a quick story that served as my first reminder in italy that the world is full of good people. i was trying to get on a city bus to get to my accommodation, which is about 6km from the centre of prato, the city where i find myself enjoying many italian delights (more on that later).
i could not find the right bus stop for the bus i needed to take. finally, i decided to go to the nearest stop and ask a person standing there; incidentally, it turns out that i do not speak an exemplary form of italian...she couldn't help me, but suggested i wait until the bus arrived and ask the driver, who was likely to know. on her advice, i waited briefly; when the bus, arrived, she asked the driver (on my behalf) where i needed to go. he promptly loaded me onto his bus and proceeded, stop by stop, to write down specific directions for me. he dropped me off at precisely the bus stop i needed to be at, equipped with the name, direction, and time of the bus that i needed to get on. of course, i made it safely back to my abode.
as for prato, located in the tuscany region about 30 km from firenze (florence); it is an old city whose downtown core is still surrounded by its original wall (built for protection). it's economy was built largely on textiles, but it also offers famous chocolate and biscuits (like biscotti) to the world. in the centre of the city, the third largest in the region, there are many magnificant buildings, including a castle from the 1200's, an archive with the most complete set of mercantile documentation that exists in europe, and a cathedral with an outside turret designed by donatello. the cathedral of saint stephen contains the reported garter belt of the virgin mary; people gather in the square in front of the cathedral on 5 days of the year to see the garter, which is kept under 3 locks - one key is kept by the cathedral's bishop and the other two by the city's mayor as the representative of the people. quaint stone streets lined with shops, restaurants, and gelaterias twist around each other, ultimately leading out through about 5 gateways that allow people and cars to pass from the city centre to greater prato and, ultimately, the rest of italy.
tomorrow, i will begin the next leg of my adventure from the seat of my bike!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
ruger in the streets of montreal
i am at the beginning of an adventure; it started in montreal last wednesday, has seen me flit through ottawa, arnprior (or rhoddy's bay more specifically), and kingston. this weekend i will head to northern ontario (which is not really that far north, but is considered such by southern ontario), before hopping on a plane to firenze, italy for 3 1/2 weeks. my time in italy will include a conference, a meeting, and about 9 days of cycling. it might not be difficult to figure out which part i'm most excited for...
coming to kingston was prompted both by a visit with my family, and by my plan to leave my dog with the family while i'm overseas. traveling with ruger means that he too visited montreal, ottawa, and so on. i have been many places with ruger, but he is not really a city dog. crowds make him nervous, and he doesn't speak french very well. so, it is with pleasure and amazement that i report how successful our montreal adventure was.
first, my friend and i found an amazing little b&b to stay in that allowed me to have ruger (= no tent)! the alacocque b&b is wonderfully located on rue st. urbaine, only about 6 blocks from the heart of old montreal. it's surrounded by great restaurants, and sits about 3 blocks from parc mont royal. we had a full apartment with 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen, a fenced in back yard, and a living room. i will stay there again and encourage you to consider it for your next visit too.
next, it seems that montreal is full of dog-lovers! i am biased, but ruger is a beautiful dog who often draws attention from passersby. that said, i have never seen the likes of the responses he received in montreal. people would stop and watch him walk by. people would cross the street to pet him. people talked to, and about ruger. interestingly, people would often pay very close attention to him without ever saying a word to me. this practice taught me something about silent admiration.
when you travel with a dog, you see a place through different eyes; you also adjust your plans to suit the dog. we spent more time than we might otherwise have in parc mont royal, but that was perfect. we ate on dog-friendly patios, including at a delicious vegetarian restaurant called chuchai. it's on rue st. denis, and offers a full menu of vegetarian dishes with different faux meats (i.e., vegetarian duck, vegetarian shrimp). i would typically not go out of my way for such fare; if i wanted to eat duck, i would. that said, we ordered a "duck" dish and it was outstanding! instead of going out at night, we cavorted with some of my montreal friends in the cozy of the fenced in back yard at our b&b.
so, while i'm not necessarily contemplating a life of traveling with a canine sidekick, i will say that it's an adventure i'll be willing to undertake again.
coming to kingston was prompted both by a visit with my family, and by my plan to leave my dog with the family while i'm overseas. traveling with ruger means that he too visited montreal, ottawa, and so on. i have been many places with ruger, but he is not really a city dog. crowds make him nervous, and he doesn't speak french very well. so, it is with pleasure and amazement that i report how successful our montreal adventure was.
first, my friend and i found an amazing little b&b to stay in that allowed me to have ruger (= no tent)! the alacocque b&b is wonderfully located on rue st. urbaine, only about 6 blocks from the heart of old montreal. it's surrounded by great restaurants, and sits about 3 blocks from parc mont royal. we had a full apartment with 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen, a fenced in back yard, and a living room. i will stay there again and encourage you to consider it for your next visit too.
next, it seems that montreal is full of dog-lovers! i am biased, but ruger is a beautiful dog who often draws attention from passersby. that said, i have never seen the likes of the responses he received in montreal. people would stop and watch him walk by. people would cross the street to pet him. people talked to, and about ruger. interestingly, people would often pay very close attention to him without ever saying a word to me. this practice taught me something about silent admiration.
when you travel with a dog, you see a place through different eyes; you also adjust your plans to suit the dog. we spent more time than we might otherwise have in parc mont royal, but that was perfect. we ate on dog-friendly patios, including at a delicious vegetarian restaurant called chuchai. it's on rue st. denis, and offers a full menu of vegetarian dishes with different faux meats (i.e., vegetarian duck, vegetarian shrimp). i would typically not go out of my way for such fare; if i wanted to eat duck, i would. that said, we ordered a "duck" dish and it was outstanding! instead of going out at night, we cavorted with some of my montreal friends in the cozy of the fenced in back yard at our b&b.
so, while i'm not necessarily contemplating a life of traveling with a canine sidekick, i will say that it's an adventure i'll be willing to undertake again.
the plan
first, i have taken to typing without capitals. this goes against all of my grammatically anal tendencies, but for some reason, i like it better this way. i've also found that after typing on keyboards around the world, finding the key combination that allows for capitals can be a bugger. so out they go.
now, it says something about my personality that i feel compelled to have a plan for my blog. as much as i wish to claim large doses of spontenaity in my personality, i really like plans too. i think balance is important. so, that said, here's my plan. i'm going to try and post partly about my life and partly about my research; hopefully, as i become more entrenched in my research, it won't also become my life, but that's for another day...
my research posts have 2 purposes. the first is that i think it will help my ideas evolve if i make an effort do write about them more than i do right now. the second is more important - it is to outstretch an invitation to you. i am going to post about my research in the form of questions that i am pondering, connections i'm trying to build, and struggles i'm facing. i invite you to be a part of the conversation because many heads are better than one.
my life posts also have 2 purposes. the first is to invest more time in connecting (albeit in a one-sided way) with people who are important to me, and who i do not see or communicate with as often as i would like. the second is to avoid the possibility of future regret for not having written it down - whether or not it seems to matter.
now, it says something about my personality that i feel compelled to have a plan for my blog. as much as i wish to claim large doses of spontenaity in my personality, i really like plans too. i think balance is important. so, that said, here's my plan. i'm going to try and post partly about my life and partly about my research; hopefully, as i become more entrenched in my research, it won't also become my life, but that's for another day...
my research posts have 2 purposes. the first is that i think it will help my ideas evolve if i make an effort do write about them more than i do right now. the second is more important - it is to outstretch an invitation to you. i am going to post about my research in the form of questions that i am pondering, connections i'm trying to build, and struggles i'm facing. i invite you to be a part of the conversation because many heads are better than one.
my life posts also have 2 purposes. the first is to invest more time in connecting (albeit in a one-sided way) with people who are important to me, and who i do not see or communicate with as often as i would like. the second is to avoid the possibility of future regret for not having written it down - whether or not it seems to matter.
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