During my latest visit to my parents place in the West Kootenays I spent the majority of my time out at my parents camp site on the lake just south of Fauquier. I spent a good portion of my time out in a canoe exploring the lake, and taking in all the nature. Here are a some photos (and a select few stories) from my time back home.

One fun story is about a beaver I happened upon. I was paddling the canoe up into the mouth of Taite Creek slowly sneaking up on a blue heron. As I approached the heron quickly spotted me and flew off; too bad. However as he flew away I noticed a object slowly moving towards my canoe. On closer inspection it appeared to be either an otter or a beaver. He quickly disappeared under the water, so I decided to continue to circle through the mouth of the creek. As I was coming back around the mouth, I heard a strange gnawing sound. I navigated the canoe over to where the sound was coming from, and found the beaver sitting on a small island taking down a tree. I continued to watch (and follow) the beaver as he took the tree and dragged it to shore where I am assuming he was going to use for a damn.

The beaver became pretty familiar with me quickly and didn’t mind my presence, so I continued to watch him as he swam around and did his thing. Eventually my Father and nephew showed up on land to let me know it was time for dinner. I quickly canoed over to the bank where they were and let them in on the secret. we continued to watch the beaver as he had a late dinner himself. Eventually my nephew got restless and broke a stick, which spooked the beaver. The beaver then jumped into the water, gave us all a nasty look, then dived into the water with a big tail flap to show his displeasure. At that point we decided to give the beaver his peace and left to go for our own dinner.

Another fun story is of an osprey. One morning I woke up early for a sunrise paddle. The lake was so calm and glassy it was a perfect morning for the trek. I paddled south from Taite Creek (where my parents camp is) on my way to Octopus Creek. Along the way there is this fantastic old log that juts out over the water. On top of the log an osprey has built a nest on. As I passed by the log I noticed one osprey sitting in the nest guarding her eggs I assume, and a second osprey standing guard on a nearby tree. As I continued to paddle by I noticed two ravens fly in attempting to get at the ospreys nest. The osprey that was on the nearby tree immediately took action and flew with talons out at the ravens. It didn’t take long before the ravens had retreated.

On my return from Octopus I got really close to the nest to take a few photos. The osprey in the nest did not enjoy my presence too much and began chirping at me. The osprey did this funny head bob every time he would chirp, which I found somewhat hilarious. Eventually the bird got a little too fed up with me and took to the sky. I had thought I had chased him away, however within a minute the bird was dive bombing at me with his talons ready for action. At this point I decided I wanted to keep my eyes and paddled away as quickly as I could.

I have to say it is really awesome to see such a return of animals to the arrow lakes. When I was growing up the trend was towards the opposite. The lake was being abandoned by the ospreys, fish stocks were dwindling, and you were lucky if you ever saw an eagle. There has now been a great turn around, with osprey nests on every telephone poll, kokanee and trout in full abundance and larger than ever, and animals we never used to see like the beaver.

Hopefully I can return again before the summer is over to enjoy the solitude of the Arrow Lakes and all it has to offer.

During my time back in Fauquier I made a day trip with my nephew Mateo to Vernon to visit my brother Michael and his family. It was a really nice summer day, so Mike decided to take out his boat on Kalamalka Lake to do a little wakeboarding, and just enjoy they hot summer day.

Here are a bunch of photos I took during the day. First up was Mateo who had never wakeboarded before. He was up on his first try!

Next up was Kalin. He started off on a wake skate, goofed around on that for a while then switched to the wakeboard.

My sister in law Angie and Kalin’s friend Johnny also went for a board. I went too, but nobody remembered to take any pictures of me. Maybe it was for the better!

However it was my brother Mike who showed us all how it is done.

After we all got a little wakeboarding in we got a little silly. We put Kalin in the dry-suit and filled it up with air so that he would float on the water. We then pulled him behind the boat!

The rest of the day we spent cruising around the lake enjoying the sunshine. Kelsie (Mike & Angie’s dog) was sure enjoying it.

It was a great way to spend the day, as it is always fun hanging out with Mike and Angie.

This was the third year (second in a row) that Lester and I made the pilgrimage from Vancouver down to the Gorge in Washington State. Both Sasquatch 2009, and Sasquatch 2006 were great times, so I didn’t expect anything different this year.

We left a little after 1pm from Vancouver and made it into Seattle in decent time. Lester had told me about this burger place in Seattle called Lunchbox Laboratory that apparently made some of the best specialty burgers around. I can’t remember which burger I got, but it had so much bacon in it I actually had to take some out as I felt my heart was on the brink of failure. Overall though it was a really fantastic burger, wonderfully presented. My only complaint is that is was just too over the top, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

After stocking up on groceries, we hit the road for the final stretch to the Gorge. The traffic was pretty horrible, however Lester used his super powers of driving in a lane that was apparently closing. I think he probable shaved a good 45 minutes off our trip with that maneuver.

Unfortunately once we hit the Gorge access road we weren’t as lucky. We got to the access road at around 11:30pm and the lineup of cars was something I had never scene entering the Gorge. It was somewhat reminiscent of our 4+ hour wait getting into Bonnaroo. By about 3:30am we had finally got into the camping area. We had a pretty good idea from last year where we wanted to camp, so despite the warnings that it was full, we made our way to the area. We were finally able to find a decent spot (albeit tight) close to the entrance, showers, and bathrooms. Once the tent was setup, we slammed a few beers, had a pull of whiskey, then crashed in our tent.

The next three days at the Gorge rank up there with the best of them. The music was fantastic. I think I spent the majority of my time on the main stage, however made the switch over to the side stages on occasion. Some of my highlights were Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, Broken Social Scene, The National, My Morning Jacket, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, LCD Sound System, Massive Attack, The New Pornographers, Band of Horses and Ween.

Festivals are more than just the music however. Getting to party with old friends and make new ones along the way is all part of the fun. While it was just Lester and me who made the trip down together, between us we probably knew a good 15 other people who went down to for the festival. A bunch of them we didn’t even end up seeing!

Another fun pass time during Sasquatch (or any festival for that matter) is people watching. Last year Lester and me player hipster bingo which was a load of fun. This year we didn’t do the bingo but the people watching was just as good. My favorite this year was the dancing viking guy! The next day he showed up as the dancing chef. Unfortunately we didn’t catch him on the final day. Second favorite would probably be the group of people who dressed up as power rangers and other super heroes. One final costume I have to bring up was the couple who dressed all in black and used glow sticks to make them look like stick people. Very cute.

Another fantastic year at the Gorge for Sasquatch shared with some really great friends. Barring any unforeseen events I don’t see myself missing this festival too often in the future.

Here are a few more random photos from the weekend.

Having made another Tiramisu for my parents a few weeks ago, I had another glut of egg whites. This presented the perfect opportunity for me to try my hand at making macarons for the third time.

I wanted to switch things up this time and do a chocolate shell. I found a chocolate macaron recipe from from David Lebovitz that looked promising.

The recipe was pretty standard. Beat your eggs until they are nice and stiff, fold in the flour/almond mixture, then pipe the mixture onto parchment paper. In my last few attempts I found my macarons I made were way too huge, so I did my best to pipe smaller macarons this go round.

David claimed that in his experience letting your piped macarons sit to build up a skin didn’t help with creating feet, so I decided to skip that step and bake the macarons after piping them. The big result? No feet. Third attempt, no feet. I really don’t know what I am doing wrong. The only thing I can think of is that I am not putting in enough dry ingredients into the batter, as I have found the batter to be a little runny.

Well enough about feet, everything else about the macarons turned out great! For flavors I went with a vanilla butter cream recipe I found online. I altered the recipe slightly by scraping the seeds of a raw vanilla bean into cream.

In addition to the vanilla butter cream I wanted to make some macarons with a chocolate ganache filling. Making chocolate ganache is really easy. Basically chop up your best chocolate (12oz) and place in a heat resistant bowl. Heat up your cream (1 cup) until it starts to boil. Once it begins to boil quickly pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk until the two are blended together. Once the ganache is creamy and smooth you can add in some vanilla extract and rum for some added flavor.

All in all I am happy with my latest macarons. I definitely prefer the chocolate ganache ones to the vanilla butter cream, but both are pretty delicious. I just wish I was able to create them with feet. Next time I will try to add a bit more of the dry ingredients and go back to letting them sit before baking. Some day I will master the art of the macaron.

Back in November I made Italian tiramisu. However when I did I bought way too much mascarpone cheese. In my fridge since then I have had a big tub of Mascarpone, justing sitting there. For anyone who has ever bought mascarpone, you will know it is not cheap. On Friday I decided to use it up. Half the mascarpone I used on making another tiramisu, as I absolutely love it. After doing some searching online I found a great carrot cake cupcake recipe that used mascarpone in the icing that I had to try.

I followed most of the recipe mostly as is, however I used brown sugar rather than white sugar. As well I decided to roast almond slivers and sprinkle them on top of the cupcakes. Finally I didn’t really measure the orange juice, just squeezed a full fresh orange into the batter.

Cupcake Recipe

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 freshly squeezed orange
• zest of a full lemon
• 1/2 cup walnuts – toasted
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer beat the eggs, while slowly adding in the sugar. Mix until the sugar and eggs are nicely creamed together. Add oil, carrots, lemon zest and orange juice. Mix until combined.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold into the wet ingredients until fully mixed. Finally stir in roasted walnuts.

Line a muffin pan with liners and top up each with the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Icing Recipe

• 3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/3 cup mascarpone at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons confectionery sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons sliced almond – toasted

Combine the cream cheese, butter, mascarpone cheese, honey, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix well. Frost your cupcakes after they have fully cooled. Sprinkle almonds onto the cupcakes to finish them off.

A pretty easy recipe to follow, and well worth making, as these cupcakes are delicious. I will definitely be making them again in the future!

From their website:

“Vectorial Elevation” was an interactive artwork that allowed you to direct powerful light beams and transform Vancouver’s skyline between February 4 – 28, 2010.

The light show was one of my favorite additions to the city during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It added a feeling of intrigue to our skies, and gave you a sense that the city was alive. Many nights walking home across the bridge from Downtown, I would stop to watch as the lights danced across the sky.

Despite being on the go for most of the Olympics I did find time to go out and photograph the lights on one occasion. The weather was wet and we were socked in by fog, but I think it added to the effect of the photos. Here are some shots from my photo walk. Also definite thanks to Jordan and Oliver for bearing with me, and helping me setup.

Most people who know me knew I wasn’t a big proponent of the Vancouver Olympics. The city of Vancouver has a laundry list of problems that the money spent on the games could have gone towards. Despite my opinion the games were going to go on, and I had the choice to make the most of them, or sit them out sulking. I decided since I would likely be paying for these games (along with the rest of Canada) for many years I would do my best to enjoy all they had to offer; and to be quiet honest, it was hard not to.

My Olympic experienced started off with the torch running through my neighborhood down 4th avenue. Chip Wilson of Lululemon fame was the torch bearer, and got to run it past his flagship store. I was blown away by how many people were on the streets. hundreds packed 4th avenue in both directions as far as the eye could see. The city was excited.

One of the things I was looking forward to during the Olympics was all the free concerts that were going on around town. I was able to catch a good number of great bands. The Arkells and Broken Social Scene at Ontario House, The Stanfields and Julie Doiron at Atlantic Canada House, Wilco at Livecity Yaletown, and Wintersleep at the Ozone in Richmond. The sheer musical talent that was in the city over the 2 weeks was outstanding, I just wish I was able to catch more of it.

I was also able to attend one event during the Olympics; a hockey game featuring Russia vs Latvia. It was a bit of a blowout by Russia what was expected. I got to go with Jason for free courtesy of our good friend Brian in Lethbridge.

In addition to the concerts and the events I tried to get out to many of the houses and pavilions after work. It was often tough to get into specific places as the lineups were just horrible. This is to be expected when over a million new people show up in your city.

Ultimately though the Olympics came down to experiencing the excitement of the games and the city with friends. The experience wouldn’t have been the same if it weren’t for my buddies.

It was also great to have visitors from out of town in the city. Joe and Kasie made the trip up from California, Sophie was in from London, Bryan from Lethbridge, and of course Mr Newfie Joe made it to town as well.

In the final few days of the Olympics I got more and more into watching the events, especially the hockey and the curling. Out of shear luck we were able to find a place to watch the semifinals game against Slovakia as we just happened to be watching the womens curling finals outside a fully booked bar that happened to have one table just come available.

Since finding a bar to watch the gold medal hockey game was near impossible, I invited friends over to my place for an impromptu brunch to watch the final game. It was an amazing finale to the Olympics, and a nail-biter of a game to watch. Eventually Canada pulled out the victory in overtime thus calming all of our nerves.

After the game we took to the street and marched down Granville Street to join the city wide party to cap off an amazing 2 weeks.

Despite my opposition to the games I did do my best to make the most of them. Now that the party is over, it will be interesting to see what happens with this city. Will it go the way of Barcelona and turn this city into an exciting, “fun” city? Or will we be the next Athens riddled in dept. Only time will tell. One thing is for certain, that 6 billion dollar price tag certainly won’t be going away anytime soon.

As a bit of a last minute decision I took off for Maui midway through January. My brother Michael and his wife Angie had booked a trip out there, and after finding a flight for less than $600 I decided to jump at the opportunity. As you may know I started last year off in Hawaii as well. I spent an amazing 6 weeks there last year, so it was a no brainer to return. Every year should start in Hawaii!

Most of our time in Maui was spent on the beach, or in the water either surfing or paddle boarding. We would barbeque almost daily, and coconut ice cream or shave ice was our dessert. Life was definitely grand. On our last days we did the Hana Highway drive, followed by whale watching. It was a really great trip, and I am happy I got to spend it with Mike and Angie.

Here are a some photos from the trip Maui:

During my time on vacation in Maui my brother, his wife and I went up to Honolua Bay one day to checkout the surfing. The day we went we caught the tail end of some monster waves. Still got to see the occasional 20+ foot wave being surfed though. Also was some of the best surfing I have ever witnessed live before. Here are a few shots I took from the day.

Hawaii

2009 started with a trip to Hawaii to see my best friend Joern get married. I was the best man of the wedding, and wouldn’t miss the occasion for the world. It was a beautiful ceremony that took place in the garden of the Sheraton on the Big Island overlooking the ocean. A fun evening of drinks dancing, and other fun events took part after.

The first week in Hawaii was spent on the Big Island. I was staying with Jason who I had convinced to come along, as well as Bernie and Andrew who were there for the wedding. We had a good balance of touring around the island and just lazing on the beach, and enjoying the warm Hawaiian waters. After our first week Bernie left us, while Andrew, Jason and myself headed off to the Island of Kauai for some more adventure.

Kauai was a bit of a fantasy land. Such an amazing island in terms of geography, so lush and green, and such an amazing place to photograph. We spent 2 weeks in Kauai, during which time I actually worked for days. I would wake up at 6am and work until around 1ish. This would still give me half the day to explore. Jason at the time was working on his book and kept to a similar schedule to me, while Andrew spent his mornings exploring around on his own. It worked out extremely well, and made me extend my trip by another 2 weeks.

The 2 weeks spent in Kauai went by quickly, and soon it was time to move again. Before leaving the island however we decided we would catch a benefit concert at a school on Kauai that featured Donavon Frankenreiter, and Jake Shimabukuro. Jake stole the show as expected, however seeing all the kids in the school singing/playing along with Donavon was also quiet fun.

We took off to Honolulu for a few days to celebrate Andrew’s birthday, after which we moved onto Maui for a few days. Maui we spent a lot of time our time driving around the island exploring. Our trip along the Hana Highway goes down as one of the most scenic drives I have done to date. It is also largely untouched by tourism, and still very remote.

Finally we ended up back on the Big Island for two more weeks. These last two weeks were spent mainly surfing. We had found a fantastic house to rent half a block from the beach, which allowed us to simply walk from our place, to the beach and go surfing. We did also manage to make it up to the top of Mauna Kea.

West Coast

Unfortunately my time in Hawaii had to end. Although it was nice to be back in Vancouver, and catch back up with life, and play some hockey! Started off playing back in Langley for my tema the Master Bladers, then as the winter started to turn to spring, I began to get some Burton Hockey sessions organized, slowly bringing in new recruits for the year.

It turned out to be a banner year for Burton Hockey, for both VRH and BUSH. I even managed to score my 1000 point, and Lee went on to destroy the record books.

Also during the spring Jordan, Oliver and myself after a night of many beers, started Urban Capture the Flag. We had an initial beta test, then got around to setting up matches every couple of weekends. It was a lot of fun to get going, unfortunately due to busy summers the wheels fell off. Hopefully in 2010 we can get the ball rolling again, especially so we can do another Capture the Beer.

As the spring rolled on I did my annual festival of the year, by attending the Sasquatch Music Festival. I was accompanied by Jason and Lester. It was a ridiculously fun weekend, which was made even better by the cool crew we met from Calgary/Canmore. If only everyone could experience a car party, or the flambongo.

As summer quickly approached, I hastily made a bunch of new travel plans, that would take me away from my beloved Vancouver for most of the summer. Before leaving however I still managed to plant my tomatoes, and get them started on my balcony.

Finally my last weekend in Vancouver before taking off was spent up at Whistler celebrating Joern’s 30th birthday. It was a fantastic weekend that saw the creation of the m-1000, some amazing stealthing, and a lovely barbeque on the lake.

Montreal and Europe for the Summer

It is becoming a bit of a tradition now for me to visit my brother in Montreal over the summer. Last year was no different. It was a lovely visit with Richard and Youki, and was great to see my ever growing nephew Mateo. Say what you will about bribery, but it works on kids, as I was able to get my nephew to cut his hair!

On my last week in Montreal after a visit to Ottawa I fell sick. Horribly sick. It was one of the worst times of my life, and could have been so much different had the medical system in Quebec treated me correctly. Unfortunately when it came time to fly to Europe I couldn’t go. I pushed back my flight 5 days in the hope I would recover. Luckily I did after seeing a new doctor. The only good thing that came of this, was that I was able to go on another search for the best poutine in Montreal.

I hadn’t planned on going to Europe last summer. However it was my cousin Johanna’s wedding, so I couldn’t not go. Building off the success of my time in Hawaii I decided while in Europe I would work for the majority of my time there to save on vacation days. I spent my first week before the wedding in Berlin, where I met up a few times with my cousin Christoph. It was really nice to spend time with him and get to know his family. Then it was time for the wedding. So I hoped a train and headed out for Oldenburg.

The wedding was absolutely wonderful, despite being completely confusing for me language wise. Johanna being German, and Regis French, made for a very bilingual wedding, in languages I am not exactly the best at. Regardless there were a few nice French girls who could speak English who helped me out. Johanna had asked me to take some photos of the ceremony. I had never shot a wedding before, so I was a little nervous to do so under the gun, however I was pretty happy with the result of the wedding photos I took.

After the wedding I was off to Berlin for a final two days before heading off on the rest of my adventure. Next stops, Croatia and Italy. I met up with Jason in Dubrovnik, where we started our adventure. We spent a wonderful two days in Dubrovnik, exploring the old city walls, enjoying the local cuisine, and partying in the back alleys.

We then picked up our rental car from the airport and started our drive North towards Kastav, where our good friend Sid lives. when we picked up the rental car, we were told Avis wouldn’t honor our rate. We had rented with carrentals.com, who guaranteed us our booking, yet Avis said there was a problem, and we had to pay 10 times the price we were quoted. Here is more info on how we were screwed by avis and carrentals.com.

Despite that minor problem, we continued on our drive up the Croatian coast, finally making it to Kastav where we spent our weekend getting shown around town by Sid.

It was then off to Italy. I celebrated my 29th birthday in Venice with Jason. I then continued on alone south through Verona and Florence. I met back up with Jason in Florence and we continued on to Siena where we attended the Palio de Siena. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with our friend Berenice at her lovely Siena Villas.

Just like that the trip was coming to a close. One final stop in Manchester England to see some friends, and catch a Pearl Jam concert, and then it was back to North America for me.

Wisconsin, Wilderness, and a Trip to the East Coast

A few weeks after returning home to Vancouver I was off again. This time to Wisconsin. One last wedding, and another adventure with Jason. I arrived a week before the wedding of my friends Tom and Ingrid. Basically for the week leading up to the wedding I worked during the day, then in the afternoon went off on adventures exploring the state of Wisconsin. It was a fun time. Jason arrived a few days before the wedding, and the rest of our time was spent celebrating the wedding of some good friends.

When I got back to Vancouver it was time to do my annual hike of the year. This time it was up the Lions. It was a nice hike with a bunch of great friends, and probably the last opportunity we had before the weather started to turn ugly.

I made it home to visit my parents in the Kootenays for Thanksgiving. I spent some time with my mom pine mushroom picking. The rest of my time was spent in the kitchen helping her out baking pies and other nice treats.

My last trip of the year took me to Philadelphia and Washington DC. I finally got to see my first ever Flyers home game, and proceeded to catch two more games. Finally to close out my weekend I caught the last ever concert in the Spectrum (where the Flyers won their Stanley Cups) played by Pearl Jam.

Returning home it was time to finally ground myself for the rest of the year. I spent the final two months of 2009 reconnecting with friends, and baking up a storm. Christmas was spent with my parents and family feasting and playing games. A wonderful way to close out such a wonderful year. Here is to 2010 being as good to me as 2009 was, and perhaps a return to bearded Stefan.

Over the holidays while at my parents place I started a project. I wanted to mount a camera in their yard, have it take pictures, and upload them to the Internet. Basically I wanted to start a webcam.

Before heading back to my parents place, I did some last minute shopping on craigslist and was able to get an old Canon A75 camera. In it’s day it was a decent camera, but now at only 3mp not many people would want it. So I was able to get it for a cheap $20.

Next up I was able to get a mini Compaq computer that would control the camera. My friend Oliver helped me out with getting it, and I thank him profusely for it. With these two items, a network cable, and a bit of programing I was able to setup Fauquier Cam.

So how does it work? I will get into the technical details in another post, but here is the brief overview. The camera is mounted outside on one of our sheds. It is connected via USB to the Compaq computer which sits inside the shed, as well to an ac adapter cord. The computer sits inside the shed running Ubuntu Linux, and controls the camera via the usb cable, and the wonderful Linux application GPhoto 2. So I have a script setup that runs every 2 minutes from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. The script tells the camera to take a picture, then downloads the picture to the Compaq computer. After the image is downloaded to the Compaq it proceeds to upload the image to my webserver.

Once I have the image on my webserver, I resize it to multiple sizes, insert it into a database, then upload each size to Amazon S3 for storage and hosting. OK I can see your eyes glazing over, so I will leave the rest of this for the technical overview.

So what am I getting at? Well basically that if you browse to www.fauquiercam.com you will be able to see an up to date photo from my parents backyard. Greenhouse? check. Garden? check. New cabin my brother is building? check. Scenic pasture and mountains in the background? check. Yup you get it all. I have even included an archives section so you can go back and view photos from past days. Like January 2nd, when my parents made a snowman and a sign for the camera.

This is all just a start. Up next is compiling time lapse videos of every day and adding them to the site. Then as content gets built up (like lets say a years worth) I will do some time lapses of the seasons changing. Lets hope the Canon A75 stays reliable!

Well I hope you all enjoy this little glimpse into my parents backyard and a view of the weather in the small Kootenay town of Fauquier.

A few weeks ago I went with a few friends and hiked up the Lions. We got up bright and early (a good 5:15am rising), and were ready to leave the city a little after 6am, except we had to wait on the organizer of the hike. As it turns out he was out partying until 4am the night before and wasn’t go to join us. So we trooped on.

We arrived at an empty parking lot in Lions Bay around 7:45am and began our hike. For the most part the trail up was well marked. The only place we really had to question was in the first 20 minutes of hiking when we arrived at a fork in the road. One of the guys in our group had downloaded the hike info onto his iPhone, so after checking the info, we knew to continue on to our right. After that the rest of the trail was either marked by signs or ribbon.

After a few hours we reached the lower ridge that sits off to the left of the West Lions. Here we waited for our group to reconvene so we could take on the final assault of the mountain. Waiting around for the other group members I started to get a bit of a chill. Since we were on the west side of the mountain, the sun was being blocked. In addition due to the altitude gain the temperature where we were at was near freezing (the puddles where turning to ice). While we waited Oliver and Myself did a little huckleberry picking. Having near frozen extremely ripe huckleberries was definitely a thirst quencher.

Once our group assembled we trooped on. At this point the trail goes from a bush trail to a rocky trail as you start to climb up an old rock slide. soon there after we started to hit snow and ice. This definitely slowed us down as we had to be extremely careful as we climbed up. The higher we climbed the more amazing our view got, as a clear view into Howe Sound emerged.

We eventually got to a point on the rock trail where things began to get a bit steeper. The old tracks of the last hikers lead up a section, that didn’t look overly safe, and we questioned whether we wanted to continue on. Eventually I lead the way doing scouting out an alternate route up the rock slide. It proved to be a good route, and within 15 minutes I was standing in the glorious sunshine. It is amazing how much difference the temperature was standing the sun, compared to when I was down on the ridge earlier in the shade.

We continue up this route and shortly there after found our way onto of the ridge between the Lions. We made our way to the highest point we felt safe climbing, and found a nice spot to break for lunch. Having lunch with a 360 degrees view of Howe Sound, the Coastal Mountains, and Vancouver in the distance was a little magical.

Soon after breaking for lunch another group of hikers made their way up. As we continued to eat our lunch, more groups began to emerge making their way up to the top. It appeared as if others wanted to take advantage of one of the last nice weekends as well. We headed out off the top of the mountain around 1pm. The decent was much quicker than I had thought it would be, even with the snow.

As we continued down the mountain, we passed more and more groups going up the mountain. I am glad now that we got the early start we did, as we got to have the top literally all to ourselves, as well as the trails early in the morning.

After a couple hours we had made it back to the parking lot and we were all feeling really good about the hike. The total time was a little over 7 hours return, however if we weren’t slowed down so much by the snow, and didn’t take it as leisurely as we did, I am sure we could have done it in a much quicker time. Then again, what is the fun in that?

It was a really nice hike, one that I would be sure to do again. Happy I was able to get one good hike in this year, especially with being away for most of the summer.

The Palio di Siena is a horse race that is run twice a year in the Italian city of Siena. I attended the race with Jason this year. Before the trip (really before even getting to Siena) my knowledge of the race was really limited. All I knew was that a bunch of horses raced around the outside of the Piazza in Siena and that the spectators stood in middle. After getting to Siena I realized there was so much more to the event.

We arrived in Siena by bus from Florence in the early afternoon of the Saturday before the race (the race is run on the Sunday). From there we took a city bus out to where we were staying. Our friend Berenice who lives in Siena runs one of nicest bed and breakfast/villas in Siena. She was kind enough to let us stay with her during for the weekend. On our bus ride out to the farm we got into conversation with a girl from Brazil, who as luck would have it, was staying at Berenice’s place as well. So we all went together to the Villa.

We arrived to the Villa to find Berenice waiting patiently for us. I was literally blown away when I saw the complex. The Villa Cavaglioni is absolutely stunning. It is essentially a mansion made out of a 14th century fortress situated on the top of a hill overlooking the beautiful Tuscan farms below. I really felt like royalty being able to stay in such a lovely accommodation.

After we had cleaned up we met Berenice for lunch. At which time she gave us the full run down on the event. The first thing she told us was this was not a tourist festival. Not to say there wasn’t going to be lots of tourists there, but the event was put on for the people of Siena, and was an event for the people of Siena. The race dates back to the 16th century, so it is an event that is deeply rooted in the culture of Siena. Berenice went over the history of the event, what it meant to people of Siena, the schedule for the following two days, and finally how we should act during the Palio. It was really great to have a local guide to give us so much information on the event, as it really gave a new perspective on things.

So that afternoon we went back to Siena where we caught the rehearsal of the race. There was a lot of people in the Piazza just for the rehearsal, and you could really feel the excitement from the locals. There was singing and chanting and dancing. Enemy contradas would sing songs back and forth to each other.

After the rehearsal (in which 3 riders fell off their horses), Berenice left us as she was to attend her contradas great dinner. Every contrada has a big dinner for all their members the night before the race. The members get to eat and drink with each other, see their jockey and horse, and discuss their chances for the next days race. During this time we found a lovely restaurant where Jason and myself finally found ourselves a Florentine Steak. After finding some gelato we called it a night as we knew the next day would be a very full day.

The morning of the race we head into the city and did a bit of sightseeing. We started by exploring the ancient streets of Siena and in doing so getting ourselves a little lost. Whichever part of the city you were in you would see flags flying from the contrada of that specific section of the city.

Eventually we found our way to the Cathedral of Siena. Inside the cathedral we found more flags from all the contradas. It was interesting to see these flags in the cathedral where you would normally expect to see only Christian parchments.

We then decided to get a little lunch before all the excitement started. So we found a pizza place we noticed the night before as having a really long lineup, and decided to try it out. The pizza was cheap and good, a combination I generally like. After our lunch we headed back into the Eagle contradas territory to catch the parade. Berenice said this was the best place to see the parade as this was the last section of the city that the parade route took before entering the Piazza. It was also the closest place to be to get into the Piazza after the parade.

We watched the parade literally from the doorsteps of the Eagle contrada house. So every contrada that would pass the house would pay their respects in some form or other to the contrada. It was really incredible the level of detail that was put into the costumes and outfits everyone was wearing.

I think my favourite part of the parade however was the flag tossers. They would march down these narrow streets swinging their flags around, nearly taking the heads off of people watching the parade. If that wasn’t enough they would then proceed to toss their flags up to their partners and catch them right before they plunged into the crowds. It was amazing the level of dexterity these men showed. I made a short video of some flag tossers as they passed by us.

After the parade had finished we hurried into the Piazza to get a good spot. We wanted to be in an area where we could see the track alright, but also be close enough to the exit so that right after the race we could run to catch our bus. In typical Jason fashion we had booked a flight out early the next morning from Pisa. For us to be able to make that flight we had to make it back to Florence that night. The last bus of the day left Siena at 8:45pm. With the race set to start at 7pm we thought we would have enough time. However after talking to Berenice we didn’t feel to confident. She told us that while the race was suppose to start at 7pm, it most likely wouldn’t. Regardless we thought we would risk it, and finally found ourselves a decent spot in the Piazza among the 50,000 other spectators.

As it turns out Berenice was right on the money. While the horses entered the track roughly around 7pm, the race didn’t start. The horses would line up together then fall back then line up again. Apparently during this time the members of contradas are making secret pacts against other contradas, bribes are made, and overall the jockeys are just trying to control their horses. What was most incredible about this part of the event was that everyone was dead silent. a good 75,000+ people all completely silent waiting to hear the announcer tell the order of the horses. You could really feel the anticipation building.

Eventually the race started. Or so we thought. Seconds after the horses bolted, there was a big bang, and all the horses slowed to a trot and made their way back to the starting line. That was the first false start. So again the horses lined up. The began jockeying for position, and again the waiting game started. There was several times during this setting up of the horses along the line where two jockeys got into physical fights, whipping each other and each others horses, and yelling out profanities.

The crowd was still in good spirits, but slowly getting a bit restless. The horses and riders however just continued to line up, then fall back again. At this point I was beginning to get a bit worried. It was already past 8pm, and while the race only lasts roughly 3 mins, at the rate this buildup was happening, I started to have doubts we would make our bus. Then the horses took off again… but yet again it was another false start.

At this point people really started to get restless, and started to yell and chant more at the riders. Also at this point I was on the verge of giving up on us catching the bus out of town. However just as I was losing all hope the race started, and it was clean. The waiting was finally over, and the race was on. Then it was done. That quick. 2 minutes and it was over. We had waited in the Piazza a good 3+ hours for a 2 minute horse race. It was exciting. Actually it was very exciting. 2 riders during one of the hairpin turns were flung from their horses. The ultimate winner of the race was the Civetta contrada (owl). The Owl had now won the Palio in since 1979 so this was a very huge victory for them. Their members were all in tears of joy. On the other side of the spectrum was the Onda contrada (wave) who were the enemies of the Owl. Members of Onda went running out of the piazza as fast as possible after the race. When people would get in their way they were at times mildly violent in getting through the crowd to get back home.

At this point in time it was probably 8:30pm. We had 15 minutes to get from the crowded piazza to the bus station. Easy right? Well when you have no map and are surrounded by 50,000 other people trying to get out of the piazza it becomes more difficult. Me and Jason bolted almost as quickly as the Onda members, and made our way out of the Piazza relatively quick. We then doubled back and forth through the streets of Siena trying to find our way back to the bus station, but also via a quick not too traffic route. However in doing so we got ourselves lost again, and actually ended up at the church of the Owl contada. The church has significance as it is the place where they bring the victory painting to after the race to celebrate. We had actually beaten most of the contrada members to their own church. However this was bad news for us as we had to backtrack against a torrent of people rushing up the church.

So we doubled back and ran through the crowd. Nothing like running against the grain. It was fun in a way as we got to see the excitement and joy in all the peoples faces as they marched up the church. We even got to see the people carrying the victory painting.

Finally we found our way back onto the right path and headed up towards the bus station. By this point it was well past 8:45pm. There was a train that left at 9;15pm but the station was a taxi ride away, and there wasn’t a taxi in site. So we ran to the bus station in hope they held the bus until after the race.

We arrived to find a full bus waiting for any last passengers. Literally 1 minute after we boarded the bus, it departed. What a rush. I think the run after the race was more exciting and got my adrenalin pumping even more than the actual race did. We HAD to catch that bus, and I can’t believe we actually did. So that is the end of the story. We made it to Florence, and then later in the night to Pisa. It was an incredible day, with lots of excitement and an experience I won’t soon forget.

Here are a few additional photos from Siena. Also if you are looking for another good review of the Palio in August checkout: http://taryninitalia.blogspot.com/2009/08/il-palio-di-siena.html.

No long story for Italy like for Croatia. However a little back story to fill you in. Jason and myself left Croatia on my birthday bright and early in the morning. We took a bus into Trieste, where we then caught a train to Venice. We spent my birthday in Venice feeling a little tired from our weekend in Croatia. The next day Jason departed for England to see Pearl Jam, while traveled on to Verona for a few days. We finally met up in Florence for a night there, before heading off to Siena for the Palio di Siena (which will get it’s own blog entry). Here are a few photos from that time in Italy. Due note I was working during this time of my trip, which somewhat limited my exploration ability!

Venice:

Verona:

Archway into Verona:

View from lunch:

Jason in Florence holding David:

Despite getting screwed by Avis and CarRentals.com Jason and myself carried forth with our initial plans to drive up the coast of Croatia in our rental to Zadar. We would then travel east to visit the Plitvice Lakes, before heading back north one again to reach our final destination of Rijeka, where we planned to spend a few days with our friend Sid.

Our route took us initially through Bosnia and Herzegovina, then back into Croatia. Once we passed back into Croatia the coast got absolutely gorgeous. High cliff-side roads overhanging the Adriatic Sea. We stopped in at random villages and towns exploring as we went. One village were we broke for lunch at, lacked any roads into the town so Jason and myself packed our lunch and hiked down into the town. Everyone in the town must have known each other, because when we walked down by the water, we got a bunch of peculiar looks. The people were just curious though, and when they saw we were just looking for a place to have lunch, went back to whatever they were doing (mainly frolicking in the water).

One of the next villages we stopped at was a little more touristy, and we were able to get our daily gelato. It dawned on me here what a major role the water played in the lives of Croatians. It appeared the life of each town was found along the water, and when you have such a beautiful sea, it makes a lot of sense.

We eventually made our way up to Split, where we initially had planned to spend the night. Split was a much larger city than either of us had anticipated, and Jason was having troubles finding parking and navigating the narrow roads. We eventually found a place to leave the car and did a little exploring. The old part of the city really reminded me of Seville in Spain, but not as nice. We had dinner in Split and caught the sunset, and then decided to drive a few more miles north before calling it a day.

Finally we stopped in a town called Trogir. Trogir was a wonderful little town that had a lot of the charms that Dubrovnik had, just a lot smaller. We were able to get the last two beds at Hostel Trogir, and after showering and settling in, we hit the town. We had a few drinks in the main square, then found this fantastic open air bar. It was situation within the city walls, so it was like being in an ancient tavern, however the building had no roof or ceiling, so you could look up to the stars while drinking your beer. It was really quite spectacular.

The next morning we left Trogir amid a massive traffic jam. Took us nearly an hour to move 10km. Finally we got outside the city however and were able to get moving. We cruised inland for a while and got to see the agricultural side of Croatia before heading back to the coast, on route to Zadar. We made it to Zadar by noon, filled up on gas, and headed inland towards the great lakes of Plitvice.

We arrived at the lakes to find a mass of people. This was definitely one of the major tourist destinations of Croatia. We paid the the entrance fee and made our way onto the path leading to the lake. Half way to the lakes I realized I was going to have a hard time enjoying it. The paths we were walking on were packed with people. You essentially were herded around the lakes with everyone else. No time to take in the beauty, or simply enjoy the environment you were in. It was a shame really. I imagine if you came early in the morning it would likely be a lot better, however what we experienced was not all that enjoyable. With that said the lakes themselves were very pretty. Someday it would be nice to visit during a less busy time of the year.

We finally hit the road again on route for Rijeka. In typically Jason fashion he was coming as a surprise to Sid. So when we finally arrived we parked the car a good 2 blocks away, and I went off to find Sid. After finding her, I told her I had to get my stuff from the car, so we walked back to our car. Jason was rummaging through the trunk when I brought Sid. As I got close to the car I told Sid, “So Sid, I have a surprise for you…”, Sid responded, “What Jason?” Then started to laugh, only to realize a moment after I had brought Jason!

We spent 3 days in Kastav (where Sid lives close to Rijeka). I wish I could tell you they were packed with sightseeing. Rather it was 3 days of a lot of alcohol, good food, and great company. I realized during this weekend that Croatians, really know how to have a good time. We did have a chance to briefly checkout the town of Kastav, and spent our last day on the beach, which was the perfect way to relax before heading off again.

All in all it was a wonderful trip. I wish like i often do, that I had more time to explore, to get off the beaten path, and to see the more hidden parts of the country, but I shall leave that for another trip, as I will be sure to return. A special thanks to Sid for making our last 3 days extremely memorable, and for taking car of us. Especially when we were in an inebriated states such as this: