Paris: Wandering the city's charming Passages

The Passages of Paris are one of the city's treasures. Several of them, in fact, as they are scattered throughout the city.

These passageways between buildings were covered shopping districts of their day, long before paved streets. Even if the weather was poor, the well-to-do could dress up and do a little shopping free from the rain and mud.

I explored several passages when I spent a month in Paris in 2009

Many of the passages still exist. Some are restored, while others are sorry shadows of their former selves, but they are all fascinating.

Here is a post I wrote about my initial passage experience.

Today I began to explore the covered passages of Paris. I travelled to the Bourse Metro stop and walked a couple of blogs to the entrance of Passage Panoramas... [read more].

Parikkala Sculpture Park

Creative Commons image mikeancient on Flickr 

Just 3 hours east of Helsinki, tucked next to the Russian border, lies the town of Parikkala.

Creative Commons image
1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

While relatively isolated, the tiny town receives more than its share of visitors, drawn to incredible sculptures created by Veijo Rönkkönen.

Officially known as the Parikkala Sculpture Park, the Veijo Rönkkönen Sculpture Garden is one of Finland's most important examples of contemporary folk art.

"Rönkkönen is more than an installation or a sculpture park; it’s a community, and although some of the artwork is disturbing, the forest is unquestionably quite magical, an amalgamation of many different worlds coming together all in one place." (The Culture Trip)

Creative Commons image 1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

What causes the sometimes 'creepy' reaction is the facial expressions of the concrete statues. Some even have human teeth. The uniqueness of each statue is also what makes the whole collection so special.

"Veijo Rönkkönen was only 16 years old when he started working on his park. Veijo had recently got a job as a press worker in a paper mill in his hometown Parikkala, a job he held for 41 years. With his first pay check, he purchased ten apple tree seedlings and a bag of concrete to create a garden around his family home. For the next fifty years, until his death in 2010, he dedicated all his spare time and money planting flowers and trees and creating hundreds of caricature-like sculptures, mostly of full scale human figures." (Amusing Planet)

Creative Commons image
1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

A recluse who enjoyed his own company and practiced yoga, Veijo continued to live in the family home, adding to his works.

"Veijo Rönkkönen's yard, and the path leading to it, are filled with over 450 statues, 200 of which are self portraits of the artist in Yoga positions he has mastered. The statues have loudspeakers hidden inside them, and the sound effects add to the eeriness of this place." (Oddity Central)

Creative Commons image 1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

While Rönkkönen was happy to share his sculptures, leaving his park open to the public, he never wanted to meet his admirers. Instead, visitors left impressions and notes to him in a guestbook.

Veijo Rönkkönen was recognized with the Finlandia prize in 2007, but sent his brother to collect the prize on his behalf.

Following his death in 2010, Rönkkönen's family sold the site, hoping it would be preserved. The ITE Association is partnering with the new owner, an art lover named Reino Uusitalo, to repair the sculptures and provide guided tours.

Curious?

Satisfy your curiosity with this view of the park entrance (on Google Street View).

Creative Commons image mikeancient on Flickr

If you go, why not stay a few days? There is plenty to see and do, including ample birdwatching, Ateljee-Koti Seppo Saukkonen (250 works by the artist), Honkakylä Merchant’s Museum, Museum of Horse-Drawn Vehicles & Agricultural Implements, Parikkala Dairy Museum and the Papinniemi Archaeological Site. (Visit Parikkala)

Resources
Parikkala Sculpture Park - Official Website
THE RÖNKKÖNEN SCULPTURE PARK - Go Finland
The strange Park of Veijo Rönkkönen - Big in Finland
Veijo Rönkkönen Sculpture Garden - Atlas Obscura
The Sculpture Park of Veijo Rönkkönen Is the Weirdest Place in Finland - Oddity Central
Veijo Rönkkönen’s Sculpture Park - Amusing Planet
Recluse Dies, Leaves Behind Hundreds of Secret Sculptures in Finland - The Culture Trip
The Parikkala Sculpture Park Reviews - Trip Advisor (rating 4.5/5)
How to get from Helsinki to Parikkala - Rome2Rio
Cottages and Vacation Rentals nearby - Go Finland
Parikkala Sights and Attractions - Visit Parikkala

Creative Commons image mikeancient on Flickr

The Goroka Show

This week I helped a couple book flights to Goroka to visit their daughter. They had timed their visit to take in the annual Goroka festival. The destination is so far off our radar that I had to get IT to add the Goroka Airport code (GKA) to our CRM in order to do my invoice! Needless to say, I was intrigued. Here's what I learned...

The Goroka Show is a well-known tribal gathering and cultural event in Papua New Guinea. It is a Sing-sing held every year close to the country's Independence Day (16 September) in the town of Goroka, the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province.

About 100 tribes arrive to show their music, dance and culture. The festival started in the mid-1950s as an initiative of Australian Kiaps. In recent years it has become a major attraction for both national and international tourists and remains the largest cultural event in Papua New Guinea despite similar shows now being organised in Mount Hagen and other cities around the country.

Creative Commons images Drew Douglas, kabl1992 on Flickr

Resources
Goroka Show website
Goroka Show - 1957 and 1958 (photos)

Peschiera del Garda (near Milan)

Peschiera del Garda, Italy

One of my favourite things to do is to research a destination for a client, especially when it has not even be identified!

In this case, my clients are a couple who will be disembarking their cruise in Rome (which they have visited before), and then taking the train to St. Moritz in Switzerland, to take the famous Glacier Express train to Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn (from there they will fly to Zurich, then home). Bucketlist stuff.

They want to break up the journey between Rome and St. Moritz with a night or 2 or 3 in an Italian town. They have already visited Florence and Venice, and were not interested in Milan, so asked for a smallish Italian town. I happened to also know that something that had been on their bucketlist, but they had let go of, was to spend a few days in a lakeside setting in Switzerland.

With this in mind, I decided to pick the brain of one of my colleagues, who just happens to be Italan. As travel agents cannot visit everywhere, we collaborate a lot, leaning on each others knowledge and travel experiences. In this case, Marina was my ace in the hole, having lived in Italy, and travelled the country extensively.

The little gem of a town she identified for me is named Peschiera del Garda, located on Lake Garda, near Verona. Population < 10,000. I'm so charmed that. Want to visit there myself.

The following is an excerpt from the blurb I wrote for my clients, to introduce them to Peschiera del Garda.

Lake Garda, Italy

There are small resort towns located all around Lake Garda. The largest lake in Italy the north of the lake is narrow and surrounded by mountains and is well known for its water sports and outdoor activities. The choice is endless, sailing, kite surfing, windsurfing, mountain biking, hiking, climbing etc. The south of the lake is wider and with gentle rolling hills. The south of the lake also has a warmer climate than extreme north end of the lake which is cooled by a strong breeze which rolls off the Dolomite mountain valley above Riva in the early afternoon.

All the resorts around the lake have different flavour and one of the great joys of a Lake Garda holiday is travelling around the by ferry or road to soak in the local ambiance. One thing all the towns share is immense civic pride which is reflected in high standards cleanliness, lack of graffiti and the politeness of the people.

Peschiera del Garda (pop. 9,995)

Peschiera is a small charming town at the south-eastern tip of the lake Garda. Its core is located at the inside of an old Austrian fortress, where the river Mincio – the main outlet of the lake – starts to flow by four branches which form beautiful canals crossing the old town.

Officially, Peschiera del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. The comune is part of the Associazione Città del vino ("Association of Wine Cities").

Historically, when Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the Quadrilatero. The fortress is on an island in the river Mincio at its outlet from Lake Garda. Roman Ardelica was a town of Gallia Transpadana that occupied the site of the modern Peschiera del Garda, at the southeast angle of the Lacus Benacus (Lago di Garda), just where the Mincius (modern Mincio) issued from the lake. The town is mentioned as Arilica in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia.

The fortress at Peschiera played a prominent part in most military campaigns conducted in northern Italy after 1400, especially during the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

Piazza Maestro Giulio Battistoni (at the town's centre). Peschiera is the major ferry harbour on the lake. There are connections from there to virtually all the destinations at the shores of the lake.

Peschiera del Garda railway station, opened in 1854, forms part of the Milan–Venice railway.

Main Sights

Castello Scaligero di Peschiera: the fortress and the external fortifications. Originally it was a 16th century fortress which is now a walled historical centre of the town. It's listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Santuario della Madonna del Frassino (Sanctuary of Madonna del Frassino) (1511). It houses works by Paolo Farinati and Zeno da Verona.

Palazzina del Comando del Presidio (Garrison Headquarters). Palazzina with other buildings of this small island form a military core of the Austrian fortress. There is a relatively quiet atmosphere around there compared to the touristy civic centre of the town.

Scavi Romani (Roman Excavations), Piazza Ferdinando di Savoia, 11-13 (near the Chiesa di San Martino). Remains of Roman buildings (foundations) excavated in 1981. There are not much to see there, but it's free.

Top 5 Hotels in Peschiera del Garda (TripAdvisor)
1. Enjoy Garda Hotel
2. Hotel Dori
3. Hotel Garden
4. Hotel Acquadolce
5. Le Ali del Frassino

Suggested resources
Peschiera del Garda Tourist Informatio

Underground Montreal

Friends Luc Le Blanc and Daniel Caron spend much of their free time in Montreal exploring below ground in the city's Saint-Léonard Cavern. The cave is a registered historic site, with restricted access and guided tours.

The cavers had the surprise of their lives in October when they knocked through a limestone wall and uncovered the entrance to an immense second cave. Well, it wasn't a total surprise ~ they had been 'dowsing' , looking for water and a larger cave ~ but it was definitely an exciting discovery.

The Cavernicole Cave (or la caverne de Saint-Léonard) is a cave located underneath Pius XII Park (Parc Pie-XII) in the borough of Saint-Leonard in Montreal. It is a registered historic site with restricted access and guided tours.

A little history:

• The cave was first discovered in 1812.
• During the Patriote Rebellion of 1837, it served as an armoury, weapons cache, and hidey-hole for Les Patriotes.
• In 1968, the government deemed it a safety risk and closed off the cave.
• In 1978, the Quebec Speleology Society reopened the cave for study.
• It was subsequently declared a historic landmark, and guided tours were set up.

Until the recent discovery, the cave was thought to be relatively small, at 35 metres long and 8 metres deep. The second cave, hidden behind a limestone wall, is a massive 250 metres long.

This week, Luc and Daniel are getting their 15 minutes, as their discovery was disclosed to the general public.

Entrance to the public cave

Recent news highlights:
Spelunkers discover 15,000-year-old cavern in St-Léonard park
'This is a major discovery': Explorers find massive ice-age cavern beneath Montreal
Ice Age-Era Caves Discovered Under Montreal

Information on exploring the public cave:
Show Caves of Canada, Cavernicole de Saint-Léonard
The Secret Montreal Cave You Can Visit And Explore, Mtl Blog

Did you know you can visit Montreal on a cruise? Check out these Canada New England cruises from Montreal, or contact me for sailings to Montreal.

The Orkney Islands' Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar in the Orkney Islands

Inspired by a Lonely Planet article, Stinge Henge: eight alternative ancient stone monuments, I  have been learning about the Ring of Brodgar.

Most henges don't actually not contain stone circles; but Brodgar is a striking exception. It ranks with Avebury and, to a lesser extent, Stonehenge, among the greatest of such sites.  It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney.

Also known as Brogar, or Ring o' Brodgar, the henge  is situated about 10 kilometres (6 miles) north-east of the village of Stromness, on Mainland Island, in Orkney, Scotland. Mainland is the largest of the Orkney Islands, and the ring of stones stands on a small isthmus between Loch Harray and LochStenness and Harray.

It is thought that the monument was erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC, which would make it the last of the great Neolithic monuments built on the Ness. Flint arrowheads found nearby seem to date from the Bronze Age. An excavation was undertaken in 2008 to settle the age issue, but they are still digging through the results, so to speak.

The Ring of Brodgar stone circle is 104 metres (341 feet) in diameter, the third largest in the British Isles.

While today only 27 stones remain standing, the ring originally comprised up to 60 stones. The tallest stones stand at the south and west sides of the ring. The famed "Comet Stone" stands on the southeast side. Unlike similar structures such as Avebury, there are no obvious stones inside the circle.

Part of a concentration of ancient sites, and the northernmost circle henge in Britain, the Ring of Brodgar is part of a significant ritual landscape.

Within 5.2 square kilometres (2 square miles) there are the two circle-henges, four chambered tombs, groups of standing stones, single stones, barrows, cairns, and mounds.

The Ring of Brodgar has been recognized as part of the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" World Heritage Site in 1999. Others sites include in the designation includes Maeshowe, Skara Brae and the Standing Stones of Stenness.


Related resources

Stinge Henge: eight alternative ancient stone monuments - LonelyPlanet
The Boy with the Bronze Axe - Kathleen Fidler*

* the 1968 novel depicts the Ring of Brodgar as a male-only space in which a lamb is sacrificed in a midsummer ceremony

For the love of cities

Paris will steal your heart...
Photo: Paul Marshman

I'm delighted to share this city-loving travel content from one of the travel industry's top bloggers (he's also a client). Paul Marshman, aka The Travelling Boomer, has a way with words.

Long before I coined "cruisetravelbug", I was, and still am, "citytravelbug"... I love city travel, living like a local, exploring local haunts, hanging out in sidewalk cafes and coffee shops (a few bars too). What cities inspire you? I hope you enjoy Paul's piece, and if you're left craving a city break, I can help you plan your trip.

The world is full of cities. Big cities, small cities, pretty cities, rough cities – they come in every shape and size. But now and then, you travel to a city that really captures your imagination, a place where every street corner seems to hold something magical. I’ve had that experience, and I imagine you have too.

So I thought it would be fun to look at some of those special cities around the world — cities that will steal your heart and leave you with warm memories that last for year. The list isn’t long; not that many cities pass the test, at least in my judgement. In fact, a few cities that others rhapsodize about have left me a bit cold... [read more].

Want to plan a city break? Please contact me.