The venue was beautiful as these shots attest…

It was great to have both our families…

…and friends gathered in PEI.

And of course things would have been awfully dull without all the kids…

Of course there were a few speeches…

A jelly bean counting contest won convincingly by Kohl.

And a serenade from two future rock stars (ladies please call me to discuss contract terms at your convenience).

A great band (with a special guest on the horn)…

Some dancing…

And of course as soon as we could we ditched our fancy duds
and headed to the beach for a bonfire.

We had a great time and hope you all did too. Thanks for making it a special day for both of us.

Cheers,

Ali & Mark

Our last stop was back in London where it all began. We spent Monday in the British Museum which we had skipped our first time through and yesterday we hopped our last train for a while to Canterbury.

The British Musuem is much too big to see in one day however we got a good taste of it with a focus on Greek and Roman antiquities as we thought they’d resonant with us after our travels in Italy and Greece. Before we got into the museum however we encountered these great African sculptures made from decomissioned weapons…

Of course once we entered the museum our first stop was the Rosetta Stone probably it’s most famous treasure…

From there we wondered through the antiquities galleries paying particular attention to the frieze’s and statues from the Parthenon in Athens that were ‘acquired’ by Lord Elgin. The Greeks say they were ’stolen’ as Elgin bought them from the Ottoman’s (who ruled Greece at the time and had for 400 years or so, but weren’t of course Greek) and want them back…

The museum is bursting at the seams with other great Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman treasure’s which I’m going to have to let speak for themselves if we don’t want to miss our plane…

George and I tried to figure out a way to heist this one of Bacchus as we thought it belonged in a bar rather than a museum…

We spent yesterday in Canterbury, setting for the Canterbury Tales and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The catherdral house’s the grave of the only King Henry I think we missed at Westminster, Henry IV.

The place is most famous of course as the site where Thomas Becket was murdered on the orders of Henry II.

The most interesting thing to me however were these two towers at the western end. One was built in 1832 to replace a 1070 original, the other was built in 1434. Can you tell the difference? I couldn’t. The one on the left is the new one.

Beyond the Cathedral the town has lot’s of well preserved medieval buildings including the earliest Dominican monastery in England, and a hotel that Henry II gave to Thomas’ widow as penance after he had him whacked.

Back in London we grabbed a final pint at George’s favourite pub in Nottinghill…

Well, that’s it. We’re back to the ‘real world’ Thursday. Thanks for all of your comments and e-mails they really helped us feel that we were connected with everyone back home. Hope you enjoyed seeing the sights with us.

Until we rack up a few more frequent flyer miles and can come back….

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

We’ve been in Santorini since Saturday and everything has been perfect so far; we�ve been sailing around the caldera (the volcano), to a 60th birthday party in an authentic Greek taverna complete with belly dancer and baglamas music, swum out to an island church and watched the sunset from the most perfect patio on the planet.

Let’s start with sailing around the caldera on a 41 foot catamaran. Ted and his wife Deena as well as their ‘trainee’ crew (Deena’s pregnant so they’re going to have to go shoreside for a bit) took us sailing around the island, showing us not only the beaches that you can reach by land but also a few that are only accessible by boat as well as the Indian rock and the ‘hot’ springs. I put hot in quotes as they were really luke warm springs at best (the water was about 16c in the caldera generally and might have gotten up to 17 or 18 in the spring). However the views from the sea were to die for, the lunch was extraordinary (take it from someone who has tried to cook on a Force 10 BBQ and a 2 burner galley stove at sea that these folks worked miracles with prawns and other fresh seafood aboard ship) and the crew was always ready with a cold drink and an insightful explanation about what we were seeing.

I’d highly recommend these folks (http://www.santorinisailing.com) to anyone who is lucky enough to find themselves in Santorini.

On the cruise we were also lucky enough to have great company, particularly Steve who was celebrating his 60th birthday and joined us along with his friend Ruthie on our swim to the hotsprings. Later that day Steve called to invite us to his birthday bash at Santorini Mu. Santorini Mu is an authentic Greek Taverna complete with baglamas (a kind of greek ukalele) music by Michaledes and as a treat for Steve’s birthday the island’s top belly dancer. We had a great evening with Steve, his wife Jeanne; their friends Ruthie and Dov and of course Alex. Alex is the owner of the towns best jewlery shop (Oro) (and we hear a pretty good hotel as well) who had arranged the party and polished off a bottle of wine with us while cleaning Ali’s ring before escorting us to the party. Alex is on the left and Steve on the right in the first shot below.

We also spent alot of time exploring the great shops and galleries in Oia and of course took a swim out to the island church from Oia’s own beach.

We also spent alot of time on the fabulous patio of Pelicanos which had great beer and better views…

On our next to last day we borrowed Tony’s Peugeot (cabriolet no less) and headed for the black sand beach on the other side of the island.

I’ve mentioned the view right?

Well the only thing that surpassed the views was the service, great food and great wine we got everytime we turned around from the Sea Captain’s House and their restaurant’s Ambrosia and Ambrosia & Nectar. Tony, Antonio, Simona and Lilly; all of you were a key part of making this one of the best weeks Ali and I have ever had.

When we woke up yesterday back in London the first thing Ali said to me, still half asleep was “Where’s Simona?”, wondering how she was going to make it through the day without breakfast served with a smile at “our place”.

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

P.S. Happy (belated) Birthday to Amanda and Happy (a little early) Birthday to Joanne…

P.P.S Even our exit from Oia was ‘post card’ perfect. Our bags were taken to the cab by this four legged porter…

We were married yesterday evening on a terrace overlooking the sea. I’m sure we’ll have a chance to share more pictures, video, etc., with all of you but for now here’s a taste compliments of our friend Antonio who snapped these impromptu shots. I only hope the ‘official’ photos turn out half as well. As I’m sure the pictures will attest the day was perfect, the bride was gorgeous and everything went exactly as we had hoped.

Thanks for all of your kind wishes on the phone, in e-mail and on the site. Look forward to seeing you all and sharing with you more of our special day.

Yamas (Greek ‘Cheers’),

Mark & Ali

Anyway, on to Athens where the views were also inspiring. The city is dominated by the Arcopolis which you can catch glimpses of from anywhere in town. Spotting the Parthenon while wandering the streets of the city is great fun and never failed to make us stop for a moment and contemplate the history and majesty of the place.

Of course the architecture is equally impressive close up.

While the Acropolis is definately the highlight, there is history around every corner. Here are just a few of a couple hundred shots we took as we wandered the city.

We took a side trip to Delphi the day before yesterday and the rugged beauty of the place combined with the well preserved architecture are a must see… Though George was disappointed that the Oracle waffled when he asked about a lady monkey in his future.

While the art and architecture are great what really sets Greece apart for me has been the people. Everywhere we’ve been the people have been helpful and friendly but the Greeks are in a class of their own. Just two examples to illustrate the point.

First after discovering that my current flip flops were rather blister inducing I set out to buy new sandals. We bought them from this fellow who’s father and fathers’ father were all sandal makers (his father is also a renowned greek poet). They adjusted them to fit my lopsided feet, added a strap and told us tales of the famous and everyday people who’ve come in to buy sandles there since the 1920’s.

The second example is Panos Plegas, a Greek ex-pat now living in Sweden who we met at the airport while wating for our flight to Santorini. Panos gave us lots of advice on what to see in Greece and when he left to catch his flight gave us a bottle of his family’s wine.

All in all we’ve had a fantastic experience in Greece so far and given the start we’re off to on Santorini we expect things to only get better…

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

P.S. Happy Mother’s day to all the Mom’s out there, particularly of course PEI Mom and Momma Betsie. And of course George adds Momma Nancy.

P.P.S. Happy Birthday wishes to Michelle and Kelli.

Our first morning we got the Circumvesuviana train for Pompeii. Pompeii as you probably know was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, but this was actually it’s second bit of bad luck, it had been partially destroyed by an earthquake 16 years earlier and the citizens were just finishing rebuilding when the Vesuvius dumped ash on them. The site was discovered in 1594 but excavation didn’t start until 1748 and continues today. I like to think that the first place to be dug out was this ancient tavern..

Of course they’ve uncovered lots of other buildings including this bakery…

.. a few temples,

and this remarkably intact theatre…

Vesuvius looms over the town and considering that until it erupted in 1944 it had a huge smoke plume you’ve got to question the sanity of the people who founded the town.

George however was not afraid…

After a few hours in Pompeii we caught a bus half way up Vesuvius. There used to be a chairlift and they began construction of a funicular however the bright lights at Greenpeace protested it so now instead of an electric funicular they have dozens of diesel tour buses go up the mountain every day and then people hike the last 1.5 km up the volcano. We didn’t have a lot of time to get to the top, take in the view and get down so it was a good thing that we’ve been using the Cathedral Stairmaster lately.

While there may not be a big plume of smoke anymore the volcano is definitely not extinct.

The next day we set off for Capri; the government run ferries didn’t look much better than these so we took a hydrofoil which got us there in about 45 minutes.

The view of Naples from the boat was great…

But didn’t hold a candle to the view approaching Capri from the sea…

The town was gorgeous on land as well.

After a quick drink we headed for the beach where I got right to it.

Ali was a little more tentative…

but soon was right at home (except of course for shouting ‘Don’t take my picture’).

Mid-afternoon we left the beach and headed up the mountain to see the other side of the island.

The views were great but I’m sure nothing compared to the view this fellow had off his port side.

After a great day we headed back for Naples. We spent our last day in Naples wandering around the shops and just soaking it in before getting a train to Rome and our plane to Athens. We were both sad to leave Italy as we enjoyed every minute of it. We hope to be back soon to explore further…

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

P.S. Sara, I’m glad the girls enjoyed the lobster and that the seasons off to a good start. Take pity on us poor landlocked ‘upper’ Canadians and save a few; pretty please?

Over four days starting Sunday the 25th we covered a lot of ground in Rome. And we had to move quick to even get a taste of this great city, founded on my birthday (April 21) in 753 B.C. by Romulus (the craftier of the two kids under the wolf in our pictures from Siena).

Our first full day in Rome was spent mainly with the relics of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. First stop the Colosseum. The Colosseum was started by Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 on the grounds of his predecessor Nero’s private lake which Vespasian had filled in as perhaps just a touch too ostentatious. Vespasian didn’t make it for the opening in AD 80, his son Titus did the honours which lasted for 100 days and nights and consumed 5,000 animals and around 6,000 gladiators in front of about 50,000 screaming fans. The building is in remarkable shape considering it’s age and the fact that it was used as a quarry for marble and travertine to be used in other buildings. And it’s a good thing to as Bede said “while the Colosseum stands, Rome shall stand, but when the Colosseum falls, Rome shall fall - and when Rome falls, the world will end”. George was right at home though he cheered for the lions rather than the gladiators.

Our next stop was the Roman Forum. The Forum was the heart of Rome; religious centre, parliament, and stock exchange all rolled into one… I haven’t had a chance to sort these into which buildings are which but I think you’ll enjoy them anyway…

From the forum we walked up the Palatine Hill, home of Rome’s aristocrats during the Republic and Empire.

Next stop was the famous Trevi Fountain where legend has it you must throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain if you want to return to Rome. Sounds like a legend invented specially for the tourists but we did it anyway…

We devoted Tuesday to the Vatican.

On our way there we were serenaded by these guys on the subway.

We started with St. Peter’s Square. The line up here looked horrific but only took about 20 minutes or so. Note to other visitors to the Vatican: once you’re through security the line splits into two queues, one for St. Peter’s Basilica and one to climb to the Cupola of the Basilica. We took the Basilica line and once we’d seen the Basilica we had to line up all over again to view the Cupola. If you do it the other way around (start with the Cupola) the stairs back down let you out in the Basilica without lining up again.

We’ve seen a lot of churches in our travels so far but in terms of splendour and gilt this one is head and shoulders above the rest.

This statue of St. Peter is worn down from having his feet kissed and rubbed by pilgrims over the last few centuries.

This sculpture by our old friend Michelangelo is the only signed piece of art in St. Peters. He didn’t sign it before delivery but snuck in after it had been installed to add his name as various other sculptors were claiming it as their own.

After that we climbed to the top of the basilica for the great views, inside and out.

Of course no visit to the Vatican would be complete without seeing our buddy Mike’s masterwork the frescos and roof of the Sistine Chapel. You aren’t supposed to take photos in here so I’ve risked fire and brimstone to bring you these…

The rest of the Pope’s art collection isn’t too shabby either…

Wednesday we started the day hanging out on the Spanish Steps before spending the day wandering around the city just soaking it in. We saw the original Jesuit Church, the Victor Emmanuel II Monument, the Piazza del Popola, The Pantheon and the area known as Testevere. The amazing thing is the sheer number of monuments and ruins that you stumble across just walking around the city, there’s a pleasant surprise around every second corner…

Thursday we took the day off to just eat gelati in honour of Kohl’s birthday.
Kohl, gelati is Italian ice cream and they make it a lot better than we do and in an amazing number of flavours, last night I had tangerine and green apple. Well not quite the whole day off, while we did of course have gelati (in fact I don’t think we’ve missed a day since our second day in Venice), we also visited the San Callisto catacombs. No pictures inside the catacombs but a few from the walk there along the ancient Via Appia Antica. The catacombs are where early Christians held their religious ceremonies and buried their dead before Christianity was legally tolerated and then adopted by the Roman Empire. In San Callisto alone (it’s the largest of a half dozen catacombs) they’ve found more than 500,000 bodies, including a dozen saints and early popes. Our fantastic guide was a retired American priest.

Late in the day Thursday we hopped the train for Naples, er Neaoplis er Napoli.

As I mentioned above we’re in Athens now and I owe you all updates on Naples, Pompeii and Capri but they’ll have to wait as we’ve lost an hour coming here and it’s getting late.

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

P.S. Mike we got your recommendation on the Giolotti’s gelateria after we’d left Rome, but as you can see above we’ve been indulging in it frequently. So far we’d say Venice would win the gelati crown if we were the judges…

When we last updated you we were in Florence. We took two day trips from there before heading to Rome where we’ve been for the last two days. Rome is fantastic and they’re right when they say a lifetime is not enough to see all the sights but that’s another update.

Our first trip was to the small town (~50,000) of Siena. Siena was Florence’s arch rival in the the 12th and 13th century but Siena didn’t have the quite the political connections of the Medici who ruled Florence so in the end the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V handed Siena over to Cosimo Medici as a gift in 1555. Siena today is a ‘company’ town with the bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (founded in 1472) being the main employer besides tourism.

We spent the early part of our day in Siena’s main square. The building at the lower end of the square is the Palazzo Comunale, the tower is the Torre del Mangia. The people you see waving the flags are supporters of the Siena football team who had a match that evening and hold a rally in the square before each game. Kind of an Italian tailgate, though they might want to import a Browns fan or two to show them how to take things to the next level. Anyone know if Siena won last week?

After the square we went wandering outside the town and got pleasantly lost in the Tuscan countryside.

We managed to find our way back in time for a late lunch and then off to you guessed it the cathedral. This one was begun in 1196 with the first phase completed in 1215. The mosaics decorating it are from the 19th century however. The other thing you’ll notice is the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus usually associated with Rome. Legend has it that Siena was founded by one of Remus’ sons so the wolf is everywhere in Siena as well.

All in all a great day, with great weather in a wonderful quaint little town. Our only regret was that we missed their famous horse race around the square, but we’ll be back for it soon. One last Siena shot that I think in a strange way captures the place.

The following day we hoped the train for Pisa. Had a great train ride, we sat across from two American’s and a Japanese lady who were all studying painting in Florence and they gave us a few good tips for Napoli and also helped us with a few additional phrases in Italian.

Of course in Pisa the thing to see is the leaning tower or Torre Pendente. Like I expect most people I had always thought (the few times I ever thought about it) that the tower must have once been straight and started to lean over time as the foundation shifted. Wrong. The tower started leaning almost immediately while it was being built, by the time it had reached it’s third tier in fact. The architect (Bonanno Pisano) and his various sucessors tried to stop the lean without success. The tower today does however lean less than it used to. In 1998 cables were wrapped around it and soil from the north (high) side was removed, as a result the tower lost 40cm of it’s lean, down to 4.1 meters off centre at the top.

Of course Pisa, like every town in Italy (and a few in France) has a Piazza Girabaldi. And of course a problem with grafitti, I’m not a fan of grafitti at the best of times but the low quality of European grafitti combined with the quality of the art and architecture they deface really does grate. Either they need to import a few grafitti artists from New York or South Central or they need better cops.

That’s it for now, update you all again soon. Thanks for your good wishes and comments and a Happy (Belated) Birthday to Cousin Daan.

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

P.S. Of course George pulled a ‘Kong’ on the leaning tower. He says it was one of the nicest views he’s seen so far and plans to help out the next time they need the tower straightened.

From there we were off to the Galleria dell’Accademia where Michelangelo’s David is housed. You aren’t allowed to take pictures in the museum so here’s my picture of the post card I bought and also of the replica of David from the Palazzo della Signoria down the street.

David was commissioned in 1501 when Michelangelo was 26. It was chiselled from a leftover block of marble which had previously been worked on by various other artists. It’s very impressive though the scale seems off when you see it at eye level. The head and upper body are too small. Apparently this was Mike’s intention as he thought the statue would be mounted on a pedastal and therefore the upper body should appear farther away. Regardless it’s impressive in it’s detail, the finger nails, the veins on the neck, etc.

From the Academy it was off to the Ponte Vecchio, literally ‘ye olde bridge’ across the Arno. Before getting to the bridge I knew that it was the only one that the German’s hadn’t destroyed during their retreat in WW II, that it had been built in 1345 to replace an older Roman bridge destroyed in a flood and that it used to be home to butchers and tanners before the Medici kicked them out in favour of goldsmiths who were less odiferous and paid higher rent. What I didn’t know was that the focus of the bridge is now locks. Literally hundreds of locks put there by lovers who then toss the keys into the Arno to seal their love. Well, when in Rome, er Florence, do as the Romans, er Florentines. Please keep your ‘aww, shucks’ comments to yourselves.

The views from the bridge are great despite the tacky tourist shops and the guy trying to sell me one of his 30 genuine Louis Vuitton bags.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering from patio to patio until we came across a little art market. We loved the work of this fellow Vitaliano Iannettone and bought a great piece showing the Tuscan country side. More importantly he gave Ali a lesson.

All in all a great day…

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

P.S. We also visited a small museum dedicated to the machines of Leonardo Da Vinci. George loved it!

P.P.S. Those of you in Toronto should go see our friend Joann in Problem Child & Criminal Genius at the Alumnae Theatre. More info here. I promise she’ll be great.
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Venezia was lovely once we found our way to our hotel. The streets are not numbered like anywhere else I’ve been in the world, instead each building has a unique number within the entire city. Our hotel was 4680, in the Sestiere San Marco which means it’s near San Marco Square but doesn’t help much after that. As an added bonus there are two sister hotels, The Bonvecchiati Hotel and the Palace Bonvecchiati both in the same area but on different streets. Anyway let’s just say it was an adventure schlepping two big suitcases up and down the narrow streets and stairways and I’d encourage future visitors to spring for the high priced (but direct) water taxi route. Once we got there the hotel was excellent. And my muscle memory of the adventure gave me a great deal of empathy for fellow suitcase luggers who we saw over the next few days. We helped three Canadian ladies find their hotel and assured them that it was a shared right of passage. Did I mention that it was raining?

We spent the first evening and the morning of the next day wondering the little streets and just soaking up the beauty of the place. Around every little bend was another quaint scene, whether a gondolier, flower boxes along the windows or the tilted facade of a 15th century mansion.

That first morning we also stopped for the most expensive coffee we’ve ever had. Just to sit in one of the Cafe’s in San Marco Square you’re in for 4.5 Euros a piece to pay for the band, add in 8 Euros per cappucino, 4 Euros per croissant and things add up quickly. Needless to say the next day we had breakfast at our hotel.

Of course if you’re in San Marco Square you have to feed the pigeons. I’m not the bird lover my dad is but this was pretty neat. Tried to get Ali to have a go but she was too scared that one of the pigeons might ‘let go’.

We also took the required gondola ride, which was really a special experience. From the gondola everything looks older and prettier some how. Our gondolier was great, pointing out the sights in heavily accented english. We both got a kick out of it when his wife called him on his cell phone and afterwards we noticed that every second gondolier we saw was on the phone.

The other highlight of our visit was yesterday, which was sunny and clear by the way, when we toured St. Mark’s Basilica. This is the most unique church we’ve seen so far in Europe. It’s outside is half ‘European’ half Byzantine and inside all of the walls and the ceiling are covered with mosaics showing the life of Christ and St. Mark. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside however we did get a few pictures of the outside mosaics which should give you a feel for it. The view over St. Mark’s Square from the basilica is also great.

After St. Mark’s we sat on a patio along one of the canals and soaked up the sun and the suds (it was my birthday after all) before hopping on a water bus and heading to the train station. Two and half hours later we were in Florence. We went out for a birthday dinner the highlight of which was the ‘Degustation for 2′ which is a fabulous new word we discovered, that basically means one of each desert. Thanks for all your birthday wishes here on the site and via e-mail; couldn’t really think of anything to wish for as we’re having the trip of a lifetime.

Cheers,

Mark & Ali

P.S. When George learned what they charge for a gondola ride he thought he’d set up shop in Venice. He didn’t do very well fiscally as his gondola was a little tiny and his Italian isn’t great but i think he had a good time anyway.