Europe 2010

[MuskieBait]

I did more traveling than fishing on this trip...so there may be entire sections without any fishing content. However, there is a significant fishing discussion among all the wonderful picture of Europe...you just gotta find it.

Paris - Sep 15, 2010

Paris was one city I never had real intent to visit in the past. The image of corny romance, fashion divas and wannabes and less-than-friendly Parisians was not my choice destination. However, I was ecstatic to be proven extremely naïve.

My first impression of Paris was not exactly pleasant though. I arrived at an airport with numerous armed forces on foot patrol. Later, I found out that France was under a terrorist threat. There was the congested train station where the lack of properly functioning English option at the ticket booth spawned many frustrated tourist and chaos in general.

Add to a 2-hour delay at the hostel since their luggage storage was stuffed to the ceiling (literally) with no room for new arrivals, I was not enjoying my first 4 hours at Paris.

To further mar my impression of Paris, there was a 1-hour long line at Sainte-Chapelle where my highly anticipated visit to the stained glass church had to wait for the next visit. I only had 6 hours to acquaint with Paris after all.

Slowly but surely though, Paris revealed her beauty. In fact, “beautiful” was recited continuously as I hurried along the bank of the Seine to Notre Dame.







A very stunning church with intricately carved archways is most deserving of numerous photographs!

Sometimes, getting lost in a new city is inevitable. However, getting lost may also lead to surprising new discoveries. On my misguided way to the Louvre, I stumbled upon Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.



And Institute de France…



And the side entrances to the Louvre…





Getting lost certainly has its merits! If there were more time to randomly stroll down streets and lose myself intentionally in Paris, it would be an even more enjoyable experience. Getting lost would soon be a recurring theme over the course of the trip.

I did finally reached the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre…



…and Le Caroussel.





Rushed as I was, I took the time to stroll down Jardin des Tuileries to take in the Parisian atmosphere…



…and the amazing sculptures…







…until I reached Place de la Concorde.





It would have been delightful to stroll along Champs-Elysees as well, but the sun does not wait to set and time was a diminishing commodity, I hightailed it to Arc de Triomphe via the very convinent Metro of Paris.



By now, it was about 4:30pm. There was a fishing store near Musee de l’Armee that I wanted to visit. It was a nice little shop called Les Poisson Si Grande. Unfortunately, you need a cheque to pay for the fishing license fee. My dream of fishing in Paris was dashed. Who in the world would have personal cheques on demand for the purchase of fishing license anyway???

Wasting no time, I hurried out of the fishing store to find the magnificent golden dome of Musee de l’Armee.



Further down the streets, I arrived at École Militaire.



Of course, that meant the Eiffel Tower was on your backside! Walking up to the Eiffel Tower and under its massive steel structure was astounding! But what a view it was from Le Palais de Chaillot.





The sunset was less than magnificent, so the decision was to forgo the dusk photographs of the Eiffel Tower in exchange for an extra hour at the Louvre.

Lucky for me, my day in Paris was on a Wednesday allowing extended hours of visit at the Louvre (also on Fridays). Lady Luck followed my every step on this trip…or more likely God wanted the best weather for me to visit his holy places of pilgrimage.

Before dusk, I arrived at the Glass Pyramid and finally had the chance to go inside it.



With only 3 hours at the Louvre, it was a whirlwind tour to visit some of the most highly regarded pieces of art.

Winged Victory



David and Goliath (front)



David and Goliath (back)



The Mona Lisa…



…and massive The Wedding Feast at Canna to your back.



If anyone know what this piece is called, please let me know!



An entire hall full of sculptures, some Greek, some Roman and some Egyptian…







There were just too many pictures of beautiful sculptures to share them all.

No time to waste, it was time to walk down to the Egyptian exibits...but I got lost and found the Medieval Moat instead.



After some back tracking and navigating, the Colossal Statue of Ramesses II was finally found!



I finally ran out of time They started asking visitors to leave at 9:30pm…

You know I just had to take a few shots of the Louvre at night…



…and Institute de France.



It was a suitable end to my day in Paris. I had no time to experience a night in Paris since there was a 9am flight to catch the next day. However, I did meet a couple of nice young ladies from California and Pennsylvania on their foreign studies back at the hostel. If only we were not traveling to opposite ends of Europe…and if only I had the liberty to follow them along…

The art and architecture of Paris won me over. I can honestly say that I am in love with Paris; maybe not a deep romance but there is certainly some infatuation. The Metro station was convenient, fast and safe. It could use a fresh coat of paint, some deodorizers and a few more escalators for luggage dragging visitors. Parisians were actually fairly friendly but some of their bad reputations do manifested in some people. Paris left me with so much to desire and so much to experience that I will anticipate to return again. A couple of days at the Louvre is definitely in order.

Athens - Sep 16 - 17, 2010

Athens was my most anticipated city at the start of my trip. In the end, it was the least of my favourite among Paris, Athens and Rome. There was a certain deteriorated aura to Athens; and the number of people and cars in most areas were busier than anticipated. There was also certain unsafe feeling among dense crowds even away from the tourist attractions. However, the ruins of Athens were breathtaking and their beauty should be appreciated beauty. In saying so, I do love Athens and anticipate visiting Athens again.

I arrived in Athens at 4pm. Again, my time in Athens was extremely limited with only one evening and one morning in Athens. The itinerary was extremely packed and there was a 3pm ferry to catch the next afternoon. There was no room for error.

The first destination of the early evening was Hadrian's Gate…



…and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.





Just across the street was the Zappio Megaro. What an elegant structure!





Somehow, I was unable to find the Olympic Stadium! Looking at the map later that night, I realized a wrong turn was made and it was just a short backtrack away! Since my time was limited, I could not explore too much. Next time…there’s always next time

I backtracked a bit to the giant walkway of Dionysiou Areopagitou…



…leadin to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and Acropolis.



The plan was made to visit Acropolis during sunset. However, the lady at the gate said there was only 30min left until closing. This was an issue since I bought a combination ticket that only allowed a one-time admission to the Acropolis. I decided to save the ticket for the next morning.

Unexpectedly, with time on my hands, I wandered under the Acropolis to find a staircase to a rocky outcrop with a view!





Toward dusk…





…and into the night.



Returning to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, crowds were just arriving for a theatrical event. There were vendors selling cheese pastries and the temptation was just too great.



A toasted chicken pita with more cheese finished off the meal for the night.



It was advertised that my hostel has a lively bar scene at night. I returned to the hostel at 10pm to find the bar was closed? It was a little disappointing to say the least Instead, I headed to bed early.

Next day, it was an early start at 7am. Most hostels provide a free breakfast so don’t miss it! At this hostel, it was some Greek bread, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, milk and juice. A good breakfast was definitely needed for the morning ahead.

I started the morning where I left off the night before…at the area surrounding Acropolis.

Following the tour guide map, the first stop was the Odeon of Dionysus…



…and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (it is still a working amphitheater today).



There were many other smaller ruins to see between the two famous Odeon, but it is not possible share them all unfortunately.

Finally, the highlight of the morning has arrived.



Escaping the crowd a little this was a better picture.



The morning sun made it extremely difficult to take a good photo of the front side of the Parthenon, but the back side was nicely illuminated. You can see some of the reconstruction work that was occurring.





Next was the Erechtheion





And the Maidens of Caryatids



A random picture of the columns.



So much history, so little room to share

Next stop was the Ancient Agora. There was a little Byzantine church at the entrance to the Ancient Agora.



The Stoa of Attalos is an piece of absolute art. The sense of style and balance is very evident.







Outside the Middle Stoa was an immense structure if you can use a little imagination.





A little up the hill, the Stoa of Zeus was one of the most preserved ancient Greek structure.





After an hour at the Ancient Agora, my plan was to visit the Roman Agora. However, another wrong turn took me in the wrong direction. Instead, I found another site from the same time period that was under excavation.







A stroll to the plaka was in order to get some fresh fruits, bread and lunch…and of course to appreciate some of the local sceneries…



…and to get fresh bait at the fish market!



My next leg of the trip would take me to a Saronic island called Ydra where I would concentrate on catching some unique Mediterranean fish species.

This was all the Athens I managed to take in for the short evening and morning. Next time I would like to visit other ruins as well including Delphi and the temple of Poseidon. I would definitely return to mainland Greece in the future.

Ydra – Sep 17 – 18, 2010

This was a highly anticipated stop on the trip. Not only was it a beautiful island that had retained much of its charms, it was also the top fishing destination on my travel.

Ydra is a relatively small island in the Saronic group. There were only a few motorized land vehicles on the island. I saw on one of them during my stay…a garbage collection truck. Most people depend on their own two feet or donkeys to get around the island. Some people also use boat travel to get to more remote areas.

All the streets were cobble-covered pathways maintaining is old world charm. Most of the streets also travel up slope from the port. It’s not a friendly place for people with walking difficulties.





This island was also a favoured holiday destination for the rich and famous apparently. As such, accommodations came at a premium and prices in general were higher than most Greek islands.

Arriving at the guesthouse, there was only a desk in the lobby with no one around. I waited for 20 minutes and no one returned. There was only one floor of rooms at this guesthouse. There were three rooms with keys hanging on the door. Two of doors had a note with some Greek writing (identical note). The other did not have a note. I took one of the note to the streets and had someone translate it for me. “Room for Mr. Panothrop”…or something like that. It certainly wasn’t my name from what I could tell.

After another 15 minutes wait without any service, it was enough. I had confirmed my reservation with the guesthouse owner that I was arriving so one of the room had to be mine. By simple deduction, I just took the only available room without the note on the door. It has to be mine.

The room was very nicely appointed for a price of 55 euros/night. This was actually the cheapest accommodation available on the island!





And the view from the roof top balcony…



I left a note on the desk stating who I was, how long I’ve waited for service, the room I had chosen, and when I was expected to return if there was any issue. That’s as much as I could do.

There was no time to waste at all. There was already 45 minutes of delay to my original schedule so I dropped my luggage and quickly went to explore the island. Luckily, I spent my time rigging up the rods during the long wait for service.

A quick photo of the port of Ydra Town.



Much thought was given at home to research for suitable fishing locations. GoogleMap was not much help since the resolution of the maps were rather poor; however, the pictures people had posted were a lot of help.

I found the swim platform located near one of the seaside cafe. The first look into the water revealed many small damselfish, scattered small school of tiny mullet and some small school of small baitfish.

Presented with that scenario, the first choice was to use the float rig, 4lb fluorocarbon and #20 hook to try add the damselfish and mullet to my fish list.

Chumming with bread brought the fish into a feeding frenzy. The first cast with bread bait quickly resulted in a new species. Although it was not my original target, it was still one of my top targets to catch on this trip.

7” Ornate Wrasse (Thalassoma pavo)



Two more casts later there was another good hit. Yet again, it wasn’t the damselfish...but another new species, one that was apparently a local delicacy even when they were smaller in size. The locals called them gopa.

5” Bogue (Boops boops)



Casts after casts, the bogue took my bait while the damselfish just could not take the hook. I would have caught enough bogue (even at 5-6” size) to make a decent meal…had I knew the local actually eat them at that size.

Finally, the decision was to change tactic to try from some of the predatory species. My friend Eli had advised me the use of dropshot rig with 1oz sinkers. Certainly, that was the rig of choice for fishing the rocky and steep sloping bottom. A #8 baitholder hook was set 12” above the weight. My weight actually consisted of a 1oz sliding sinker with two splitshot crimped above and below the sliding sinker to keep it in place. The line was threaded on the sliding sinker twice to make removing the sliding sinker much more difficult. The benefit of this rig was to allow sacrificing the sinkers if they snagged on bottom. Surprisingly, only 4 sinkers were lost through two fishing sessions.

Shrimp was my most dependable saltwater bait after so many previous experiences. It was the first bait tried and it was only 2 casts later that I caught a 7” painted comber. This picture was actually from a fish caught the next day since the picture of my first comber turned out blurry.

7” Painted Comber (Serranus scriba)



My first painted comber was deeply hooked and bleeding profusely. I did not think it would have a realistic chance of surviving, so I tossed it to my fishing companions.



These fishing companions rule the island. They could be found all over the place hiding among rock, hanging out on the streets of rummaging though garbage. Some of them look so malnourished that I tossed a few fish to feed them. Of course, the one in the picture was one of the larger ones and probably quite well feed.

A couple more painted combers later, another new species was caught.

7” Comber (Serranus cabrilla)



Combers species are territorial fish. After a few of them were caught in quick succession, the fishing slowed to a stop. Walking 20 feet away and casting at a different angle resulted in another comber. The next cast in the same area, my bait was hammered and the rod was in full bent! This was certainly a better fish. After a few deep diving runs, the fish finally came in reluctantly. I was pleasantly surprised with my first parrotfish of any species! FishBase actually listed the common name as Parrotfish.

Parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense)



This parrotfish was 15” long. When reading through the different travel guides, having a fresh fish dinner in Greece was one of the top things to do. With that in mind, this fish was destined for the table.

The bites on the dropshot rig were very slow. It was time to revive the float rig and try for damselfish and mullet again. Of course, those little bait thieves managed to miss the hook every time. Soon, light was fading and I couldn’t see the float anymore. I tried fishing the drop shot after dark but there were no night time bite. At 8:30pm, the decision was to return back to the guesthouse to shower, then find a nice little restaurant to experience my fresh fish dinner.

When I returned to the guesthouse, the owner was at the desk. She actually apologized repeatedly for not being at the desk. Apparently, there was a confusing between she and her sister about who was working on the day. Her sister had traveled to Athens thinking it was her day off leaving my host clueless about no one being present at the desk. She said I had guessed the correct room and hope that it was fine. Since I already felt bad about taking a room without proper notice, I guess we were even. I did not trouble her at all.

After that was settled, I took my shower and went looking for a nice restaurant. It was really only 30 seconds away from the guesthouse when a friendly older lady waved me to the little place. They spoke only a little English, but between some gesturing and some broken English, her husband took the parrotfish to the kitchen to put it on the grill. I ordered a Greek salad to make a proper meal. As a note, if you sit down at a Greek restaurant, a generous basket of bread would be served. It would provide enough carbohydrates that you wouldn’t need another carbohydrate source.

Here’s the Greek salad with an awesome slab of cheese…



…and the grilled parrotfish…



What a meal!

It was early to bed since I wished to wake up early to fish. Ydra also had mediocre nightlife so there was really not much to miss. Strangely, I woke up at 2am for no particular reason and could not fall back to sleep. After laying in bed for an hour, it was just too silly. I got up to rig up my rods for the morning of fishing. At 3am in the morning, Ydra was quite active with some people about opening shops. I could only assume that these were restaurant owners and cooks preparing for the next day.

Santorini – Sept 19, 2010

Santorini was an adventure. It was as beautiful as advertised, although in reality, the blue dome roof and white sided buildings were much less common as often depicted.

Santorini was an adventure due to a couple of things I brought onto myself. The first was a 5am flight from Athens to Santorini. The second was an ATV rental which was supposed to be fun.

Public transportation services to the airport during early hours are sparse in Athens. There were a couple of buses that serve the airport. However, these buses only run every 30 minutes. The total travel time from Piraeus to Athens International Airport was 40 minutes. Thus, I needed to wake up at 2am to catch a bus.

I’ve been to many motels where wake up calls are offered. However, this cheap hotel in Piraeus did not offer morning calls. I had to depend on the alarm clock on my watch.

Well…I slept through the alarm and actually woke up at 5am! Yes, I was freaking out! My first reaction was to rearrange a later flight to Santorini, but last minute flights were both expensive and there was no service in the morning. The next time to do was to see if there was any last minute ferry service. Lucikly, there was a 7:30am high speed ferry ticket and by 6:30am, I was ready to hop on the ferry. The ticket was only 55 euros and the trip will take only 4 hours. It was actually a pretty good deal! But since I missed the morning flight, my time in Santorini was now restricted. Fishing in Santorini was out of the question.

Oh well, try to see the positive out of the tough situation, right? At least I can experience a ferry ride to a Greek island.



The 4 hours ride passed by quickly since I caught up on some sleep for about 2 hours. I had a chat with a couple of Aussies and also a couple from Windsor, Ontario. I haven’t mentioned before, but there were lots of Canadians vacationing in Greece! At the Acropolis, I even met a couple who lived about 90 seconds away from my apartment. Seriously, this world is much too small.

At 12pm, we finally docked at Thira (Fira). The town of Thira was perched on the caldera rim and it was quite a long climb up to the rim. Most people chose to take the public bus (about 4 euros) to reach Thira Town. There were a few people who decided to hike up the windy ascend. All I have to say was “Good Luck” because they would need it.

Instead of another night at a hostel, I decided to try “camping” in Santorini. These “tents” were actually metal sheds with a secure door. There was enough room to fit a queen size bed, a couple of simple chairs and a night table. It was decent arrangement for 22 euros, but I think I would rather stay at a nice hostel next time. I don’t mind roughing it…but this was really very basic.

After dropping off the luggage, it was time to rent the ride of the day.





I had NEVER rode on an ATV…nevermind driving one. A short lesson was given on operating the vehicle. After that, it was a steep learning curve.

Just so you know, Santorini has a high incidence of traffic accidents. Many of them involves tourist on rental cars, scooters and ATVs. It doesn’t help the case when local drivers are impatient toward slower traffic and they do drive rather reckless. I was doing quite well on my ATV for about 20 minutes until a coach bus decided to pass me on a turn. I was on the outside of the turn and the bus passed me on the inside. There was only one foot between the bus and the ATV, and one foot between the guardrail and the ATV. It was a rather scary experience.

Thankfully, there was no further incidence and I finally reached Red Beach.



.

Santorini (known as Thira) is an active volcanic island. In the past, there were several violent eruptions. The Minoan eruption obliterated the island leading to a collapse of the magma chamber and the caldera. Further eruption / collapse cycles give birth to the saltwater lagoon that you see in Santorini today. In the pictures, you can identify three distinct layers of eruption material. On top is a layer of white tephra covering the black and red layers from previous eruptions.

The ride to Red Beach actually took much longer than expected. The campground desk clerk said it should take about 15 minutes. Maybe that’s the correct travel time for a car…but definitely not for my 80cc ATV. I had planned to visit Perissa to see the black sand beach, but knowing my time was limited, it wasn’t possible. My return trip took a total of 45 minutes (with several stops to let cars pass) and it wasn’t until 3pm that I returned to Thira.

Originally, I was planning to drive to Oia to watch (and photograph) the sunset. Having personally experienced some of the dangerous driving in Santorini, the decision was to return the ATV and take the public bus to Oia. Since sunset began at about 6:30pm, there was still 3 hours available. I explored the streets on foot to reach some of the more unique churches on the island.

Santorini has many stairs to climb.



But there are rewards at the end of these stairs, such as the famous Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral…





Vista like this…



Decorated walkways…



And colourful buildings…



At the end of one long hike, the view toward Thira Town was spectacular.



In this picture, you can see 5 different churches. Santorini probably has one of the highest concentration of churches per capita. There were anything from small closet-sized chapel (which only fits a couple of people crouching inside) to the large cathedrals



Backtracking a little, I visited the famous Catholic Cathedral.





The inside…









Up and down various stairways, passing many small restaurants, bars, souvenir stands and other shops, it was easy to lose yourself in Thira Town. With limited time, I actually had a very good experience exploring Thira Town.

However, time was ticking and the sun was about to set. At 5am, I fought for a spot on the bus to Oia. I’m not joking, you literally have to battle your way onto the bus. I really had no idea where was the best location to watch the sunset. I was hoping to just follow others if they had known better. When we were almost at the Oia bus terminal, there were a few people in front of my who exclaimed they have missed their stop. I overhead that it was much better to photograph the sunset “back there”. When the bus finally reached the terminal, I decided to walk back toward the last stop and attemped to stumble into a good viewpoint.

About 10 minutes later, I finally reached “back there” and arrived at a blue domed church.



But honestly, I was not very satisfied with the viewpoint. Looking around, I saw a walkway leading up a high point in the caldera. Maybe the view would be even better there?

It’s all the way up the hill…just at the end of this series of white buildings…up on that little peak.



When I reach the destination, there was an abandoned boat perched up on the retaining wall. Weird, huh?



Before the sun set, I took a few area shots. I liked this one best.



By 7pm the sun was beginning to set.



Soft glow on the white buildings



Here we go…







Almost gone…



See ya tomorrow!



Some of the lights began to light





And the fading light



Before it got too dark, I navigated back to Oia with the help of my headlamp. Yes, I was prepared for the late photo session.

At the bus terminal, there was a little pita shop. They had an interesting gyro. Can you see the French fries in that gyro? It actually tasted very good. One gyro was not enough…so another chicken souvlaki pita was ordered. I still remembered that simple, yet so satisfying, meal!



Returning back to the campground, it was another early night to bed. Strangely, I could arrange a wake up “knock” at the campground for my 6:55am flight to Rome. In addition, they also arranged a taxi for me to get to the airport. I couldn’t believe the campground had more service than my cheap hotel in Piraeus!

The next morning, I didn’t miss my 5am alarm. I woke up before the wake up “knock” and was waiting for the taxi 15 minutes early. The ride to the airport was only 20 minutes but cost 15 euros.

Now, this is a warning to all who may use the airport at Santorini. I was told (and so were others waiting in line), that 1 hour advance check-in was adequate for the Santorini airport. Many people were shocked to see the 1-hour line when they arrived! I was lucky to arrive 1.5 hours before my flight. There was only one flight departing at the early hour but there were only 3 counters serving 300 people. The check-in also operated on “island time” so it was slow and not particularly efficient. So let this be a tip for anyone who may visit Santorini. Arrive EARLY!

I was told that the plane doesn’t leave until everyone has boarded. Fortunately, there was only a 5 minutes delay. This was the last picture I took of Santorini.



Santorini was a very beautiful island. It reminded me in various ways of the Big Island of Hawaii. The people were friendly, the food was great and there were evidence of volcanism wherever you look. The weather was very hot and very dry, so remember to bring lots of water! I went through 2 litres of water in 3 hours…and I was already trying to conserve my water.

There were many fishing areas where I wish I could explore. Red Beach has some rocky bottom areas which should provide some good fishing. Perissa had a concrete dock that provided some access. There was also a rock jetty in Oia that offers fishing inside the caldera where the shorelines dropped steeply into very deep water. I guess I will have to wait until next time to experience fishing in Santorini.

Rome – Sep 20

Rome was a city where I could be comfortably got lost in her streets. In fact, so much more was discovered because I intentionally decided to explore streets that were not on the itinerary.

Having taken a morning flight from Santorini to Rome, the last thing a wary traveler would want is a long train ride. Thankfully, the rapid train from the airport to Rome’s Termini station was fast and comfortable. It was very impressive.

It was 12pm when the luggage was dropped off at the Alessandro Palace Hostel and Bar. My day was originally planned to start at Barberini Station, but two extra stops later, I got off at Flaminio and walked into Piazza del Popolo with its impressive fountains…



…and Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Basilica Di Santa Maria In Montesanto.



Walking down Via del Corso, the magnificent Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso was on the west side of the street…



…while a few blocks to the east sat Chiesa di Santa Maria in Via.



So much of religion, art and history was squeezed into Rome that everywhere you looked, you would find something astonishing, including the heavily engraved Colonna di Marco Aurelio…





…which lead to the Palazzo di Montecitorio and Camera dei Deputati.



The streets of Rome are narrow with all kinds of surprising turns. However, you would only need to follow the crowd to find the Pantheon (under repair).







Not too far away was Piazza Navona, unarguably the most magnificent piazza I encountered on my visit to Rome.





There were three fountains in the piazza, but most tourists were drawn to Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi.





No doubt it deserves the fame, but the other two fountains in the piazza deserves some appreciation as well.





Unfortunately, the front entrance of Basillica di Sant’Andrea della Valle was under repair. However, the little mentioned Chiesa del Gesù was also very beautiful.



At 2pm, it was time for a late lunch. There was a small café on the street corner serving panini and gelati. For 5 euros, you could get a salami and spinach panini and a hazelnut gelati. Pretty cheap eats in Rome.





Having satisfied the taste buds and reengerized the body, I walked down some streets to find the fantastic domes of Chiesa di Santa Maria di Loreto and Chiesa Non Parrocchiale Ss. Nome Di Maria.



Within the same 360 degree sight was the majestic Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II.





Paid my respect at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier



Just a minute walk away, the history of ancient Rome sprung up from the ground.





Foro Romano







Couple of Italian young ladies complimented the picture nicely.



View from the Palatine



Underground water well at the Palatine.



While looking for a good spot to photograph the Colosseo, I ventured into Basilica di Santa Francesca Romana.



The intricate ceiling and altar.





This isn’t the greatest photo of Arco di Costantino and Colosseo, but given the time of day and the direction of the shadow, it was the best I could manage.



Typical photo of the Colosseo



I have purchased online tickets to Foro Romano and Colosseo. It was a good decision since there was a 30min line for the ticket office.

Inside the ground level of the Colosseo



On the first level, there were an incredible number of displays detailing the artifacts found at the Colosseo with ample explanation of the histories and secular societies that existed in the Colosseo.

Replica gladiator armour (I wish I had room to share them all)



The ruins of the spectator stands…





…and the labyrinth under the arena where gladiators and animals were housed before the events.



By the time I exited the Colosseo, it was 6pm and the sun was about to set. I tried to take some evening shots of the Colosseo but it was the only day I forgot to bring my tripod. None of the picture were satisfactory . However this street architecture shot was rather pleasing.



Heading back to the hostel, I got a little lost again…but found this little pizzeria for dinner. Pizza is sold by weight in Italy. This was about 1 pound of pizza for 5 euros.



Rome was my favourite city. Art, history and culture are concentrated into a relatively small area with most highlight attractions within walking distance from each other. It is no surprise that Europeans ooze high-end style when they are immersed in an environment so full of beauty.

Vatican – Sep 21, 2010

The Vatican was one of the most tremendous experiences of my life. Not only was it a religious pilgrimage for this Roman Catholic, it was also an artistic pilgrimage for an artist. The only feeling I could describe was awestruck and speechless. So for most of this travel log, I will just let the pictures do most of the talking.

Tip: Again, it was worth every extra dollar to purchase a ticket online. The Vatican Museums opens at 8am. At 8am, the line was already 2 hours long for the ticket office. EVERYONE has the same idea to line up early…so it doesn’t work! With an online ticket, all I had to do was to show it to the ticket collector and there was absolutely no waiting!

Here was the first staircase to the Vatican Museum.



Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities inside the Vatican Museum.







Painted ceilings







Doorway leading to the Room of Tapestries.



Wall-sized tapestries







The next room was the Galleries of Maps







The maps were okay. They looked so yellow because the entire ceiling of the gallery was gold painted! Every inch of the ceiling was filled with art…painting, woodwork or sculptures.









A few more tapestries that was hung in the pope’s residence…



Passed another small room with a painted dome ceiling…


The the Sobieski Room…



Into the Room of the Immaculate Conception.





The next few rooms contained some of the most famous frescos in the world…the Raphael Rooms.

The Baptism of Constantine



One of the paintings on the ceilings…the perspective, light, human form, depiction of atmosphere…truly a masterpiece.



The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple, Stanza di Eliodoro



Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, Stanza della Segnatura



The School of Athens, Stanza della Segnatura



Fire in the Borgo, Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo


The Coronation of Charlemagne, Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo



There were also contemporary arts in the Vatican.











Continue along the hallways, it led to the staircase to the Sistine Chapel…



Really…does this need any introduction? From Michelangelo?



The artwork was exquisite! You could tell the attention to details Michelangelo has planned for this enormous painting. Every angle was considered depicting the perspective and lighting. The painted sculptures and human figures came out of the 2-dimensional surface. They in fact looked to leap off the ceilings!

I couldn’t get a good picture of the fresco on the side of the chapel due to the sunlight shining too close to the fresco and it was impossible to get the right exposure.

After the Sistine Chapel, there were hallways after hallways of this…



…and these…



…and this…



This stained glass was especially pleasing.



Then we entered the Pinacoteca with its many paintings.







All of a sudden, you stepped into a dark room with this magnificent piece.



And the Garden of Eden…



At the end, I exited into the foray with a spectacular spiral staircase.



Following the Vatican Museum, it was a short stroll to St. Peter’s Basilica.









Time to enter the Basilica…



Pieta by Michelangelo



More inside the Basilica…







Bronze statue of St. Peter.



















The Vatican Guards…



After a full morning and early afternoon at the Vatican, I was officially oozing with art. This was my last day of personal travel and it was a very fitting end to my wonderful Euro tour. At 6pm, I had an overnight sleeper train to catch that would take me from Rome to Paris. The train would arrive in Paris 2 hours later than scheduled and it was a dash finish to catch my connecting train to Vannes…but that’s another story to tell.

Ile de Berder, France – Sep 22 – 25

This was the start of my workshop in France. After have exhausted my shutter finger in Rome I took very, very few pictures in Ile de Berder. I was also in seminars for 9 hours a day plus social / networking dinners for 2 hours each night. There was little time for photography. Fishing time also came at a premium.

It was rather unfortunate since our meals were worth a few pictures of their own. Ile de Berder and the Gulfe du Morbihan are seafood-producing areas. We had seafood for all lunches and dinners except for one meal when we had steak. We had fresh mussels, scallops, salmon mousse, shrimp, crabs, langose, sea snails, conch, clams and fresh oysters. Talk about spoiled! LOL

On Sep 22, we arrived at Ile de Berder at 5pm. This region has fairly large tides. During my stay, the tide differences was more than 3 meters according to the tide charts. Ile de Berder is an island during the high tide, but the seabed would be completely exposed during low tide. In the picture below, the two rocky dyke bordered a paved road which was submerged during the high tide.



When I was looking at the map and at various pictures on Google, this location looked promising to hunt for European seabass.

I returned later at night to fish this area on the falling tide. It wasn’t until 9pm that we had finished dinner and there was only 2 hours until dead low tide. The area was extremely rocky and full of kelp. I was fishing the T&C swim grubs on 3/8oz jighead at the beginning. I needed the weight to fish in the heavy current generated by the falling tide. However, the lure was snagged and lost within 2 casts since the shallows had very slow and low water. I tried to fish with a lighter jighead but the lure would wash through the current too quickly. I did heard and saw two surface feeding signs so I fished the area with various lures for about 30 minutes. At the end, I put on a 1/8oz jighead with a Powerbait T-Tail that was trimmed to 1.5” long. I chose to cut the soft plastic shorter since I saw many small baitfish in the shallows around that size.

When I could get bit at the dyke, it was time to find other fishing areas. Fortunately, there was a map that I could consult and I quickly found a beach on the other side of the small island. I tried a few casts with the T-Tail off the sand but the water was shallow and filled with kelp. About 50 feet to my right, there was an old dock. The top of the dock was wet but exposed. During high tide, this dock would be submerged.

After making my way to the dock carefully, I heard a couple of surface disturbance. Looking around with my headlamp, I saw many small baitfish in the shallows. I had fish for striped bass at Montauk before. The striped bass is a cousin of the European seabass and similarly these fish are opportunistic nocturnal feeders. Knowing that striped bass were cautious of light, I switched off my headlamp and waited for a minute. This also allowed my eyes time to adjust seeing in the dark. During my wait, I heard a topwater explosion quite far from shore. After my eyes had adjusted, I fired a cast as far as possible into the deeper water. As I was lifting my lure out of the water, I heard another topwater swirl to my right but closer to shore this time. Purely by reaction, I fired a cast in the direct and got picked up by a fish on the first crank! FISH ON!

It was fighting pretty well on the 8lb mono. After two spirited run, the fish had enough and simply coasted to shore. When I turned on my headlamp, I saw silver and was very surprised my first fish was also my most revered target fish!

12” European Seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)



I screamed so loud I think I woke up the neighbourhood LOL. I took my first seabass at around 10pm on the first day fishing for seabass! Awesome!

Since it had been a long day of travel and afternoon of seminars, I fished for another 15 minutes for no bites and decided to call it a night when the tide had bottomed out. I went to sleep very happy that night.

Sep 23

The next morning, I woke up at 5am with thought of fishing early. It was rather chilly outside so I stayed in bed until 5:30am. In full dark, I headed back to the dyke. Peak high tide was at 5:30am and I would be fishing the beginning phase of the falling tide in the morning.

There were a lot of surface feeding activities in the morning! Unfortunately, most of the fish were in the shallows far off to my left. There was a high stonewall on that shoreline. Trees and shrubs grew all the way up to the stonewall and the rocky beach was flooded on the high tide. There was no way to reach those feeding fish. Don’t be fooled…I did try fishing the area and lost a few lures to the rock and kelp.

Plan B was to head back to the beach where I had caught the seabass the night before. Similar to the dyke, there were a lot of surface activities. However, most of the fish were about 100 yards from shore where I could not reach. I had two rods with me so I rigged up the long surf rod with Gulp! Sandworm and fished it on the bottom rig using #14 octopus hooks. I was hoping to pick up a few small beach species such as wrasse, sole, flounder and seabream.

There was absolute no action on the surf rod or on my lures intended for seabass. However, when the sun rose, the surf rod started to get some action! There were many fast bites. However, the fish were either too small or too tentative that I couldn’t hook into any fish. I tried waiting for a good run before setting the hook, but most fish just pull line for about 3 seconds before dropping the bait. If I set the hook too quick, I wouldn’t hook up. I believe most hit were just small fish. When 8:30am came around, I had to return to my room for a shower to start the next day of seminars.

I had plans to fish that night…but after about 4 drinks during and after dinner, I was done for the night LOL.

Sep 24

It was 6am in the morning again when I woke up for the morning fishing session. I didn’t bother with the dyke but returned to the beach. This morning, there were very little surface activities for some reason. It took about 1 hour of casting before I got a hit in the blind. There were no surface activities 30 minutes when I got a hit. Again, my lure had just landed when I got hit. The fish fought like another seabass and it certainly was one. This one was between 13-14”…just a few centimeters short of the legal 36cm minimum slot keeper limit.



Fishing was rather slow, but the sunrise was beautiful.



I only took a couple of hits on the surf rod. Fish were just not active for some reason and the bites that I got were very short and fast. There was no enough time to even reach the rod! It was time to leave at 8:30am and the fishing session ended much too quickly!

There was no plan to fish this night since we had a boat cruise dinner that would last until 10pm. During dinner, we had a massive seafood platter with some fresh, live clams. I never had live clams and personally, I liked them cooked better. There were a lot of live clams left after dinner and well…the looked like bait to me LOL. I took about 10 of them and stuffed them into my pocket for the next morning’s fishing session. Why waste good bait? LOL.

Sep 25

This was my last fishing session on Ile de Berder. I had hopes of catching seabream and ballan wrasse here, but so far my fishing plans had not executed well. With live clams as bait, I had renewed enthusiasm. I had also found a new fishing location the day before on the walk back to my room.

My new location was a rocky outcrop that dropped steeply into 5-6 feet of water with a rocky bottom. There were some isolated clumps of kelp that was very fishable. Instead of fishing for seabass, I put all my concentration into the surf rod. This rocky environment was prime for ballan wrasse.

Again, the fishing in the dark was very poor on the surf rod. As the sun rose, I had a few rapid taps on the rod and set the hook on a little fish. This black goby loved the clam so much that it was able to take the #8 baitholder hook. Luckily, it was only hooked on the upper lip.

5” Black goby (Gobius niger)



I caught another black goby about 15 minutes later.

At 8am, the tide was dropping fast and the current was rather strong. I started to bottom bounce my surf rod with a 1oz weight. On my third drift, I had a couple of taps and set the hook on another little fish. This one was a wrasse! At the time, I thought it was a juvenile ballan wrasse and I was very happy to have accomplished my goal. When I got home, I found out it was a corkwing wrasse. Oh well, it was still a new species!

6” Corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops)



I caught another corkwing wrasse before 9am. I actually missed two morning talks because I was reluctant to leave without catching a seabream. Oh well…you can’t catch them all.

And such was my fishing adventures at Ile de Berder. It was a very beautiful and tranquil holiday location. One day, I hope I can be back to fish the area some more. It appears that daytime yields more action from other fish species while nighttime was strictly seabass fishing. If only I had more time to fish during the day, I could only imagine the number of additional new species that could be caught.

[MuskieBait]

Nantes – Sep 25 – 26, 2010

Nantes is the third largest city in France according to my friend Stephane. Stephane is a clinician and senior scientist. We meet in 2006 when I was a co-op student at my current lab and Stephane was a visiting fellow. It was Stephane who invited me to attend the workshop in Ile de Berder. After our workshop, Stephane invited me to stay with him for a couple of days.

Ile de Berder is about 1.5 hours from Nantes. After dropping off the luggage, we had a quick lunch. Stephane’s wife Christelle was putting the youngest kid to bed for an afternoon nap, so Stephane took me to a local fishing store to get a 1-day freshwater license (saltwater fishing does not require a license). The shop was very well equipped with a fishing section and a hunting section. Unfortunately, I forgot what the store was called.





When we returned home, we sat around chatting while Christelle prepared a batter for Canneles Bordelais. When the batter was put into the fridge, we were ready to visit downtown Nantes with the kids.

Our first stop was Château des ducs de Bretagne, a Brittany castle dating back to 1207.

Drawbridge gate



Moat



Courtyard



Flying the Brittany colour



In the distance was La Tour LU, the tower from the former Lefèvre-Utile biscuit factory



Our next stop was the very beautiful Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul





Tomb of Francis II, Duke of Brittany





There were some buildings that had sculpted faces on the façade. According to Christelle, these sculpted faces dated back to the slave trade. Rich families who profited from slavery were able to decorate their buildings. It was an interesting mix of art and history.


We finished our tour at Église Sainte-Croix.



We returned to the house just in time for dinner. After some wine, I don’t remember what I had for dinner (there was salad, bread, wine, more wine, I don’t remember the main course though)…but I did remember it was very tasty because Christelle was an exceptional cook (and baker).

Sep 26

The night before, Stephane said I could wake up as early as I want to go fishing in the canal about 10 minutes walk from the house. When I woke up at 8am, the little kiddies were already up and about. As a responsible adult, I just couldn’t leave the house with the kiddies unsupervised.

When Mathieu, the oldest brother, woke up, I started packing my gear. Stephane also woke up at 10am, so I headed out the door for about 1.5 hours of fishing. My target was European perch (aka redfin perch). I had some small soft plastics and small red worms for livebait.

I started off working around some docked boats. The water was very murky and full of algae. The bottom was rather soft with very little vegetation. About 10 minutes into fishing, I had a quick hit on my Powerbait T-Tail…but the fish hit it so fast that there was no time to set the hook. I worked another 100 yards of canal without any hits. With only 30 minutes remaining on the clock, I decided to try fishing Ile de Versailles. There was a little dock at the tip of the island where it reached into deeper water.

When I got to the dock, there was a lot of baitfish in the area. These may actually be bleak. If only I had my fly rod because these little fish were taking mayflies stuck on the surface.

With baitfish in the area, there was also signs of larger fish since I saw two surface commotion. I tied on a splitshot rig and baited with a whole red worm. I took about 10 casts without any hits…but lost the worm on the cast. With only 2 minutes left on the clock, this was really my last cast. I casted as far as I could and worked the split shot rig very slowly on bottom. About 25 feet away from me, I felt a hit, then a better hit…and I set the hook. Fish on!

A short fight later, I found my target fish! The European perch fought harder than the Yellow perch in North America.

7” European perch (Perca fluviatilis)



The canal has a good population of zander and pike as well…but there was no time to fully appreciate the fishing this time. Next time I visit Stephane, I’ll give it a more thorough examination.

I returned to the house at 12pm and Christelle had just returned from the market with fresh fish and fresh bread. We made a great lunch with melon and strawberry (dipped in red wine) for appetizers, boiled fish on rice smothered with a very rich butter shallot sauce for the main course, and fresh French bread to soak up every last drop of that wonderful sauce. We also had fresh baked Cannales Bordelais for dessert. Although we had more red wine for lunch, I did remember that meal very well.

After lunch, Christelle, her daughter Lila-Marie, their guest student Zhu and I went to a theater festival to see a couple of 30 minute shows. The neighbourhood had 3 small theaters in the area and it was an open house at one of them. I forgot my camera so I had no pictures...but there will be a night picture to come.

When we returned, Stephane asked if I want to ride an elephant in Nantes. Riding an elephant? I was open for any idea so we drove to the riverside of the Loire. This was the elephant that greeted us.



This was a gigantic mechanical elephant where every conceivable body part moved with anatomical accuracy. The trunk even blew out steam!

Nantes is the home of sci-fi writer Jules Verne so the city had taken on the initiative to beautify the city with these wonderful, fantastical machines. They are actually building a gigantic carousel full of these fantastical animals where the riders could manually control the animals. It would be completed in 2012. Imagine this carousel but about 20 times larger.



This area was once a shipyard. Nantes was a famous ship building port. The modern ship building facilities had moved closer to the mouth and this area was now converted to a park. The old factory had been converted to a museum.



Some of the buildings were converted to restaurants with some fantasy sculptures as well.



All along the riverbank, scattered around Nantes, there were modern landscape art installations. This set of rings is illuminated at night with a rainbow of colours. Nantes is a great rejuvenating cities that is spending a lot of money to beautify the city and improving the quality of life for her residents.



I also visited Stephane’s lab. It’s only one year old and all the bench space and equipment were sparkling new.





We returned home for a quick crepe dinner. Crepe smeared with salted butter caramel is the $h!T! It was so very tasty! We also had some traditional crepe with eggs and cheese.

After dinner, we took a picture together. Stephane and Christelle are a wonderful couple. They adopted a Cambodian boy and girl and a Vietnam girl. As you can see, they have a very happy family.

Matthieu, Lila-Marie, Stephane, Anna-Iris, Christelle, me.



After dinner, Stephane, Christelle and I went to a Yiddish music concert at the theater. I was a great night of music and dance. Here I was, a Chinese-Canadian dancing among an entire group of French singing “yaba-yaba-ba”. It was a fitting end to my culture visit to Europe.

It was sad to say goodnight to Stephane and Christelle since I would be waking up at 4:30am the next morning to catch a train to Paris. They were super host and Stephane and I had became good friend working together in the past.

It was also sad that my Europe trip was coming to an end. I had rediscovered so much about my love for art, culture and history…things that I had often set aside in favour for fishing.

My 13 days in Europe officially came to pass and I would like to thank you all for reading my travel logs