Happy Birthday
Yet again, our beloved Honey Bee celebrated another important milestone this month by turning 100 on May 3rd. Understandably, people ask us “how can the cabin be 134 years old when the Island is only 100?” The answer lies in estimates.
When we bought the property in 2000, the previous owner told us that the cabin was estimated to be a 100 years old when he purchased it in 1975. We checked with 2 owners previous to him and the estimates held. We understand that the cabin was actually built on shore nearby in Rockport, disassembled, brought over to the island and reassembled in place. You can still see the Roman numerals carved into the ends of each log marking their reassembly sequence.
A local history buff has suggested (but not proved) that the oversized logs could have come from one of the British forts that were nearby. The cabin saw the addition of its large pink granite fireplace in 1927 and the addition of the kitchen and upstairs bedrooms in the 1940’s. If you are so inclined you can read the entire history at http://www.honeybeeisland.com/history.html
When we bought the property in 2000, the previous owner told us that the cabin was estimated to be a 100 years old when he purchased it in 1975. We checked with 2 owners previous to him and the estimates held. We understand that the cabin was actually built on shore nearby in Rockport, disassembled, brought over to the island and reassembled in place. You can still see the Roman numerals carved into the ends of each log marking their reassembly sequence.
A local history buff has suggested (but not proved) that the oversized logs could have come from one of the British forts that were nearby. The cabin saw the addition of its large pink granite fireplace in 1927 and the addition of the kitchen and upstairs bedrooms in the 1940’s. If you are so inclined you can read the entire history at http://www.honeybeeisland.com/history.html
On the road again..
Last month I mentioned that we had just left Brittany for the season and were off on a 7 week trip, transitioning before arriving at the Bee for the summer. After driving through the Loire Valley, we stayed in Salon De Provence (home to Nostradamus) in the south of France on the Med for a week.
While there, we went wine tasting at Chateau La Canorgue in nearby Bonnieux (you might recall that Russell Crow filmed “A Good Year” there), had a picnic in the olive grove in Glanum that Vincent Van Gogh used as a backdrop for his painting “Olive Grove”, and toured the Roman theater in Orange.
Built in the year 400, this theater is the best preserved in Europe and is a Unesco World Heritage Site (WHS), making it the 86th WHS I have visited. Orange was the retirement haven of former Roman officers who had served the Emperor at least 20 years. (My slave driving boss made me work 30!)
Dave and Monique and view from our Chalet bedroom windows
We then drove to Sion in southern Switzerland to meet my aunt and uncle Dave and Monique from Ottawa who were joining us for a week (of our two week stay) at a beautiful chalet we had in the mountains overlooking the city. We meet them at the train station as planned but Monique hobbled off the train in crutches. She had hurt her knee in Venice where they were arriving from and needed to go to the hospital immediately. We spent the next 6 hours in the local emergency room while they X-Rayed, blood tested and prodded her to no avail.
Our Chalet in Switzerland
Realizing that she would be unable to do anything that we had planned (Switzerland is not an ideal place to try to hobble around on crutches) they decided to fly home early. After a mere 48 hours with us we drove them to the train station and ran them out of town on a rail.
The Matterhorn
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. So, we drove to Zermatt to the foot of the Matterhorn for a day trip. We then drove across the Italian Alps into northern Italy to the Bellagio and Lake Como areas for a few days. A stunning picture postcard area, we came upon the Villa Belmonte in Tremezzo where Mussolini and his mistress were executed. Having explored the area and not having met the same fate, we returned to our digs in Switzerland for another week.
Blondes just want to have fun
Lake Como area, Italy
We visited the fortified mountaintop Abbey in Sion, home to the world’s oldest working organ (1435). The salt mine in Bex was great and with 50 KM (31 miles) of tunnels it has been operating continuously for 300 years. It’s most prominent visitor was Duchess Marie Louise Bonaparte, Napoleon’s wife in 1815.
We drove half way across the continent back home to tuck our car into our garage for another season but made the time to stop in Vezelay on the way. The big draw for us was the Basilica which was built in 1050 and is a WHS (# 87). It was out in the middle of nowhere in the Burgundy region of France on a gorgeous day. We figured we might be the only two people from out of town but arrived at the village square to find 15 Lamborghini cars on a rally. At $350,000 a pop, we were looking at over 5 million dollars in automobiles.
Once home, we took the train to Paris for a week’s visit. We are always surprised to see that some of the worlds best known tourist attractions, like the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, while magnificent, don't hold a candle to some of the lesser known Cathedrals in Amiens or Chartres. It's all about location. 'Notre Dame' is in Paris so it is visited by millions more than the others, off the beaten tourist path.
It is a real treat to be able to spend a week in Paris where we don't have to feel that we have to rush out morning, noon and night to see as much as we can as fast as we can. Yes, we visited the Louvre, walked along the banks of the Seine and hung out by the Eiffel Tower again as we have before. But part of the time, we enjoyed just hanging around the neighborhood because we have the luxury of ...time, and we are very grateful for it. Paris in the spring...ahhh.
We flew back to Seattle, Washington on May 11th.
"A Good Year" was filmed here
While there, we went wine tasting at Chateau La Canorgue in nearby Bonnieux (you might recall that Russell Crow filmed “A Good Year” there), had a picnic in the olive grove in Glanum that Vincent Van Gogh used as a backdrop for his painting “Olive Grove”, and toured the Roman theater in Orange.
Roman Theater in Orange
Dave and Monique and view from our Chalet bedroom windowsWe then drove to Sion in southern Switzerland to meet my aunt and uncle Dave and Monique from Ottawa who were joining us for a week (of our two week stay) at a beautiful chalet we had in the mountains overlooking the city. We meet them at the train station as planned but Monique hobbled off the train in crutches. She had hurt her knee in Venice where they were arriving from and needed to go to the hospital immediately. We spent the next 6 hours in the local emergency room while they X-Rayed, blood tested and prodded her to no avail.
Our Chalet in SwitzerlandRealizing that she would be unable to do anything that we had planned (Switzerland is not an ideal place to try to hobble around on crutches) they decided to fly home early. After a mere 48 hours with us we drove them to the train station and ran them out of town on a rail.
The MatterhornWhen the going gets tough, the tough get going. So, we drove to Zermatt to the foot of the Matterhorn for a day trip. We then drove across the Italian Alps into northern Italy to the Bellagio and Lake Como areas for a few days. A stunning picture postcard area, we came upon the Villa Belmonte in Tremezzo where Mussolini and his mistress were executed. Having explored the area and not having met the same fate, we returned to our digs in Switzerland for another week.
Blondes just want to have fun
Lake Como area, Italy
We visited the fortified mountaintop Abbey in Sion, home to the world’s oldest working organ (1435). The salt mine in Bex was great and with 50 KM (31 miles) of tunnels it has been operating continuously for 300 years. It’s most prominent visitor was Duchess Marie Louise Bonaparte, Napoleon’s wife in 1815.
We drove half way across the continent back home to tuck our car into our garage for another season but made the time to stop in Vezelay on the way. The big draw for us was the Basilica which was built in 1050 and is a WHS (# 87). It was out in the middle of nowhere in the Burgundy region of France on a gorgeous day. We figured we might be the only two people from out of town but arrived at the village square to find 15 Lamborghini cars on a rally. At $350,000 a pop, we were looking at over 5 million dollars in automobiles.
Once home, we took the train to Paris for a week’s visit. We are always surprised to see that some of the worlds best known tourist attractions, like the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, while magnificent, don't hold a candle to some of the lesser known Cathedrals in Amiens or Chartres. It's all about location. 'Notre Dame' is in Paris so it is visited by millions more than the others, off the beaten tourist path.
It is a real treat to be able to spend a week in Paris where we don't have to feel that we have to rush out morning, noon and night to see as much as we can as fast as we can. Yes, we visited the Louvre, walked along the banks of the Seine and hung out by the Eiffel Tower again as we have before. But part of the time, we enjoyed just hanging around the neighborhood because we have the luxury of ...time, and we are very grateful for it. Paris in the spring...ahhh.
We flew back to Seattle, Washington on May 11th.
Fantastico!
While traveling through Italy on our last trip there, aside from the wonderful family we home exchanged with, we meet a young couple in Sila, in the southern most part of the ‘boot’ of the country where few Americans travel. We hit it off big time and have stayed in touch since. He is a lawyer who has represented some of the most nefarious characters of the area while she is a journalist. (People in both those professions seem to gravitate to us) Recently she asked if she could write an article about our visit there (I told you they don’t see many Americans) and our penchant for moving around. Of course they couldn’t resist printing a picture of my HOT California babe in our hot tub.
Interestingly, the article is in English and then translated into Italian on the same page. Minor facts and figures got lost in translation but all in all it was pretty sweet.
To read, double click on article pages
As I mentioned above, we have flown the coop, returned from political exile and landed in the state of Washington where we began our bi-annual visit to kids and grand kids. We began by spending several days with daughter Amy's family. As I write this, we are in Idaho with # 1 son Wesley for several days then onto Oregon to see Cassie and kids. Finally, we will be off to home in the Golden state of California before flying out to the Bee for the summer.
I do love coming home.
Interestingly, the article is in English and then translated into Italian on the same page. Minor facts and figures got lost in translation but all in all it was pretty sweet.
To read, double click on article pages
Final thoughts
on living in Europe
on living in Europe
OK, this will be the last in my little series. For one, by the time you read this we will no longer be in Europe and for another you have had quite enough. I have ranted in these pages before about the fact that being a long term tourist in Europe had some real pluses and minuses. Some are just a novelty. Some are ridiculous. Many though, are quality of life issues.
A tough one for most North American visitors are the traffic “roundy-rounds”. Those are the circular ‘intersections’ where it [admittedly] looks like a Chinese fire drill and appears like you are taking your life into your hands. Actually, it is a rather sophisticated choreography. After 5 winters here, we are HUGE fans.
The trick is to really understand the rules and drive around enough of them for it to become second nature. That simply will never happen on a 3 week vacation to Europe so we Americans always leave with a feeling that it is a crazy system. We are wrong. It is by far the most efficient way to move traffic with a minimum of delay for everyone. You can easily have 5 to 20 cars proceeding safely in all directions simultaneously. It’s a darn shame that our country will not adopt it in our lifetimes.
Ditto for the Metric system. We are wrong, wrong, wrong. I love the fact that America will stand up to the world, fiercely defending our independence, our ideals and way of life. But it is embarrassing when we insist on doing things one way simply because we are used to it. It’s like climbing the ladder of success only to realize you have it leaning against the wrong wall. The Metric system is much simpler and far less prone to errors. Come on America, let’s save ourselves for the big battles in life! Crushing despots like bugs, regime changes, tossing bailouts about like popcorn and important stuff like that. Let’s get our heads out of the sand and other dark places.
Then there is the history….. having read the Epistle before you surely know how enamored we feel about this place.
On the other hand, Europe has some… well, ‘issues’.
As a visitor you would surely notice that the price of gasoline at home currently averages about $2.50 a gallon. Yesterday we saw it here for $7.50 a gallon (Over $2.50 [Canadian] a liter). Road tolls are prevalent all over Europe. So, a day long road trip cost us $350. (US) for gasoline and road tolls only --and we have a cheesy little Toyota! Consider that if you drove here you would have to add a car rental (twice the price as you would pay at home), meals and hotels.
As long term tourists (or short term residents depending on your point of view) we get to experience some of the other idiosyncrasies. I was in the store the other day, looking for a replacement sponge head for our little floor sponge/ mop. $3-4 at home, $20 here. A cup of plain black coffee at a gas station: $7.50 I still can’t get over the fact that we pay $225. per year TV tax. This is for the right to receive free over the air signals.
Two more things that are not my favorite. ALL motorcyclists here are like the Hells Angels. They are absolutely lawless. They drive where they want, how they want, as fast as they want with no apparent consequences.
Finally, if you come to Europe don’t forget to pack your toilet seat. After 5 years, I have simply given up trying to figure out why virtually all public bathrooms (and a heck of a lot of restaurants) have no toilet seats or lids. We are not fans.
A tough one for most North American visitors are the traffic “roundy-rounds”. Those are the circular ‘intersections’ where it [admittedly] looks like a Chinese fire drill and appears like you are taking your life into your hands. Actually, it is a rather sophisticated choreography. After 5 winters here, we are HUGE fans.
The trick is to really understand the rules and drive around enough of them for it to become second nature. That simply will never happen on a 3 week vacation to Europe so we Americans always leave with a feeling that it is a crazy system. We are wrong. It is by far the most efficient way to move traffic with a minimum of delay for everyone. You can easily have 5 to 20 cars proceeding safely in all directions simultaneously. It’s a darn shame that our country will not adopt it in our lifetimes.
Ditto for the Metric system. We are wrong, wrong, wrong. I love the fact that America will stand up to the world, fiercely defending our independence, our ideals and way of life. But it is embarrassing when we insist on doing things one way simply because we are used to it. It’s like climbing the ladder of success only to realize you have it leaning against the wrong wall. The Metric system is much simpler and far less prone to errors. Come on America, let’s save ourselves for the big battles in life! Crushing despots like bugs, regime changes, tossing bailouts about like popcorn and important stuff like that. Let’s get our heads out of the sand and other dark places.
Then there is the history….. having read the Epistle before you surely know how enamored we feel about this place.
On the other hand, Europe has some… well, ‘issues’.
As a visitor you would surely notice that the price of gasoline at home currently averages about $2.50 a gallon. Yesterday we saw it here for $7.50 a gallon (Over $2.50 [Canadian] a liter). Road tolls are prevalent all over Europe. So, a day long road trip cost us $350. (US) for gasoline and road tolls only --and we have a cheesy little Toyota! Consider that if you drove here you would have to add a car rental (twice the price as you would pay at home), meals and hotels.
As long term tourists (or short term residents depending on your point of view) we get to experience some of the other idiosyncrasies. I was in the store the other day, looking for a replacement sponge head for our little floor sponge/ mop. $3-4 at home, $20 here. A cup of plain black coffee at a gas station: $7.50 I still can’t get over the fact that we pay $225. per year TV tax. This is for the right to receive free over the air signals.
Two more things that are not my favorite. ALL motorcyclists here are like the Hells Angels. They are absolutely lawless. They drive where they want, how they want, as fast as they want with no apparent consequences.
Finally, if you come to Europe don’t forget to pack your toilet seat. After 5 years, I have simply given up trying to figure out why virtually all public bathrooms (and a heck of a lot of restaurants) have no toilet seats or lids. We are not fans.
If it’s Tuesday,
this must be…
this must be…
As I mentioned above, we have flown the coop, returned from political exile and landed in the state of Washington where we began our bi-annual visit to kids and grand kids. We began by spending several days with daughter Amy's family. As I write this, we are in Idaho with # 1 son Wesley for several days then onto Oregon to see Cassie and kids. Finally, we will be off to home in the Golden state of California before flying out to the Bee for the summer.
I do love coming home.
