Spring Europe Trip '05

Dr. David Deak, theoretical physicist/artist/inventor/entrepreneur.

So we bid farewell to our home in London and head for America, New York, Brooklyn, Red Hook. Farewell London till we return soon. Rule Britannia!

D. takin a rest from shopping. Our last day in London before going back to Brooklyn to conduct our business.

Harrod's Brompton Road, Knightsbridge.

Our cute waitress who was from Milano.

Micky Dees on Brompton Road Knightsbridge.

Our digs ground floor where the greenery is.

The cabbie brings us to our digs.

Statue of Admiral Lord Nelson, Trafalgar Square.

Trafalgar Square.

Royal Haymarket Theatre.

Guess where?

This lady in the brown leather coat and white trousers, has no shoes on.

What circus?

What bus?

Back to our digs we go.

Going up Piccadilly Street.

View from Piccadilly Circus.

The Circus at Piccadilly.

Piccadilly Circus, London.

Soho, the theatrical district in London.

Soho London.

Goin to the Odeon to see Star Wars.

The Savoy Hotel, on the Strand, London.

Another pub for resting.

The Merry-Go-Round.

My Fair Lady, Covent Gardens.

More Covent Gardens.

Inside the Apple Market, Covent Gardens.

The Apple Market, Covent Gardens.

St. Paul's Church, Covent Gardens London.

I don't know what she is.

Boogy Man.

Gold Man.

Another mime, the windup man.

Ah! The White Lion Pub. Great bitter and ales.

A mime, although he is standing still he looks like he is running for a train.

Another shot just for the fun of it.

Covent Garden Tube Station.

Some cute little girl eatin F&C outside the shoppe.

The menu.

Inside the Fish&Chips shoppe.

Our favourite fih & chips shoppe in Covent Gardens.

A recent student.

Entrance to the world of physics.

My school.

Parked in front of Imperial College London. If this is owned by a physics grad, things ahve changed since I was there.

V-1 German Buzz Bomb. One of them killed a brother and 2 sisters.

WW II British fighter used in the Battle of Britain.

The first British Jet Plane.

All this for a 2 seater.

AAAH, no! This way Nigel! Blimey!

If we add a third wing I know it will stay up without the wires:-)))

In search of the Red Baron!

Those Magnificant Men In Their Flying Machines!

What's up?

Mechanical computer circa 1890. Over 10 feet tall.

Prop from the movie: "The Hitch Hikers Guide Through The universe."

Guess who? It's all relative.

A choo choo train.

A Jaguar on drugs.

Drinking and driving in science museums again I suppose.

It must be jelly, cause jam don't shake dat way:-)

Daily excercises.

It's Arnold and he's back!

Overshot the runway no doubt.

A shot from the 1st floor.

Well if it isn't Einny.

What a big steam engine my dear.

A clever lighting do dah.

Don't drink and drive I suppose. Especially in a science museum.

Entering the Science Museum.

It's Sunday and we wanted to go to the Science Museum on Exhibition Road.

Going to Harrod's for some last minute shopping.

It feels so good to be here.

Going out for some breakfast.

Hey, It's Frankie's Italian Bar and Grill on our street Yeoman's Row Knightsbridge. SW3 2AH

We left Paris after spending about 5 hours there and drove like mad to Calais and Dunkerque, 8:30 PM. Then caught the last hovercraft to Dover at 9:30 PM. We arrived back in London's Victoria Station at 1:30 AM on the 29th of May. Exhausted, but glad to be back home in London afterall. Rule Britanna!

Where did David go to????????????

Up her skirt.................:-)

What a beautiful iron structure.

Dad, I need some cah for film........WHAT ELSE:-)))

I didn't buy and trinkets, I fogot to in the excitement.

Ah, Paree!

Looking across the Seine River.

It's always crowded here.

Can't get enough.

WOW! It still excites me and I've been here many times before.

We are late, but we just had to stop and have lunch in Paris.

Making time.

Gorgeous green Burgundy region.

Getting closer. Vive la France!

Well youknwo where this is?.......:[)

Onward to Auxerre, then on to Paris.

Outside of Dijon.

We had breakfast in the hotel, great food. It was 7 AM on the 28th. We have to dirve all through Fance to Calais and then Dunkerque to return the rental car and make it back to London that same day (night). What a drive ahead. We best press on. Cheers!

The hotel in Besancon France, below Dijon.

We finally left Switzerland and are now in france to stay here for the night, the small town of Besancon.

We are heading into a tunnel that is 19.5 km long. It took about half an hour to get through.

One of the few mountians without snow.

All that snow on the ountains, so we stopped for dinner and ice cream.

Somewhere in Switzerland.

Passing under a ski lift.

Heading for Luzerne.

Some of the Swiss Alps. Neaar Bellinzona.

Crusin along in Switzerland.

At the rest stop, a heliocopter carrying a water bucket on a training course.

Our first rest stop in Switzerland, outside of Lugano.

Lake Como region.

Going past Lake Como in Northwestern Italy close to the Swiss border.

Leaving Italy now.

It is the 27th in the morning and we still have to go through Switzerland to make it back through France and return the rental car. This is still Italy. A lot of driving ahead.

Leaving Italy for Switzerland.

Bye Milano.

Leaving the arcade.

A few last shots.

We are about to leave here and onward to Switzerland.

MIlano is old indeed.

Cathedral under a cleanup drape.

I'm not so impressed with Milano. Old and dirty in most places compared to other cities we visited.

City square in Milano.

They aren't afraid of anything. He was eating out of my plate. I had to shush him away, the greedy little bugger.

This little bird came right to our table and ate out of my hand.

Here I go again, all for art.......:-)))))

She was part of the wedding group and I just had to, for art sake, take the shot.....:-)))))

This cute Muslim couple just got married and they were parading through the arcade. I asked to take their picture and they came right over and smiled so beautifully.

Ziganis (gypsies) playing the same song over and over. I gave them money to go away.

Well you're not surprized are you? They are everywhere. It's worst than a political movement. Maybe it is a political movement. McDonaldism and the infiltration of cholestrol.

Isn't this grand?

Beautiful tiling all throughout the arcade.

Inside the arcade.

Busy day, it is hot and humid here though.

Entrance to the arcade in Scala.

That guy n the blue tee shirt is taking the shot!

Hey leonardo!

Great closeup of Leonardo.

I wonder what he is doing?.:-)))

More of Leonardo.

Da Vinci

Poster in La Scala.

A statue of Leonardo da Vinci in Scala the city centre.

SIde street on the way to the city centre. I took a lot of shots between Venice and Milano, but I don't know what happend to them. Such a dissapointment for me.

AH! Che bella feminana.

What's this? Something interesting in Milano?

School children waiting for their teacher to get them into the museum.

In the courtyard of the University of Milano, where a very long time ago I spent time studying here briefly.

Now we left Venice and traveled to Milano. We We arrived about 9 PM on the 26th of June and stayed in a great little hotel overnight, the Hotel Fenice. The next day we went out to take photos. Here walking towards the city centre.

More poles to my delight.

I love these gondola poles.

Making a stop to let off passengers.

From evey angle, art!

HELLO!

A photographers delight, Venice.

Want to race?

The breeze feels good.

Leaving the Piazza for our car. Taking the water bus. 5 Euros.

What beautiful colours, a great scene for a painting.

I took a shot of D. taking a shot of something. Plus 3 Gondoleros chattin about what colour to paint their gondolas:-)

The tower in the Piazza.

Havin a chat and chew.

No comparison anywhere.

The pigeons here are real aggressive.

A slight breeze from the Adriatic Sea is a welcome guest here.

A cute little restaurant in the Piazza.

I am exhausted from the driving and the heat. Hungry as well waiting for pasta and pizza to come.

So we are having lunch and then to leave for Milano........6 to 8 hours drive west from Venice.

There he goes again. 40 rolls of film so far.

La Piazza.

Fresco in front of the cathedral.

The cathedral in Piazza.

Yep that's it all righty.

Eureka! I found it La Piazza 'd San Marco.......at last.

Another shot of the hospital.

David, jr. looking for a shot to take on a ponte.

A hospital.

Nice church.

Where is that Piazza????????

O sole mio!

Nothing but beauty everywhere.

I saw this Chinese woman artist painting a gondola.

It was so quiet here, so beautiful.

Oh no! Not another McDonald's even in Venice.

Another ponte to cross. I know 5 minutes straight ahead.

Getting closer, so I ask someone 30 minutes later. Che Piazza? Respondi: "Sempre Diretto...........cinqua minuti.

I know, I know........Sempre diretto.....cinqua minuti.

Another ponte shot. It is hot here 90 + degrees F. Still looking for the Piazza.

On top of a ponte.

Sempre diretto........cinqua minuti.

Ready to go for some, but we are still walking. Everytime I ask where the Piazza is they say in Italian: "Sempre diretto, cinqua minuti." Straight ahead, 5 minutes.

Gondolas....120 Euros a ride.

I asked this bloke where was the Piazza, he just pointed to my left.

Going over the first ponte (bridge) heading for The Piazza.

Hey Venice!

Our long walk begins.

We decided not to tkae a water taxi for 60 Euros, but walked instead for Piazza 'd San Marco.

The entrance to the canals in Venice.

Finally Venice, but we were stuck in traffic for 30 minutes without moving. Hey New York!

last of the mountains for a while.

Concordia region.

Pavia region.

An Italian lake. heading south for Venice.

Heading for Venice.

Arrivederci Alps.

Getting back onto the Autostrada.

Heading for a tunnel.

We are not out of the mountians yet.

Coming out of the Alps going , well you know where:-)))

So we stop in this gift shoppe restaurant and inquire, which way to Milano. This nice Italian woman and her mother told us we were going in the wrong direction, and the quickest way to go to Milano from here was to head south for Venice...............bloody hell! Either that or turn around and go through the mountians again for another 800 km. We chose Venice:-)))))))

Stopping for some directions and a cappa.

Coming into the town of Auronzo di Cad Italy and now for the surprize. Che bella surprezza!

More Italian Ice. Perhaps some wine as well.

Can you imagine what it felt like actually being here?

Italian trash barrels. We are now going down. I feel like a lift:-)

We have climbed even higher about 5,800 km elevation. I must put on a pullover.

We are going up again.

Now for some lemons.

There goes that face again.

Italian Ice:-)

To me this mountain top looked like a skeleton or a mummy of sorts.

By the way we are still going in the wrong direction and not knowing it. And me with a Ph.D.:-)

There is our car again trying to fly.

Of course it goes down hill.

The streamway.

Dried up mountain stream pathway.

The Dolomiti Mountains in the Italian Alps, where the Dolomite mineral comes from that is sold in the GNC Health Food Stores and elsewhere.

Super shot.

Snow covered tips in May.

I never saw even one goat.

It just goes on and on.

Now isn't that grand?

Guess who wants to take a shot?

It is rather cool here.

Now we are really high. Elevation 5,000 km.

Getting high? Oh, just a little bit........:-)

Ciao Cortina.

We are headed there.

Breathtaking!

We are now going higher in elevation from Cortina.

A great place for a picnic.

We should have gone in this direction, but due to navigational error on my part, we were going in the opposite direction, but still it was all fun and beautiful to experience.

Cortina countryside.

outside of Cortina, heading up up up.

There are actually 2 skiers on this mountain.

Wonderful.

Of course we stopped again to take shots.

Now remember the viaduct, well we thought we had to take that direction in order to travel across the Italian Alps to get to Milano, but little did we know at the time it was the wrong direction. Because of this error in navigation, we circled around for hundreds of km only to find out something that changed the entire trip schedule.

Just listen to the quiet.

Kissing clouds.

Clouds everywhere on the mountain.

Che bella.

More Cortina.

Some scenes around Cortina.

The hotel where we stayed.

Closer shot.

A church in the background.

Breakfast in the small village hotel.

An Italian painter starting to paint the hotel walls.

Waiting for the supermarket to open so David could get more film.

More.

Bang on!

Clouds cross by to say hello.

A viaduct bridge (ponte) from Roman days.

They fly 2 flags, The Italian and the European Union.

A section of Cortina 'd Ampezzo from the balcony.

Like WOW!

Close up of the mountain from the balcony.

Morning, 5:30 AM and the magic mountain. It was rather cool here in the morning about 12C.

The next morning looking out of the hotel room door/balcony.

Entering Cortina.

Zippin into town.

We are going to have to stay in a hotel overnight since we are exhausted from driving. We are headed into the ski resort of Cortina 'd Ampezzo. Very famous spot. (In the winter months, although skiing still goes on in May)

Making time as we make our way through the Dolomiti region of the Italian Alps.

Sunset.

We have to make time before dark, since driving at night on strange mountain roads prove to be exhausting.

This village was a blur, since we were speeding.

It works in the mountains though!

Sometimes you have to go down to go up! Is that philosophical or what?

Up Up Up!

Be prepared there is a lot more mountain scenes to come.

See.

We are now starting to climb up some of the Alps.

Entering another Italian village.

I like this shot because I happened to capture the houses in the mirror. Like looking back in time.

It gets shaded quickly here in the Alps. Another village.

Leaving Pontebba and heading west into the Italian Alps high ground.

Heading into the village of Pontebba.

Here is a small village of Pontebba, we got lost and kept driving around the ring road. Finally the girl on the right told us where to go....I don't mean there:-)

What is to be for us ahead.

Our first Italian rest stop. Now lets see if they serve spaghetti....:-)))

Through the mist, it seems like the mountains were made of either glass or Aerogel.

Now we are really starting to see the Italian Alps in all their splendor.

This was a real long tunnel.

Viva Italia.

Our first Italian tunnel one of many. One can pass in the tunnels.

It gets better.

You ain't seen nothin yet!

Now entering Italia.

An old Austrian Castle, now a restaurant, but no time to stop. Pressing onward to Italia.

Abeautiful lake region in Austria close to the Italian border.

Finally moving once again.

In a small Austrian border village, we were stuck in stalled traffic for 45 minutes before moving. Some roadwork during peak hour. They must have worked in New York at some point in their life.

What a beautiful hillside in Austria.

Still in Austria, but getting closer to the Italian Alps.

Morning of 25th June, we are still in Austria seeing the Italian Alps in the background.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel and we decided to return to England via Italy, Switzerland and up through Southern France. Now we are headed for Italy.

SUPERMAN.........in Vienna.

I love the colours, lights, movement. All relative...:-)

Spring Europe Trip '05

Monday, June 27, 2005

Monday, June 20, 2005

Sunday, June 19, 2005