Downtown

One of the interesting things about Winnipeg is our fascinating Exchange District. According to Wikipedia, Winnipeg has one of the most historically intact early 20th century commercial districts in North America. This may be a bit of a joke to those on the other side of the Atlantic, but some of the buildings date to the 1880's. It's a pretty cool place to wander around with a camera at any time of year.

The uniqueness of the Exchange is echoed in many small, intimate spaces throughout the area, east and west of Main Street. Whether it's windows or doors, stagnation, modernization, flyers, graffiti, you name it, it all seems to have its own special character in this neighbourhood. There are places so quiet, that look so undisturbed in their own way, the thrill of coming across them is a bit like finding that undiscovered beach in some remote tropical paradise. Only colder. And without the water.

But you get the idea.

Lake Louise, Alberta

My love affair with the Rocky Mountains continues. We rented a house in Canmore, Alberta and enjoyed three days of skiing in Lake Louise. It was a marvel to be at the top of a mountain, with peaks as far as the eye could see, then skiing down, sometimes without my toque, sometimes with my jacket open. Warm, sunny, clear skies, good snow, no wind, and no (serious) mishaps. What a great way to spend a spring break.

Canmore is a pretty nice and new looking place with condos everywhere, including the Safeway parking lot. But they do have a nice view of the mountains. Our large log house was on the west side of the town and we found it difficult to tear ourselves away from the view some mornings.

The hot tub in the back yard made it easy to come home to in the evenings. Some nights the moon was so bright it would keep us awake. Every morning I sat on the deck and waited for the sun to touch the peaks on the west side of Canmore.

Skiing at Lake Louise is kind of expensive (when you're used to Manitoba hills) but kind of exhilarating (especially when you're used to Manitoba hills). From the summit, it can take up to twenty minutes to ski down to the lodge, much longer if you pause to enjoy the view.

 The gondola and chair lifts are comfortable, quick, and rarely had lineups more than a dozen people long (and when the chair lift seats six, that's not a long wait).

The view from the lifts is nearly as remarkable as from the top of the hill.

I'll probably have more to say about this in the future, but if you're ever on the fence about Lake Louise, leap off with both feet and get up there.

South Osborne Spring Tour

Would you like to do something a little different this Mother's Day weekend?

The dates are set, the artists are confirmed, the weather is guaranteed.
May 11 and 12 are the dates for the South Osborne Arts Group Spring Tour, new and improved with three more artists!

If you're tired of taking mom to lunch at some non-descript restaurant, come have a bite in the New Village, where restaurants of all kinds abound, then treat yourself to an afternoon of art in the homes of ten artists, all within walking distance of one another.

If you want a preview without mom, show up on Saturday afternoon for a walk through, and return on Sunday with mom to show her your favourites. This is an opportunity to see a working artist's studio, chat with them about their work, their inspiration, their aspirations, and if you feel so inclined, to part with a piece that captures your imagination.

Where can you eat in the New Village, you ask?
Oh, let me count the ways/wheres.
Deseo Bistro
Café D'Amour
Luxalune
Bistro 7¼
All About Thai
Monticchio's
Oakwood Café

All of these restaurants, and there are many more, are in the heart of the New Village on Osborne Street, smack dab in the middle of the artists' homes.

Not sure where South Osborne actually is? Think Riverview/Lord Roberts. Think south of the new Rapid Transit's Osborne Station and north of only slightly south of the St.Vital Bridge. Too confusing? See our handy map.

We are potters, painters, glass workers, drawers, sculptors, plein air people, photographers, jewellers, and probably more as well.

We hope to see you out.

that time of year

Well, things just keep moving along and it's 2013. We're two months away from the 2nd South Osborne Open Studio tour, probably happening on Mother's Day weekend, May 11 and 12.
That will be confirmed this weekend.
In other news, exciting things are afoot but that's about two weeks away from announcement time.
And more exciting things afoot, but that's about two and a half months to opening so I'll get back to you on that.
In the meantime, paint, draw, relax, basketball, paint and draw some more.

Open Studio Tours

Hey Folks
Just came off a very exciting weekend at Assiniboia Downs in the Manitoba Art Expo.
Thousands of people came through the doors to see an extraordinary mix of visual art. It was very clear  that people love to talk about travel, are mesmerized by large faces, and if I had had published copies of my book I'd be on the Canadian best seller list today. One person paged through all five hundred pages of the book, one page at a time. She is my new best friend.
If I'd had time to take pictures of the event, I'd post them here but I was too busy talking to everyone who stopped by. Thanks to everyone who came out and for helping make it a great success. I'm already looking forward to next year.

In the meantime, the South Osborne Arts Group, or SOAG as we are affectionately known, is holding an open studio tour on December 8th and 9th, 2012. Here's the official blurb:

On December 8th and 9th, the newly established South Osborne Arts Group has organized a studio tour of seven artists in the South Osborne neighbourhood. Glass work, pottery, painting, and photography are the focus of this group. Many of the artists are within walking distance of one another, and as it is December, it has been confirmed that at least one artist's wife will be brewing up some hot apple cranberry cinnamon cider to warm your hands and tummies. This is a great opportunity to step inside a working artist's studio and ask why he has 400 photographs of doors and doorways, what's up with the fascination with faces, or if, in an age of digital and instant and "free," there's still a place for a traditional artist in this world. If you live in the South Osborne area, look for something in your mailbox at the end of November. Here's what's in store for you in the studios.

Colleen Chamberlain

Judy Jennings

Steve Jorgenson

Helen Lyons

Pamela Rayner Moore

Tom Roberts

Reymond Pagé

How to Smuggle Your Knife into the Vatican Museums

Excerpt from Today I Ate Cow Stomach

We managed to get ourselves lost while walking down to the central train station, but the good thing about getting lost in Rome is that it's just so darn fun. There's something interesting to see literally everywhere - down the street, across the street, in the trees....

At the station we bought some metro tickets and asked the very patient woman at the desk where we might find a bus map. "Out in the centre," was her reply. We walked around outside for fifteen minutes looking for the ATAC (Rome's public transport company) sign but what seemed so endearing yesterday, the dearth of public signage, was now a curse. We went back inside where I finally broke down and asked a guy at a newspaper stand. Parla Inglese? "A bit," he mumbled. Where would I find the ATAC office, I'm looking for a bus map. "Outside and to the left," he said confidently. Off we went, spirits rising, outside the building into the bright Roman sunshine, and turned left to exactly nothing. Maybe he meant the other left. Is there a law against signs in Rome? The other left was as forthcoming as the previous one and we were back inside through another exit. Laura asked someone behind a desk and she was told that any newspaper or magazine seller would have a map. Hmmmm. Just outside the door of the nearest magazine shop, I found exactly what we were looking for on the left side of the rack. I handed my euros to a familiar-looking retailer who eyed me kind of strangely.

Successful and soon to be informed, we opened our remarkably comprehensive and intimidating bus guide, eventually finding the stop that we needed to get where we hoped to go.

As we walked toward the bus stop, a slim man with stylish shoes and a large toothpick in his mouth jumped up and asked if we needed help. Suspicious, I passed right by him saying that we just wanted to catch a bus. To the Vatican, Laura finished. "Right there! Go! GO!" he shouted, spitting out his toothpick. We leaped aboard and stamped our tickets in a little machine (Matthew is free!). No one checked that we stamped them, but the fine for not doing so is between one hundred and five hundred euros. We will continue to stamp them as required.

We were moving towards our destination without the need to engage our legs, and that was a great joy after much walking the previous days. We passed by countless sights (and lots of palm trees)

got off a couple minutes from St. Peter's Square, and had our lunch in a shady spot. Anywhere there is shade and marble feels significantly cooler than out in the sun.

So, off to the Vatican Museums. As we entered the doors, we saw the bag screener things like they have at airports. Suddenly Laura realized that she had a very sharp knife with her, one that'll cut the tomatoes so thing your in-laws will never come back (thanks, Krista!*), so she did the logical thing and tried to stuff it in my bag! If anything, I thought, put it in one of the kid's bags, for crying out loud. We decided to come clean and told the security guy hanging out by the door that we had a knife that we used for our lunch, you know, to cut cheese and such. "What kind of knife is it?" he asked. You know, a cheese cutting type knife. "Let me have a look," he said. Laura pulled it out, and he gave an audible, inhaling whistle. "Better check that," he said curtly, and pointed to the bag check desk.

Bag-check guy was uninterested in us, even as I walked toward him with a knife in my hand. "Security first," he said, with a wave of his hand. The knife disappeared into one of the bags, before we tossed them on the conveyer, sending them through, along with a little prayer. The guy with the little X-ray TV thing asked Laura to explain what the long sharp looking item was in her bag. We were busted. She started pulling things out of the bag in question, but that is not the bag I put the knife in. I suggest that maybe it was the stiff backing of the backpack, but security guy number two waved me off with an abrupt hand gesture, sort of a 'back off' gesture. A couple of other guys came over and looked at the X-ray image and after careful deliberation surmised that it was probably the hair brush. Yeah, that's it, the hair brush, I said, with a nervous laugh as I grabbed our other bag - you know, the one with the KNIFE in it - and did an innocent-as-possible jog over to Bag Check. I wanted this knife out of our hands, pronto. After a few minutes, the clerk finally looked up and said, "You can't check that here, this machine is broken," telling us to go to the one upstairs. I was tempted to say, But we have a knife!! but held my tongue. Upstairs, we paid our way in, forty two euros total (no freebies here), and over to the next baggage check. We walked up, relieved to be rid of the albatross, and the guy waved us on! "It's okay," he said with a warm smile, and looking at our bag, "you can take that in." Jonas and Matthew raced ahead without a moment's hesitation.

Stunned, we walked into the Vatican Museums with our very sharp knife. 

*The knife was a gift from our friend Krista from her very recent trip to Germany. 

Learn more about our travels here, and find our travel books here, here, and here.

What's it like?

It's a very general question and we're asked that in a number of different ways, but I think the general sentiment is, What's it like to be on the road like that, for that long, in so many different places?

Well, it's a bit like this....

Or this.

Fun.

Where next?

Another question we're often asked is where are you planning on going to next?
I think we'd definitely go back to just about anywhere in India, but I got a book on the Andalucia region of Spain and found some pretty fascinating places that would be worth a good long stay. And if you're going to stay anywhere for more than just a few days, think about renting an apartment.
And if we were going to rent an apartment somewhere in Andalucia, it might well be this one.

Okay, it's kind of pricey, but you have your own kitchen so you'll save money on meals, and it looks so nice, you might also save money by never leaving (except to get groceries).
That's pretty unlikely as you're just a couple hours from Alhambra, the place to see if you are in southern Spain.
Well, and then there's Seville.
And Cadiz.
And you're just up the hill from Ronda.
And I'm sure there are more than a few beaches not too far away.
Yeah.....

Photo Contest

Here are some interesting photos from a travel photo contest by Condé Nast.
These were my entries.
Termessos Theatre north of Antalya, Turkey
Petra, Jordan
Bibi Qa Maqbara, Aurangabad
Taj Mahal, Agra
Bayon, Angkor, Cambodia