no?) So we had a wonderful few days of socializing, playing cards, sitting on the beach, sipping wine, and exploring Cretan cuisine.

From here Jim and I will stop in the Cretan capital of Heraklion for a few days before rejoining Bart and Ann in the eastern part of the island.

The view of the harbor from our rooftop terrace, with an Ottoman-era mosque in the foreground

We had the top floor and the roof terrace of this magnificent old Venetian palazzo built on top of the Byzantine walls

The harbor was magnificent at sunset

Like Cyprus, Crete has lots of friendly cats everywhere, including this doorway a few houses down from our apartment

Jim in front of one of the entrances to our building

Bart, Jim, Athena, Ken, and Ann strolling through Chania after dinner

Me checking out the sunset from the terrace

We spent two days chilling out on this beach just a 20-minute walk from our apartment

That’s me and Athena out on the terrace

Vienna

Posted by Mark Sullivan on September 7, 2018
Posted in: Austria, Europe. 1 comment

The spires of the Rathaus, Vienna’s magnificent city hall

To me, Vienna does two things extremely well: imperial splendor and art.

We made a little four-day stop here only to break up our travel. We wanted to get from Paris to Cyprus but were surprised to find no direct flights. We hate long days of connecting flights, so I researched all of the places you could connect, and we decided Vienna would make a nice stop along the way. We were here two years ago, and it’s a place that could keep you busy for a long time, what with all the art and imperial splendor.

The weather was not super cooperative here, but in Vienna even rainy days are elegant

Two years ago we made a hotel choice that played well to the imperial splendor side: The Hotel Imperial. And we repeated that choice this time, even though it’s not our typical style of hotel. The Imperial is Vienna’s grande dame, loaded up with sweeping marble staircases, ornate ceilings, and crystal chandeliers. And like last time, we cashed in some Starwood certificates to upgrade to a lavish suite. It’s a splurge that makes old-world Vienna really come alive.

On the art side, this city is also just packed with treasures. And they are not just dusty old works from a long time ago (though there are a ton of those). Twenty years ago, the city introduced the Museumsquartier, a collection of renovated baroque buildings plus a couple modern buildings, that house a whole bunch of new museums, covering all aspects of contemporary art. This huge complex of museums complements the city’s massive collections of more traditional art in places like the Kuntshistorisches Museum and the Albertina. All of this kept us incredibly busy.

I have to put in a special plug for the Leopold Museum, one that I had not previously visited. It was built to house the once-private art collection of Rudolf Leopold, an ophthalmologist who began collecting works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, arguably Austria’s most famous painters, in the late 19th century. He bought Schiele’s paintings on the cheap, and the museum now houses the world’s largest collection of them. We spent hours in this place until we were wiped out.

The staircase leading to our room at the Hotel Imperial. Did I mention that the hotel captured old world Viennese splendor?

Imperial splendor all over this town

Jim managed to squeeze in some reading in a lovely park when the rain let up

One of Gustav Klimt’s beautiful portraits, before his work became much more abstract

Klimt also painted many spectacular landscapes

Some of the many eerie self-portraits by Klimt’s protégé, Egon Schiele, who lived pretty scandalously and died at just 28

My favorite haunting self-portrait of Egon Schiele, in front of a Chinese lantern plant

Another amazing special exhibit in the Leopold museum included Lenin by Andy Warhol

We also greatly enjoyed MUMOK, the museum of modern art, which featured an extensive exhibit of musical video productions that is hard to explain but fascinating. Here a viewer enjoys a video of Yoko Ono sort of screeching for two minutes. That may sound odd, but it was somehow hard to stop watching.

Jim actually made it to the Kuntshistorisches museum, where he enjoyed part of the extensive ancient Egyptian collection, including this amazing hippopotamus from about 2000 BC. (Given all the competing museums I did not even make it to the Kuntshistorisches this time, though in fairness to me, I have been there three times before over the past 34 years.)

This Caravaggio in the Kuntshistorisches caused scandal because of a feature that a painter had never before included in a religious scene. (See the next photo.)

Yes, the peasants have dirty feet

The Imperial Hotel also features a rarity in Europe: a bar that makes great cocktails. And in this setting!

Cheers!

On a slightly more downscale note, these Viennese make some pretty great wieners!

Paris 7.0, Week 2

Posted by Jim St. George on September 3, 2018
Posted in: Europe, France. Leave a Comment

Keith & Nic enjoying Paris

A year ago or so we got an invitation to a wedding. An old great friend of ours from graduate school, Keith, was finally marrying Nic, the guy he’d been dating for the last seven years. We really wanted to go – they’re great friends and great people – but we really didn’t want to fly back from the Middle East, where we would be in November when the wedding would take place. What to do?

Suddenly the answer occurred to us. For the same money we would pay to fly back for the wedding we could fly them to Europe and make it their wedding present. And as a bonus, of course, we would get far more Keith-and-Nic time than if we were just two of the hundred-plus people at their wedding. Perfect! Needless to say, when we suggested that we would bring them to Paris (or somewhere else if they preferred) for their wedding present they liked the plan too.

Four of us enjoying the gardens of Versailles

So fast forward to late summer 2018 and here we are in Paris for a week with Keith & Nic. Still staying at the Agora St. Germain – which gets a little small after two weeks! – and still enjoying Paris. Parks, museums, cafés, long walks; beautiful late summer days in a beautiful city.

And while much of it was the same stuff we always do, Keith & Nic inspired us to enjoy a couple touristy adventures too. One day we took the train out to Versailles to visit the great palace and wander through the spectacular gardens. And on our last evening in Paris they had booked an hour-long river cruise on the Seine. Just the sort of über-touristy thing we would never do on our own … but we loved it. There were nice assigned seats facing the windows, a half bottle of red wine for each couple, and even a light meal served. Such a pleasant way to watch the city flow by (OK, we were flowing by, but whatever) and chat and just enjoy the good life.

On the boat with a little wine, a little food, and great friends

So that was our second week in Paris. From here Keith and Nic are continuing to Barcelona (our second-favorite city after Paris) on their own and we’re passing through Vienna on our way to Cyprus.

One of our favorite walks in Paris is along an elevated park, an old abandoned railroad bed. We’ve walked it many times over the years and always love the many little spots to sit and while away the time.

Traveling with Keith & Nic was great. Part of what we all liked was that there was plenty of together time but we also had lots of time on our own. My time on my own pretty much consists of going to Luxembourg Gardens and reading with this view.

Or the Gardens of the Champs-Élysées

Off on our own one morning Mark & I took a walk we’ve never done before. Down river, below the Eiffel Tower, there’s a long and narrow man-made island called the Isle of Swans and at the end of it is a small replica of the Statue of Liberty, which was of course a gift from France in honor of America’s centenary. How cute is that?

While there was plenty of time on our own, in the evenings we always regrouped for drinks and dinner. Here Nic & Keith are savoring our new discovery, the Martini Royale. Equal parts Martini Bianco & Proseco, with lots of ice and a dash of fresh lime juice, it’s wonderfully refreshing and low-carb. We’ll never be quite the same after this discovery.

Lots of reasons to love Paris

Mark loves these bicycle shots

One morning Mark & I were off to the Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary art museum. There were lots of huge installations, many of them genuinely interesting. This display of 40 clown sculptures was notably eerie.

Place des Vosges, dating from the early 17th century, was the first planned town square in Paris

A view of Paris from the elevated parkway we love so much

At first I thought this was just a random picture from Park Monceau that Mark had taken until I recognized that little figure in the left corner. It’s me!

A couple days after walking the elevated park alone Mark & I took Nic & Keith there so they could enjoy it too

I’ve seen this fountain at the bottom of Luxembourg Gardens a bunch but I don’t think I’d ever noticed the dedication before. It’s dedicated to the great explorers Marco Polo and Robert Cavelier de la Salle. And while everyone has heard of Marco Polo, de la Salle isn’t quite so famous. Unless, of course, you’re from La Salle, MI, as Mark is!

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Nic, Mark, and Keith out in the gardens of Versailles

And finally, Keith and that big metal tower as we cruised by on our tourist boat