Carleen Dekarski – Page 7

Sunday arvo ponderings

December is here already. How did that creep up on me??? Proudly I can say that the nephews gifts are on their way to Oz, overseas Christmas cards have been written by yours truly and posted thanks to my lovely husband. Next comes the preparation for the work Christmas party. I am a bit of a Grinch when it comes to these things. I really find it stressful having to get all “girlified” and if I going to have to do it I would rather channel the elegance and class of Hepburn or Kelly. I think elegance is so much more appealing than bare boobs and legs. At least pick one to put on show, both is just plain scary. Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly were stunning, captivating women that, for me, exude both femininity and strength. Where did we lose that as women upon our journey? Have we lost it? We seem to spend so much time trying to physically equal ourselves with men and not celebrating and promoting the skills we bring to the table (no, I don’t literally mean the dining table, get over it!) We seem to be keen to push aside our own unique qualities and replace them with masculine traits. Then, we have the gall to expect our men to understand what we want when we continue to demean them and wear away at the qualities that make them complimentary to us.

So, for the sake of glamming it up, let it be to channel the awesomeness that was Hepburn and Kelly.

What’s on my bookshelf? A Little History of the World

I just finished reading “A little history of the world” by E H Gombrich. It is basically a history book for kids. Written in 1935 by a Austrian art historian it was originally produced in German. More recently it was re-released in English.
I really enjoyed it as an easy read. It focused on European history (from pre-historic to modern day) mainly as this is what has impacted him most plus doing a history of the whole world would surely mean years worth of reading.
Of course when it was first written back in 1935 there was a lot that wasn’t known at the time. However, in the recent English update he has added a last chapter correcting errors he had made now with hindsight to his advantage. I liked that. Often we think history is set in stone but it is only with distance from something that we can begin to understand particular motivations or situations differently.
I will be keeping this book on my shelf not for reference for historical facts but to see how history continues to be rounded and understood the further we move away from that point.

Kendal Mountain Festival 2009

Well the weekend in Kendal has been and gone. Despite the horrific flooding happening in the Cumbria region the festival continued as Kendal had not been terribly affected. They had a bit of flooding on the Thursday but no where near the devastation that was happening further into the Lake District.

We had originally planned to stay at the same B&B in Ambleside as last year but it was booked out. Thankfully this didn’t go ahead as we wouldn’t have been able to get into the area anyway as they were blocked off by flooding.

Friday morning we headed up to the Lake District after having checked the forecast and road closures. All were looking well. We arrived in the area about 1pm and headed straight into Kendal Mountain Festival Basecamp to see what tickets we could pick up. We chose a Ski and Board movie session Friday night, Climbing movie session on Saturday morning, Andy Kirkpatrick’s talk in the afternoon, followed by Alain Robert’s talk Saturday evening, Free Flight movie session then a final Mountaineering movie session on Sunday morning before heading home in the afternoon. Phew, a jam packed weekend.

Our main reason for going this year was Alain Robert, one of Steve’s climbing heroes. You may know Alain better as “Spiderman” or the “Human Spider”. His more well known expertise is “builderring” or climbing buildings instead of rocks/mountains. He’s most recent conquest was the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

Imagine our surprise when on Friday night before we headed off to our first movie session, there he was, Monsieur Robert himself. Steve had recently finished reading Alain’s book “With Bare Hands” and had it on him in case an opportune moment such as this presented itself. Not wanting to interrupt other peoples opportunities to speak to their own hero, Steve waited for his chance to say hello. His patience and respectful nature was not lost on Alain who seemed to have noticed Steve waiting. When Alain had finished speaking to some others Steve approached him for an autograph and was treated to not only an autograph but a long conversation with this incredible man. They sat down and chatted away happily for over an hour and a beer later. It was a privilege to chat to Alain but most importantly it was really insightful to see that this is a guy that clearly has a passion for what he does and is not quite sure why he is so popular. He sees himself as just a normal guy doing what he enjoys.

I think Steve could quite happily have turned around and gone home at that point having meet Alain but I was really keen to get intake of movies. The ones that stood out for me most this year were “20 seconds of joy” and “The Asgard Project”. Actually I would also add “Welsh Connections” and “Slab Monkeys”. It was a shame that Karina Hollekim couldn’t make it to talk after “20 seconds of joy” which went through her journey to becoming a base jumper.

It was a fab weekend. Not many photos though as the weather was shocking!

Avebury Stone Circle – Wiltshire

I have said it before, and I will say it again. If you wait for a sunny day here to do anything, you never will do it. So Saturday morning saw us getting all rugged up, wet weather gear on and off to find the Avebury Stone Circle in Wiltshire.

Having not had breakfast before we left Steve spotted a fab looking pub called the Waggon and Horses. No I have not spelt it incorrectly, this is “ye olde English” spelling. Thank goodness Steve spotted this place. Thatch roofed with fires blazing we had a hearty meal before heading out into the horrid weather again.

If you are into going to Stonehenge then I would suggest a trip to Avebury as well. In all honesty I actually prefer Avebury as here you get complete access to the stones directly in the fields that they stand. They are free to explore and there are a lot more of the stones that what you get at Stonehenge. I would still recommend seeing Stonehenge though.

The area covers 28 acres of which there is a large, deep ditch that circles the monument site. Then there is a stone circle inside the ditch area which encloses two more stone circles. The stones are said to date from 2850 to 2200 BC. Not all the stones are still intact as they have been demolished, rebuilt, taken to help build the local town of Avebury etc over the years.

The weather was tragic with high winds and driving rain. This did give me an opportunity to test my new down jacket. It is a RAB Neutrino made for high altitude mountaineering conditions and does this jacket work or what. This winter I am NOT NOT NOT going to freeze! It worked like a charm. We are heading to Finland in January for a holiday with some mates where it can get down to -30 Celsius so by the time we head off there I should be well convinced of its suitability. So far, I love it.

Artistic, I am not

I enjoy art, but often don’t understand the new stuff.
I love art supply stores, but prefer to leave the supplies in more capable hands.
I admire arty folk and their ability to produce something from very little.
Alas, artistic talents have not been blessed to me. I’m fine with this (grumble, grumble, gripe, gripe)

I remember my grandmother taking my cousin and I to see a Monet exhibition. This is where I came to appreciate art. Years later my first date with Steve was to see the Rembrandt to Renoir exhibition in Auckland. Then even years later, wandering the Louvre in Paris.

What fascinates we most I think is often not the subject of the piece but the tiny details. The hairs from the paintbrush still stuck in the paint, the fingerprint where the artist has touched the canvas, the detail given to a face carved from marble. The little stories that go with the piece intrigue me.

Here’s a piece that I thought was incredible. My photos don’t do it justice, however I found some photos on another website www.house42.com which I will provide a link to. They have taken some stunning photos of him. The Boy with Frog by Charles Ray is made of aluminium and just glows white like marble. His whole body is incredibly smooth looking and his face is captivating. I just stood and stared at him as I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. Standing at 8ft he is of a size that doesn’t feel daunting standing next to him nor too small to be lost in amongst the tourists. He stands, staring at the frog he holds, from his vantage point at the tip of the Punta della Dogana.

www.house42.com is the link to more photos that do the piece much better justice than mine.

Advice from a base jumper

Last night Steve and I went to see Tim Emmett talk. He is a rock climber, base jumper, wing suit man and also does the speaker circuit from inspiring kids to get outside and be active to corporate speaking about his experiences. Tim was recently pitted against Jeremy Clarkson driving an Audi while Tim and Leo Houlding went straight up the face of the Verdon Gorge. It doesn’t often happen but this time around Jeremy lost the race to the climbers.

We got there early and were fortunate to be able to get a book signed by Tim. His talk was for me personally really insightful. During his talk Tim touched on the fact that he has techniques for calming himself, you know – when you are just about to base jump off a bridge (as you do) or most likely for us every day folk, if you are about to deliver a presentation. During Q&A I was able to ask him what these techniques were. I was stoked firstly to be able to get a chance to ask him and secondly that he seemed genuinely surprised and pleased to have been asked this question.

What he revealed in his answer seemed so straight forward but I guess as it is often with things in life until someone points out the obvious it doesn’t occur to you. But mostly it is probably because you just have to be ready to really hear the answer.

So, what was his answer?
First – relax. Well that’s obvious you say. No, RELAX. Drop those hunched shoulders, unclench those fists, loosen those muscles that you didn’t realise were so taunt.
Second, breathe. Focus on it, be aware of your breathing (or lack of!). Control it.
Finally, SMILE. I like that one. A smile always makes things feel that less scary.

Later that evening I thought back over a lot of things he talked about. Often at these kind of events I remember snippets but mostly I just enjoy the photography and videos. Tim’s talk really stuck with me. I think what struck me was that this guy who has done incredible trips all over the world, base jumped off the Old Man of Hoy, climbed El Capitan etc etc, still gets scared. Strangely that was a revelation to me. He is in way scarier situations that I have ever been so surely I can get it together.

I had a chance today to put this in to practice. We had a scheduled day off work and went to The Snow Centre again for a ski. As much as I enjoy the snow I have often found it quite stressful as I ALWAYS over think things too much. I want to go but I’m scared of getting injured, looking like a knob etc.

Usually my 2 hours of skiing consists of 1 hour of me tentatively approaching the slope. A few goes with my poles on the baby slope. Then a break. Get up the courage to go onto the large slope. Stand at the top of the large slope, contemplating all the ways I could fall over, what I might hit, who else is going, are they going to take me out. Then it is a snow plough start, followed by a tentative wobbly left turn, then a right, woooooo watch out for that pole, wobble, wobble, heart palpitations, flail the arms…get to the bottom and now I have to rest before doing it all over again. I NEVER fall over. This is a key objective. Too much effort getting up, what if I hurt myself etc.

Today was so incredibly different. Everything seemed to fall into place. I took Tim’s advice and went into action. Straight up the main slope today. Straight to the edge, shook away the stress off my shoulders, shook out my arms, breathed in, out, smiled and went for it. I don’t know how many times I did that slope but 1 hour 30 minutes later I was exhausted. I had been all over the slope, even headed straight down it to work on some tighter turns, poles had been ditched and I even improved the skating technique (needed when you want to get around on the flat areas without poles). Today I truly had fun! I even canned it 4 times. Huge wipeouts! It was great. This meant I had really, truly been pushing myself. As mentioned during Tim’s talk – “If you’re not falling, you’re not trying”. Well I fell a heap today and it was great!

So what did I learn?

Venice although pretty during the day is rather dark on the canals at night
The gondolas are gorgeous but I kinda like a bit more speed, hence you can do these when you retire
Best coffee truly does come from Italy
I stuck out as a tourist with my lack of leather, boots or Gucci anything
The sound of rolling luggage bags is a constant on the cobbled streets
Venice is HUGE! So much larger than I expected
You can find quiet spots for a moment of down time
Venetians don’t live in Venice they scatter at night to the mainland and leave the tourists to the island

Finally, as a post would not be right without photos, here are some more.

Espresso freak out

Our last day in Venice was all about Espresso! Before arriving here I had never really been much of an espresso fan. I have found in the past that is has been too bitter for my liking. I have since come to the conclusion that it was the lack of skill not the product that was possibly at fault.

As our flight home wasn’t until 10pm Friday night we decided to take a leisurely pace today and just cruise from one cafe to the next.

First stop Cafe Vergnano 1882 in Mestre shopping centre. Generally the espresso were 0.90 cents each (standing up at the bar). Many places charge extra if you sit down. Thankfully we managed to get lucky with places that didn’t charge so we could relax and ALWAYS use the bathroom before heading off. Public restrooms are far and few between and cost 1.50 for the pleasure. However, if you are eating in a restaurant then you are OK. A tip here – the only McDees on Venice Island located on Strada Nova has a toilet that isn’t pin coded (yet) AND free Wi-Fi!

Next was a stop at the supermarket to buy our tin of 1882 coffee and of course Parmigana Regiano cheese.

Taking the train into Venice it was going to be another glorious blue sky day again though the temperature was feeling a wee bit baltic so it was on with the jumpers and windproofs. Enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant. It was packed with local workers so this is always a positive indication that you have picked a winner. My Spaghetti al vongole (clams) was lovely. I had to pick all the large bits of garlic out though as I am sure my fellow flight passengers would not have appreciated my lunch choice on a 2 hour flight.

Our last cafe stop for the day was Cafe del Doge. This was the best find besides 1882 as this is where we finally found an affogato. It would seem that if you want an affogato you really need to find a coffee house not a local bar. Of course the espresso shot with vanilla ice cream went down very well and was a great finish to our time in Venice.

Even getting to the airport was incredibly easy. We had wanted to get the airport boat but this was turning out to be another tourist priced rip. 8 euro to St Marks Square then another 13 euro to the airport. So we took the advice of the locals who were insistent that the bus was far easier. If the locals tell you this then I would suggest following their advice. So for 2.50 we got the public bus (number 5 leaving from “platform” A1) at Piazalle Roma bus station (over the glass bridge near the Santa Lucia station). 30 minutes later we were at the airport. Easy peasy.

So here are some shots of the last day.

Bologna via Trenitalia train

Where does bolognese originate from? Bologna! Did we find somewhere to have bolognese? No. Today was a good chance to get off the feet for a while and let Trenitalia trains do some of the travelling for us.

Under 2 hours from Venice it was a direct train from Mestre to Bologna (around 18 Euro return each). On arrival the train station is huge and chaotic. Bologna is a main intersection point for trains across the country. It was a MAD rush in there!

We had decided to only stay for a couple of hours as we had already had 3 huge days in Venice and Mestre. Our holidays are never lazy ones that’s for sure. We tend to be exhausted by the end of them so today was a bit of a “down” day for us. Having said that we did put in quite a bit of walking yet again.

The highlights for Bologna would be the covered walkways. Apparently there are 40 kilometres of these. I could imagine during the intense heat of summer or the snowy days of winter these walkways would continue to ensure that Bologna keeps on shopping. Surely Bologna should be a key spot on your places to visit if you are after a shopping spree. Fashion is high on the list here. However, fashion at a much better price than Venice. Same stores just minus the tourist price.

Another highlight was the “Teatro Anatomico” that we came across in the university sector. Bologna is home to the worlds oldest university of the Western World founded in 1088. The anatomy theatre was incredible with rich wood sculptures, seating and with the marble autopsy table in the centre of the lecture theatre. The wooden stalls surround the tables where the students sat and the lecturers stall at the head of the room. The stall is flanked by incredible wooden carvings of two men. However the carving details a view of man without skin so you can see the muscle, ligatures, spine. This may sound perverse but it is indeed truly beautiful. The wooden ceiling is adorned with carvings of the star signs.

It has been very cold the last 3 days and today was no exception. There is a cold Arctic front pushing its way across Europe with snow falling in the alps and drops of 15 degree differences between last week and this week. Chilly!

We ended up staying about 3 hours here even so I would recommend it as a stop if you are into your shopping. You get a much better feel for what Italy is from a day to day point of view. Students are in vast numbers here, it is an affluent city that just ticks along. Cars, scooters, buses, trams, pedestrians and bicycles bustle for position in every direction. It is pure madness. I can only imagine what a really large city like Rome would be like. I was quite thankful to get back to Venice Island where cars are absent. Bliss.

Mestre markets and coffee

Today we hung around Maestre to look through the malls. Found the local markets and generally hung out and did “as the Italians”. Ate pasta, drank espresso, machiatto and then went into Venice again. Haven’t found an affogata yet. Beginning to think this is an Aussie Italian thing although we did find one in London one time.
Feet are slowly dying and terribly dehydrated (nothing to do with the numerous espresso of course).

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30