March Break

Last week was March Break where both teachers and students take a midwinter break from the homework, testing and corrections that go with them. So last week Mrs BB and I decided to go visit my family Québec. As you know from my previous blog my ancestors come from there, the cradle of New France. The weather was not at its best, since it rained on Thursday and Friday but by Saturday it was starting to clear up. It was cloudy but at least it wasn't raining and the temperature was a balmy 7 degrees Celsius.

As we wandered around "la Basse-Ville" with its 18th century European flavour, I took a pictures with my trusty camera to give you an idea of what this part of the city looks like.
Let me explain the topography of the city of Québec. The city of Québec was originally built on a plateau bordered by the St-Lawrence on one side and the St-Charles River on the other. To give you an idea, it kind of looks like the bow of a ship. The fortifications follow the line of the cliffs and then cross to the other side, inclosing "La Vielle Ville". "La Citadelle" a fortress built by British after the conquest towers over the city from the highest point, "Le Cap Diamand" (The Cap got its name because supposedly Jacques Cartier found gold and diamonds there. They turned to be quartz and iron pyrites... ) Now the old city is divided into two parts, "La Haute Ville" or Upper town and "La Basse Ville" or Lower Town. On the map the "La Haute-Ville is in blue and "La Basse-Ville" is in red.

The "Haute-Ville was the richer of the two parts, but "La Basse-Ville" is the oldest part and dates back to the foundation of Québec in 1608. For the longest time after the conquest, the Basse-Ville became the poor part of the city and that is probably what saved it. The docks were close by and when the emphasis of trade moved more to Montréal that part was left to itself. In the 1960's archaeologists started digging around and discovered that most of the old houses dating back to the 17th and 18th century were still intact for the most part. The government of the day then decided that instead of tearing everything down they would renovate the buildings to bring them back to what they looked like just before the British captured the city in 1759. So here are the pictures.This is the Chateau Frontenac sitting atop the cliffs above the Basse-Ville.

This is the Petit Séminaire. It is here that l'Université Laval was founded as a seminary. You'll notice the cliffs dividing the Haute and Basse-Ville.
This is the original church that dates back to the beginning of the colony. (In fact it sits atop Champlains original "Abitation") It started life as l'Église Notre Dame and when Phipps fleet was sunk in 1690 it became Notre Dame de la Victoire then in 1711 when Walker's fleet suffered the same fate it finally became Notre Dame des Victoires. Unfortunately in the final battles of 1759 the chuch was heavily damaged as were many of the houses around it by the canonballs of the British fleet. When they were renovating the houses and church many of the canonballs were found embedded in the walls.

La Place Royale

The gate leading to the Bastion du Roy an artillery emplacement. Notice the Royal Crest above the gate.

This street is called Rue Sous le Fort and it is squashed between the building and the cliff face behind.


This is the Rue du Petit Champlain and it is the oldest street in North America. There are many fun boutiques and restaurants there.


This ia a "trompe oeuil" depicting the uses that the building had in the past. There is no longer any house beside it because in the early 19th century the cliff face collapsed and buried the other house under tons of rubble. Many people were killed and the end of the house that is painted was destroyed.
A shop sign in the Petit Champlain. The shop sells bird sculptures.

Since I know that quite a few of you have bird feeders, yes you, citizen and my lil sister Jazz, I thought to include this one. I found it quite humerous. ;o)

Ireland the finale.

Being the lazy person that I am, I haven't yet put up the last pictures from Ireland. In the last part of the trip we visited pretty much the south east part of the island. The last time we were in Ireland we had passed through Waterford but never really stopped, but this time Mrs. BB wanted to visit the famous Waterford Crystal works. What they can do with glass is unbelievable but also very expensive. The price is a reflection of the workmanship that goes into each piece. As an example, we wanted to bring back four wine glasses, one for each of the children and a pair for Mrs. BB and I. When we saw that each was worth minimum 55 euros (80$ US) we kind of decided that something smaller would be nice. The craftsmanship is worth the price but in this case it was outside the budget.

Here the craftsmen are putting a handle on a jug. The glass has already been cut so they wouldn't want to ruin it.



This is a master cutter cutting a pattern into the crystal vase. Each piece is molded by hand and cut by hand. To become a cutter the person is apprenticed for 10 years and to become a master cutter the person must have a university degree in Fine Arts. There are over one hundred and ten different patterns and the cutter must memorize each one.




These are examples of the designs made by the master craftsmen. These are the artists that design the special commisions such as the trophy above. When they are not working on a commision they are allowed to work on personal projects of their own. This is a project inspired by 9/11 and the heroes that risked their lives to save the survivors.





Of course we had to have a Guinness and supper at the pub. This one of the oldest in Waterford as you can see by the front window.



Our B&B at Rosslare a the south east tip of Ireland



An Irish cottage not far from the B&B



Jerpoint Abbey contains among the best preserved medieval sculptures in Ireland.



The cloisters. Each of the columns has a figure carved into it. The first one was the first abbot and the second one was a knight that was the benefactor of the abbey. He is in full chain mail and his crest is still visible on his shield. His wife is on the obverse of the column.



The sculptures also gave lessons to the monks as they strolled around the cloister, this is one giving the dangers of gluttony. A Pepto-Bismol moment?



An example of the sculptures on one of the tombs. Dates from the medieval period. The on in the centre is the Archangel Michel, the one on the left is Ste- Catherine and her wheel and the other I'm not sure about.



The Browns Hill Dolmen. The cap stone weighs over 100 tons. It is in the middle of a farmer's wheat field. On the main road nearby are a whole bunch of car dealers. I can just see one of them buying the land and having the dolmen in the middle of his car lot. Good thing that it is protected by the Irish Government.





Dunmore Cave is one of the largest caves in Ireland. Legend has it that the Vikings massacred 1000 people in the cave. Although this seems implausible, when the cave was finally explored by archaeologists, human remains were found in the great chamber and later on a Viking treasure was found by a guide as he was checking the cave before closing for the night. The second picture is of our guide playing an Irish lament on a penny whistle in the darkness of the Great Chamber, the echoing sound was eerie.



We finally finished up our trip in Dublin. Dublin is a beautiful city that is known for its Georgian doors. These doors all follow the same design as you can see by the picture.



Phoenix Park is the Europe's largest city park. It is 2.5 times larger than New York's Central Park. One thing that I found fascinating is that the lights are all gas lights like they had in the 19th century. I have read that the original street gas lamps were used until the 60's and 70's, then they put in electricity. They have since gone back to the original gas light except today they are automatic and don't need a lamplighter.



The park is also the home of Ireland's president. The house is known as Áras an Uachtaráin. Kind of looks like the White House doesn't it?





The river Liffey


One of the numerous bridges.



The Ha'penny bridge, so called because it cost half a penny to cross.



A statue of Molly Malone, about whom a famous song is sung.

In Dublin's fair city,
where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

Since legend has it that she was also a prostitute by night and the statue's assets are there for all to see, the Dubliners have dubbed the statue "The tart with the cart" ;o)



Grafton Street, the main shopping street of Dublin



Indoor market near the Temple Bar.



A street of the Temple Bar. This section of the city has kept its medieval street layout and is the bohemian heart of Dublin. Fishamble Street in Temple Bar was the location of the first performance of Handel's Messiah in 1742



One of the pubs.



Another one

The Old Post Office where the Irish Republic was born in 1916. There are still bullet holes from when the rebellion was put down by the British Army. The leaders of the 1916 Rebellion
were taken to Kilmainham Goal where they were executed by the British.



Kilmainham Gaol

So that concludes our trip to Ireland. I hope that it might have given you a taste for Ireland and that you'll have the chance to visit this wonderful land someday.

My new gadget

As everyone knows, we guys just love the latest gadgets. Yesterday I decided to buy myself a new SLR digital camera. I had been wanting one for a long time and when I stopped off at our neighbourhood Dumoulin store I checked their camera section and lo and behold they had an Olympus Evolt E-500 camera with two lenses for only $580. Now this is a REALLY LOW price. At Costco they had the Canon Rebel xt with 2 lenses for $980 (The two cameras are equivalent in features etc) So after having thought about it and talked to my better half (Mrs. BB) I bought the camera. Turns out that they had got the price wrong but their loss was my gain. ;o)
I can now hear my little sister Jazz saying to herself..."What the hell does he need camera for?" Well I've always loved taking photos, I started off with an Olympus Trip 35 then graduated to a Minolta SRT 201 35 mm camera way back when. (Both cameras still work after 30 years now that's quality.) The Minolta was completely mechanical and almost indestructable but it's heavy and bulky and 35 mm film is getting harder to find and costly to process. So I when I calculated what it cost to get pictures developed versus buying a new camera I decided to buy digital since just the cost of the film and developing paid for the camera. I bought an Olympus Camedia 575 zoom (my son is using it now) and last Christmas I got an Olympus FE-180 (it's small enough to fit in my pocket). These point and shoot cameras take good photos but aren't very flexible, so yesterday I got the Olympus E-550 which gives me much more flexibility than the others.
Taking photos is about as close as I get to being artistic, since I'm pretty much the un-artistic one in my family. I can neither draw or paint like my wife or my sister, nor can I play a musical instrument like my daughter's violin or my wife's classical guitar. Even Jazz used to play the tenor recorder. Hell, I can't even carry a tune in a bucket. So that being said, taking pictures is my way of expressing the artistic yearnings of my soul. (Boy that sure was a load of crap, I just like taking pictures.) So here are a couple of my better ones, enjoy. (The first two were taken with a 35mm film camera and digitalized)

Amadablam with Lhotse in background, Nepal

Gargoyle, Notre Dame de Paris

Beaumaris Castle, Wales

Twighlight on the beach, Achille Island, Ireland

Mountain top, Achille Island, Ireland

Sunset, Tewksbury Abbey, England

York Minster, York, England

PS: If you want to see our other pictures go to our picture site.