Away from the Office

A Mr. Bean Holiday

Ladies and gentleman,

It's that time of year again... Vacation Time! After working for 51 weeks, I get my 1 - week off. I could expand plentiful about the topic of slavery in today's society, but instead I choose to show you my feelings of happiness. I must say there is no one better to demonstrate this ultimate feeling of absolute excitement than our favorite Mr. Bean! Mr. Bean's Holiday is actually one of my favorite movies, and I think what made me like it even more is that I watched it right after visiting Nice. I was going to post his dancing scene from the movie, but I think this one will portray what I want to say a little better. You think I'm kidding, but this is probably what I will be doing at the airport tomorrow evening.

Mr. Bean has been close to my heart since I was little. Every New Year's Eve we would watch the Mr. Bean Christmas special, and they would always play the one where he gets his head stuck on a turkey. Anyway, enough about that... tomorrow night, we're hitting up the west coast! Can't wait to tell you all about it when I come back!

Vancouver! San Francisco! Here I come!

Hasta Luego !

Polignano a Mer - Cliff Diving Competition 2009

Just this weekend Polignano a Mer, Puglia, Southern Italy, held its annual RedBull Cliff Diving competition. I want to show you the video presenting some testimonials and overall what the competition is about as well as to give you the general picture of how beautiful and inviting is the small town of Polignano. Just last year during our 2.5 week - Mediterranean-Euro Trip, Dina and I had the privilege of visiting this little exposed (from our perspective) town, and not only that, had the chance to stay with Nico and his family, who then was considered a stranger and now an amazing friend. Getting to know Nico, his family and his friends Angelo and Frankieee was one of the most interesting part of our trip. Never in my life have I ever been treated better and with more hospitality then by these people who we didn't even know.

This is actually quite difficult because no matter what I write about this visit to Polignano A Mer, I don't think I will ever be able to portray through words the incredible experience we have had there and the people we met. I will probably leave the details of the itenerary for another post and today just leave you with some of my fond memories.
All I will add is, for anyone planning to enjoy a real Italian experience during their upcoming Euro-trip, you must make Polignano part of your itinerary. It is located in the very southern 'heal' part of the country, in a province called Puglia, along the Adriatic sea. The Beaches are beautiful, fields of olive trees extend between the towns, people are extremely friendly (although, it may have been because we were with the locals), prices are not exagurrated, and the location is not yet overflowed with english-speaking tourists. And of course, I can't forget to mention for all you party animals, that their night clubs, are actually located ON the beach! I still wish I could have stuck around there to see the cliff diving competition. Nico did tell us tho, that there was a crazy man who lived in the town, and if you paid him $20, he would jump as high as you asked him to! - At the time we chose to refuse the offer.

Polignano a Mer, Foreber!

Pictures
TopLeft: Standing against balcony, admiring the town edge against the sea.
MiddleCentre: Dina,Nico and me, walking through the streets of Polignano
BottomLeft: Dina and Me on the Adriatic Sea.
BottomRight: Paddling into shore.

Breakfast and Lamas

In light of the weekend, I feel like dedicating a post to the best and most celebrated time (for me anyways) of any weekend - breakfast time. The weather this summer has really been disappointing, but whenever it decides to get nice again I would recommend a visit for a Sunday morning breakfast in the country and the place to do so in my opinion is the Dutchmill Country Market, located about 45min from Toronto in Milgrove. Just like their simple website proclaims its a unique and inviting atmosphere where you can enjoy a hearty breakfast or a delicious lunch.

When we went it was sometime in Winter, so it was still a little chilly outside but it was nice to enjoy a breakfast away from the rush of the city. The french toast was superb, and served with some berries and fresh fruit on the side. Apparently there's some real good waffles, which I chose not to have from the menu.
The Dutchmill Country Market not only has the most pleasant atmosphere in the little tea room where you can enjoy your meal, but you can also take a walk around the large vscinity which also offers some garden stuff, amish furniture and other unique arts and crafts for sale. So now for the best part...the lamas, in addition there is a small petty zoo right outside the place where you can also find a little pond. In the winter they had the lamas! "Dude.. its a lama!" So awesome, I know I get very easily amazed by some of this stuff, but I can't help it, when was the last time you saw a lama right in front of you. There were little babies too! I'm not sure what their 'lama-rotation' is like in the summer, but I'm sure you will be able to find plenty more animals hanging out there in the summer to help you enjoy your stay. After all the website seems to guarantee some goats, rabbits, chicken and lambs, like I said we only went in winter, so we only got to meet the lamas.

Pictures:
TopCentre: Lama
MiddleRight: Mike enjoying his hearty breakfast in the Tea Room
BottomLeft: Me and lamas
BottomRight: Map-click on it for directions

Inspirational and Beautiful

I am posting a video which was showed to me by Mike, because I really want to share my appreciation for it and I am convinced you will all find it just as inspirational and beautiful as I did. It's a video taken at the Oknawa Churaumi Aquarium, the second largest aquarium in the world accompanied by the music of Barcelona, in my opinion a soon-to-be-grand indie band that deserves some praise. This video was mande by Jon Rawlinson, a cameraman/producer that specializes in documentary production all over the world.

What's really cool about this, is that ever since this video which is now counting over 800,000 views on youTube , and is highly complemented on digg.com, Barcelona's Sales on ITunes have been sky-rocketing. To show their appreciation the small band posted a Response Vidoe on Jon Rawlinson's page, thanking for the exposure. It's funny how it all works.

I leave you with this;

He who can no longer pause to wander and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. - Albert Einstein

Only In My Backyard...Just Hangin'

If I continue with these random moments soon enough this blog will turn into "America's Funniest Home Videos" - at least the animal section. But, I can't help it, it is not my fault that these little creatures seem to have this tendency of doing the most adorable things around me. One morning I woke up and as always one of the first things I did was look out the window. To my amusement this little guy was literally just hanging out there. At first I thought he was stuck, but no, he was just enjoying his morning. At one point I even saw him chewing on a nut.
I love that just like when I was little, I can still explore the little things that make my own backyard a place full of little adventure - and trust me, there is more to come.

Portaging - 2009

So once again we have undertaken the portaging experience and this time although filled with different mini adventures it was as satisfying as ever. This time we arrived up north around 9:00 pm, and unfortunately any chance at getting a canoe was shot so we were left relying on some very helpful and accommodating friends who with only two guys managed to tow and portage three canoes to pick us up at the distant shore in the late evening. With our luck, the rain started the moment we got onto the canoes, arriving at our campground at around midnight there was nothing more satisfying than a beer and a fresh campfire-fried sausage.

If I can write anything else about this trip, it is to describe my mere appreciation for this land that we live in, and the beauty it offers. How often do you get to stay up the whole night by a grand camp fire, made with your own hands and saw (the guys efforts anyway)? See the sun rise, take the canoe on the still water of the morning, and watch the sun climb from the horizon as abstract clouds float past in the distance. When do you get the chance to sit on top of a cliff hanging above the water surveying the numerous lakes that spread like canals between the islands providing a wide roadway for the miniature canoes in the distance. The best part of it all I think, was the satisfying reward of having the ability to sit and enjoy the power of the rapids who's primary placement was the reason for the strenuous portion of the portage.

In the words of Emily Carr (Canadian Artist) ; It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw.

Post Scriptum
Some lessons learned: Lesson 1: Don't Canoe at night, its unsafe and people have been killed doing it
Lesson 2: Don't forget allergy medication
Lesson 3: "Dumping a log" on a log, will usually not be funny when you actually do it. It just may upset the rest of the village when placed on exhibition in the public common-area.

Pictures
TopRight: Our canoes spread out on the shore down hill from our campsite
MiddleLeft: Sitting on the cliff admiring the view
Bottom: The Polish Flag waving in the wind, as sun rises and clouds float in the far distance