I have finally taken the time to upload our honeymoon photos...rather than put them in the blog I have put them up on my Flickr site.
Here they are.....click here
I hope you enjoy them.
The History of Stirling Ave
11 years ago
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Hintonburg gets new slumlords :-)
Well it has once again been a while since we have posted nay new info regarding our renovation. Can you really blame us...first off we got married then we took a 3 week honeymoon and then upon our return the weather has been perfect. In fact I have not seen an October like this in my entire life. Who says global warming is bad....just kidding.
We also have some good news especially for those who have not heard yet. Mel and I just purchased our first income property. It's a triplex located down the road on Stirling from us. We are very excited and are extremely happy as we got a great deal on a place that needs minimal work for the time being....I guess we are going to be the latest 'slumlords' in Hintonburg...actually I am just kidding. We plan on starting work on the exterior next summer turning the place into one of the cooler buildings in the neighbourhood. We will also modernize the apartments as they become empty.
I should also give 'props' where 'props' are due. We would like to thank Andy Morrissey our Agent for helping us navigate an income property purchase....if anyone is looking for a great, energetic agent who lives in and knows in detail the Hintoburg community this is your guy....any kickbacks are appreciated Andy :-).
The good news is that we have started the next phases of the reno. We are currently removing all the old lath and plaster in the bathroom and will be taking out our old cast iron tub to replace it with a nice new and modern shower all very Zen like.
I also took some time last weekend to build a bookcase which will be a built in the living room as well as two new concrete countertop forms....I can't wait to see how they look. The top of the bookcase will be covered by a concrete countertop with built in planters.
We also have some good news especially for those who have not heard yet. Mel and I just purchased our first income property. It's a triplex located down the road on Stirling from us. We are very excited and are extremely happy as we got a great deal on a place that needs minimal work for the time being....I guess we are going to be the latest 'slumlords' in Hintonburg...actually I am just kidding. We plan on starting work on the exterior next summer turning the place into one of the cooler buildings in the neighbourhood. We will also modernize the apartments as they become empty.I should also give 'props' where 'props' are due. We would like to thank Andy Morrissey our Agent for helping us navigate an income property purchase....if anyone is looking for a great, energetic agent who lives in and knows in detail the Hintoburg community this is your guy....any kickbacks are appreciated Andy :-).
The good news is that we have started the next phases of the reno. We are currently removing all the old lath and plaster in the bathroom and will be taking out our old cast iron tub to replace it with a nice new and modern shower all very Zen like.
I also took some time last weekend to build a bookcase which will be a built in the living room as well as two new concrete countertop forms....I can't wait to see how they look. The top of the bookcase will be covered by a concrete countertop with built in planters.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
We're back
Well it's now time to get back to reality. Mel and I arrived back in Ottawa yesterday afternoon.
We spent the last 4 days of our trip in Paris where we spent most of our time checking out museums and some sights.
We got to visit the Louvre and even got to see the Mona Lisa....I guess the readers of the DaVinci Code sleep late. It is amazing at all the art and artifacts the louvre has. They come from all over the world and were likely accumulated a long time ago....likely during Napolean's conquests. The Louvre has a great Egyptian section.
We also got to see the Pompidou where they have a large modern art collection including paints or scultptures from Pollack, Dali, Picasso, Munch and many more.
On our last day we visited the Rodin museum and got to see most of all of his great works...including The Thinker, The kiss, Hells Gates, and much much more.
We also visited the Pere Lachasse cemetary where we visited the graves of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Delacroix.
We also visited the Eiffel Tour, The Arc of Triumph and the Champs D'Elysee. Most of which was by foot...I think we lost some weight on the trip despite all the food.
Mel and I took a night bus tour of Paris were we got some great photos of the more famous Paris landmarks...look for photos shortly
Paris was alive with people from all over the world coming for the rugby tournament. Heck on Wednesday Britain played South Africa in Paris and the place swelled up with British.
I will be posting...hopefully soon....some photos....the good ones of the over 1800 I took.
I will also post a link to my flickr account where all the photos will be posted.
Now it's back to reality, work and renovations.
We spent the last 4 days of our trip in Paris where we spent most of our time checking out museums and some sights.
We got to visit the Louvre and even got to see the Mona Lisa....I guess the readers of the DaVinci Code sleep late. It is amazing at all the art and artifacts the louvre has. They come from all over the world and were likely accumulated a long time ago....likely during Napolean's conquests. The Louvre has a great Egyptian section.
We also got to see the Pompidou where they have a large modern art collection including paints or scultptures from Pollack, Dali, Picasso, Munch and many more.
On our last day we visited the Rodin museum and got to see most of all of his great works...including The Thinker, The kiss, Hells Gates, and much much more.
We also visited the Pere Lachasse cemetary where we visited the graves of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Delacroix.
We also visited the Eiffel Tour, The Arc of Triumph and the Champs D'Elysee. Most of which was by foot...I think we lost some weight on the trip despite all the food.
Mel and I took a night bus tour of Paris were we got some great photos of the more famous Paris landmarks...look for photos shortly
Paris was alive with people from all over the world coming for the rugby tournament. Heck on Wednesday Britain played South Africa in Paris and the place swelled up with British.
I will be posting...hopefully soon....some photos....the good ones of the over 1800 I took.
I will also post a link to my flickr account where all the photos will be posted.
Now it's back to reality, work and renovations.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Italy
Well Mel and I have been in Italy for around a week and a half and are loving it. Great food, great wine and great people.
Our first stop was Cinque Terra....5 little towns on the meditteranean. What a gorgeous area, we stayed in the middle town of the 5 called Corniglia. The nice part about these towns is they are all linked by trails and train access. Corniglia is the quitest and most remote of them all. The only issue is that if you dont want to wait for the shuttle bus from the train station it is quite a hike up to town....some 382 steps to be precise....no wonder Italians are in great shape they climb stairs all the time.
We ended up staying for 5 nights as it was the perfect place ot relax and to get to know Italian culture. We quickly made friends with the owner of the local wine shop (Mario or Merlo Blanco"white Mockingbird) as well as his two closet friends Folco and Renaldo (El Gatacho "wildcat". The shop had a great vibe and seemed to draw in travelers constantly. Folco is well known Italian folk musiican with a very tom waite like voice and style...he was always playing the guitar. El Gatacho was a retired boat radioman...you would never guess he was 78. They were harvesting during the day but would hang with us all night...heck i even got to hang out with them asd they started to make wine. This little wine shop has alos played host to Jack Johnson as he was there 5 or 6 years ago....it has a kind of magic in drawing people in.
We met lots of great people while there including a retired couple (Mike and Deana) from Seattle who are on a 4 month vacation and had just dropped their daughter off at school in Europe. A great couple from Michigan as well as an Aussie couple who were on their honeymoon as well. He owns Redmen Wines in Koownaharra Valley...so we got chatting about wine a fair bit. We also had the pleasure of watching the France - Italy Soccer game with all the locals...they put out a tv in front of the wine bar for all to enjoy.
Mel and I have been enjoying the train trips as we get to see the country side, meet new people and eat well. We buy bread, meat and cheese for the road and wash it down with a bottle of wine.
After Corniglia we arrived in Rome....what a crazy city.....tourists everywhere....but what history as there are Roman Ruins everywhere. Soem highlights from Rome so far are:
- Dinner at the Embassadors house - Thanks Fiona, your parents where fantastic.
- Seeing all the sites of old rome including the emperors palace and the coloseum
- seeing the parthenon
- visiting and seeing the enormous wealth of the vatican....how they could not come up with 13 million to restore the sistine chapel frescos is unbelieveable.
- watching Scotland beat France in the Eurocup qualifier at a irish pub....what a great game and monumental win....almost makes up for the loss to Brazil in the 2000 world cup.
Well we are off to Paris tonight by plane. I am hoping to catch a rugby game while there as they are hosting the rugby worldcup.
One of these days I will post photos but be warned we have over 1200 so far....some real good shots though.
Our first stop was Cinque Terra....5 little towns on the meditteranean. What a gorgeous area, we stayed in the middle town of the 5 called Corniglia. The nice part about these towns is they are all linked by trails and train access. Corniglia is the quitest and most remote of them all. The only issue is that if you dont want to wait for the shuttle bus from the train station it is quite a hike up to town....some 382 steps to be precise....no wonder Italians are in great shape they climb stairs all the time.
We ended up staying for 5 nights as it was the perfect place ot relax and to get to know Italian culture. We quickly made friends with the owner of the local wine shop (Mario or Merlo Blanco"white Mockingbird) as well as his two closet friends Folco and Renaldo (El Gatacho "wildcat". The shop had a great vibe and seemed to draw in travelers constantly. Folco is well known Italian folk musiican with a very tom waite like voice and style...he was always playing the guitar. El Gatacho was a retired boat radioman...you would never guess he was 78. They were harvesting during the day but would hang with us all night...heck i even got to hang out with them asd they started to make wine. This little wine shop has alos played host to Jack Johnson as he was there 5 or 6 years ago....it has a kind of magic in drawing people in.
We met lots of great people while there including a retired couple (Mike and Deana) from Seattle who are on a 4 month vacation and had just dropped their daughter off at school in Europe. A great couple from Michigan as well as an Aussie couple who were on their honeymoon as well. He owns Redmen Wines in Koownaharra Valley...so we got chatting about wine a fair bit. We also had the pleasure of watching the France - Italy Soccer game with all the locals...they put out a tv in front of the wine bar for all to enjoy.
Mel and I have been enjoying the train trips as we get to see the country side, meet new people and eat well. We buy bread, meat and cheese for the road and wash it down with a bottle of wine.
After Corniglia we arrived in Rome....what a crazy city.....tourists everywhere....but what history as there are Roman Ruins everywhere. Soem highlights from Rome so far are:
- Dinner at the Embassadors house - Thanks Fiona, your parents where fantastic.
- Seeing all the sites of old rome including the emperors palace and the coloseum
- seeing the parthenon
- visiting and seeing the enormous wealth of the vatican....how they could not come up with 13 million to restore the sistine chapel frescos is unbelieveable.
- watching Scotland beat France in the Eurocup qualifier at a irish pub....what a great game and monumental win....almost makes up for the loss to Brazil in the 2000 world cup.
Well we are off to Paris tonight by plane. I am hoping to catch a rugby game while there as they are hosting the rugby worldcup.
One of these days I will post photos but be warned we have over 1200 so far....some real good shots though.
Monday, September 03, 2007
a quick update
Mel and I have been having a great time. Normandie was very nice, the people great and the food good.
However Burgundy was a different story. The people are just as nice and helpful. The food was fantastic, some of the best ever. Every meal out did the previous one. Finally the wine was insane. Every bottle was fantastic and was the equivalent of a $100 bottle back home.
On Friday, August 30th we did some private wine tours of the vineyards of Burgundy's second biggest producer...Jean Claude Boisset....thanks to my cousin Del for setting this up. It was incredible to see these wineries from such an intimate side. We visited Jean Claude Boisset, the Imaginarium, Domaine de Vougeraie and Bouchard aine et fils. The Domaine Vougeraie is at the high end of wineries and we were lucky enough to taste all of their wines...including their Grande Cru...$200+
On Saturday we took the afternoon train to the town of Frejus. Frejus is next to St Rapheal a very touristy beach town on the cote d'azur. Frejus is nice but small and built on an old Roman city. We had originally planned to stay for 3 nights but decided the touristy crap was not our style.
Today, August 3rd we left Frejus for Menton on the east side of Monaco. What an amazing town built into the surrounding mountains and right on the ocean. Lots of old medieval buildings to go with a modern feel. Lots of seafood on the menus as well.
Tomorrow we will daytrip to Monaco, after that it will likely be Italy and Cinque Terre. After that it is Rome where we are having dinner at Fiona's parents place....her father happens to be the Canadian Ambassador to the Vatican.
We have made sure to take lots of photos and will post them on our return.
We hope everyone is doing well and the weather is staying warm
However Burgundy was a different story. The people are just as nice and helpful. The food was fantastic, some of the best ever. Every meal out did the previous one. Finally the wine was insane. Every bottle was fantastic and was the equivalent of a $100 bottle back home.
On Friday, August 30th we did some private wine tours of the vineyards of Burgundy's second biggest producer...Jean Claude Boisset....thanks to my cousin Del for setting this up. It was incredible to see these wineries from such an intimate side. We visited Jean Claude Boisset, the Imaginarium, Domaine de Vougeraie and Bouchard aine et fils. The Domaine Vougeraie is at the high end of wineries and we were lucky enough to taste all of their wines...including their Grande Cru...$200+
On Saturday we took the afternoon train to the town of Frejus. Frejus is next to St Rapheal a very touristy beach town on the cote d'azur. Frejus is nice but small and built on an old Roman city. We had originally planned to stay for 3 nights but decided the touristy crap was not our style.
Today, August 3rd we left Frejus for Menton on the east side of Monaco. What an amazing town built into the surrounding mountains and right on the ocean. Lots of old medieval buildings to go with a modern feel. Lots of seafood on the menus as well.
Tomorrow we will daytrip to Monaco, after that it will likely be Italy and Cinque Terre. After that it is Rome where we are having dinner at Fiona's parents place....her father happens to be the Canadian Ambassador to the Vatican.
We have made sure to take lots of photos and will post them on our return.
We hope everyone is doing well and the weather is staying warm
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