Kenya - Safari (set 1)

Pages done with Club Scrap Safari kit. I also used 'Down to Earth' UM stamps from Club Scrap, Gelatins UM alpha stamps, stamps from an 'African' UM plate (no idea who the manufacturer is), QK alphabets and lots of doodling.

This is the first set of the 'Safari' pages from the Kenya album. One more set & I'll be done. Again, journaling has been left blank for Lily to fill out later.

Kenya - Album Cover & Tala School

Mostly done with Club Scrap Safari kit. I also used 'Out of Africa' stamp set from Stampin' Up, UM stamps from Club Scrap, Gelatins alphabets, fuzzy rub-ons, and lots of doodling.

I stripped an ugly pink 8 X 8 album and covered it with handmade paper. I used a suede animal print paper for the inside cover of the album - I have had this paper for at least ten years now! The mask on the album cover is also handmade with extra thick card stock, acrylic paints and lots of patience!

I have left the journaling blank for Lily to fill in later.

Lily's school has been helping the Tala School in Kenya. The students and teachers had been busy knitting for months. They made seventy blankets for the dormitories in Tala - students who live very far away return home only on the weekends. Donations helped pay for whitewashing the schoolrooms, other miscellaneous improvements and building ramps for wheelchair access.

In October the children who piloted this project went to Kenya to meet the students of the Tala school. There, apart from a lot of activities involving both schools, the students had a very special project that they were excited about. Lily & her schoolmates divided themselves into groups. Each group then painted a mural in each classroom. Lily's group painted the Hong Kong skyline and it turned out fantastic! I decided to award it the first prize ... lol!

Prague - a Royal Feast (and the end of our Imperial Cities tour)

First layout done with a kit from Scrapologie, a very old paper punch & QK alphabets. Second and third layouts done with Club Scrap Renaissance kit.

On our last evening we went to a Royal Banquet! The food was terrible but that was not the point at all (lol!) The restaurant was in a very old part of Prague and had a fabulously old fashioned interior. And they had done up everything like the banquet halls of old. We had musicians entertaining us, jesters jumping, knights duelling and wenches serving. And then a King (they did tell us his name but I forgot to make a note!) graced us with his Royal presence and knighted all the children. They were even given little crowns to wear and they absolutely loved it. I think the adults loved it just as much. What a great way to end a superb holiday!

And with this I am finished with my layouts for this particular trip to the Imperial cities of Vienna, Salzburg & Prague.

Coming up next: My "Kenya" album.

Prague Architecture

First layout done with Club Scrap Architecture kit, other layouts also done on Club Scrap paper but I have no idea which kits they belong to! Can't see much of them anyway.

Prague

All layouts done with Club Scrap kits. First one is Beautiful Botanicals, second one is Old South and third layout is done using the Travel kit.

On the bus ride from Cesky Krumlov to Prague we watched 'The Chronicles of Narnia' which was filmed in the Czech Republic. It was a long bus ride and my legs & back were sore. I do not why I could not sleep. I watched Mini take a nap and I was excessively jealous! :-)

Our hotel was near the heart of the city so we could walk to almost all the main attractions. We went to the main city square and took a 40 minute car ride to see all the main sights and get a feel of the place. The car was an old communist era car, a Skoda I believe, and it was fun. Dinner was at an authentic Tuscan restaurant that even had salt-less bread, something unique to Tuscany.

The next morning we drove up to Prague castle and started a 3 hour walk. We saw the St. Vitius's Cathedral, the main church in Prague, strolled down the Golden Lane and slowly made our way down to the city. We crossed the beautiful Charles Bridge (which was so crowded - I must return in winter when there are less tourists), rubbed the statue of St. John Nepomuk (to bring us back to Prague someday) and finished our walk in front of the amazing Town Hall Clock. This clock was built 500 years ago and is completely mechanical. The little figures come out every hour, on the hour, but everything is so quick, you miss it if you blink!

We went into the Jewish Quarter and had lunch in a really nice Jewish restaurant. Then we went to see the Pinkas Synagogue and the Jewish Cemetery. I love visiting cemeteries, looking at all those old graves, wondering who these people were, searching for the graves of famous people I know are buried there. We then walked towards the Old-New Synagogue which is the oldest synagogue in Europe. It is extremely beautiful on the inside.

Finally we walked to Wenceslas Square - named after St. Wenceslas, a pious and good prince who was murdered by his brother in 935. St. Wenceslas is also the patron saint of Bohemia. The road leading up to Wenceslas Square is lined with beautiful buildings with Art Nouveau paintings. The Hotel Europa is a fine example of Art Nouveau architecture.

Cesky Krumlov

First layout done with Club Scrap Renaissance kit. The journaling note is hand made. The 'C' & 'K' are stickers. The rest of the words are hand written. Second layout uses printed paper from K & Co. Sticker in the circle is from Club Scrap. Title is again hand written and I made a hash of it. However since that little green card stock was my last bit I had to use it. The outlines are done with a gold-leaf marker from Krylon. Printed papers on the third layout is from 7 Gypsies. Title is hand written. Also some 'antique' rub-ons.

On our fifth day we woke early and boarded the bus. Today we would be leaving Austria and crossing the border into the Czech Republic. The fact that Austria is a pretty well-to-do country and it's neighbour is much poorer is underlined by the drastic change in scenery as soon as one crosses the border.

In the Czech Republic we stopped at a medieval town, beautifully preserved, called Cesky Krumlov. This is a UNESCO world heritage site and deservedly so. It is like being transported back in time! As I craned my head back to look at the fortress it took my breath away. Inside the town is quaint and we walked around with our guide Olly. She was the best guide yet on this trip and is even mentioned in the Rick Stevens guide book! I wish we had more time to explore but after a quick lunch of sandwiches and visiting the bears in the bear pit, we had to get back in the bus to continue towards Prague, the last Imperial City on our itinerary.

Salzburg (1)

Layouts done with papers from Basic Grey, Scenic Route. All from kits by Scrapologie.

At Melk we got back on the bus and drove to Salzburg. On the way, nestled in the beautiful countryside, I caught a glimpse of the church where Captain Von Trapp and Maria were married in the Sound of Music. The countryside is so beautiful! Just like in the Sound of Music – which is the movie we watched on the long drive there. After arriving into Salzburg we went for a stroll in the Mirabell Gardens, also featured in the Sound of Music – specifically in the song Doe a Deer. There is a part in this garden that has statues of midgets. Apparently the prince, who the gardens belonged to, employed midgets in his palace. And when they died he had a statue built in their remembrance in his garden.

Dinner that evening was at St. Peter’s, a restaurant, supposedly the oldest in Europe, established in 803. The lower parts of the restaurant are so fascinating – really old. We however were seated in a room on the third floor which was decidedly modern – at least compared to the rest of the establishment. A pity, that! The highlight of the dinner was a little Mozart who played for us. We thought it was a boy but later found out he was actually a ‘she’. She played for almost fifteen minutes completely from memory. Quite a feat! The food was good too. We walked back to the hotel through the shopping district and again the Mirabell Gardens, which were just outside our hotel.

Next day we started with an early morning walk around Salzburg. We strolled from the hotel through the new town and across one of the pedestrian bridges towards the old part of town. Basically we just retraced our steps back to the place where the St. Peter’s restaurant is. The old side of town is so pretty and we saw it much better in daylight – quaint streets, pretty squares all imbued with feeling of having stepped back in time. We went to see the Dome of Salzburg. This church was completely destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII. It has now been rebuilt most beautifully.

Cruise on the Danube

First layout done with Club Scrap 'Sunken Treasure' kit & glitter chipboard letters from DCWV. Second layout uses paper from the KI Memories.

After our shopping spree in the beautiful town of Durnstein we took a three hour cruise on the Danube. What beautiful countryside we saw! There were castles towering over us from craggy cliffs. One of the ruins belonged to a family of robber barons. For over a thousand years this family attacked and stole from people passing on the river. Even today, as you pass under the castle you get the ominous feeling of being watched! There is another castle that shows distinct Turkish influence with a minaret and onion shaped domes. All these castles gave me a feeling of being in some historical romantic novel!

We had our lunch on the boat. It was extremely pleasant sipping chilled Riesling and meandering past the countryside where the wine is made. We disembarked at Melk, famous for its Abbey, which is an important seat of learning even today. The Abbey gained worldwide fame when Umberto Eco based his novel 'Nome Della Rosa' here. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit the Abbey becuase we had a bus to catch - to Salzburg!

For a friend's journal

Page done with Club Scrap 'To you with Love' kit papers. Calla Lily stamp from PSX.

Durnstein (2)

Again layout done with Club Scrap 'Road Trip' kit and 'Thickers' alphabets. For journaling please see previous post.

Durnstein

Both layouts done with Club Scrap Road Trip kit. Making Memories alpha stamps, acrylic inks, a few rub-ons etc. complete these very simple layouts.

Our visit to Vienna was over.

We had an early breakfast and by 8 am were rolling off in the bus towards Durnstein. This mediaeval village, about 45 minutes from Vienna, is famous because in 1193 duke Leopold of Austria captured Richard I (the Lionhearted) who was returning from the Crusades. He held Richard at the castle of Durnstein for over a year. A ransom of 150,000 marks (a huge amount in those days) was paid to free Richard.

We also heard a very romantic story of how Richard was found by his minstrel, singing outside various castles and hoping to hear a response, indicating the presence of his king. This part of the story is surely folklore!

The castle is now in ruins but still identifiable. The village is pretty and a regular tourist attraction. It is small and lined with quaint shops. We did our entire gift shopping here.

Vienna third day (2)

On our third day in Vienna we had the afternoon to ourselves. So we walked to St. Stephanplatz to see the church. Known as Stephansdom, it is the soul of the city itself. The giant doorway and the twin towers at the entrance are apparently from a 13th century heathen Romanesque shrine. The tiled roof of the church is very eye catching as is the steffl or spire, which is an important landmark in Vienna, towering over all nearby buildings. Once inside, I made it a point to search out the self portrait of Anton Pilgram, the master craftsman of the present church. Pilgrams pulpit, with its intricate gothic design and beautiful carved stairway is another stellar work not to be missed inside the church. The high altar, of course, is most impressive as is the Wiener Neustader altar, commissioned by Friedrich III in 1447.

The children then wanted ice cream. So we stopped at an ice cream store and paid outrageous prices for gelato. I managed to get pick pocketed ~ fortunately I lost only my mobile phone.

We decided to take a buggy ride around the town of Vienna. This is becoming quite a tradition for us! It cost us 65 Euro for a 40 minute ride. Getting off the buggy in front of the Hofburg palace we walked towards a multi ethnic food festival we had seen on our ride. This took us through some beautiful rose gardens which have hundreds of varieties of roses. The food festival was not bad at all with rows upon rows of stalls. Everything from Indian to Thai to Mexican was available. The only problem was the table we found – it was so close to a fountain that we shivered all through dinner! A brisk walk back to the hotel soon set us right and ready to pack to leave Vienna the next day.

Vienna Third Day (1)

Layouts done with a mixture of Club Scrap Travel, Painted Desert and printed papers by Elsie. Chipboard alphabets, coloured brads, stickers & paper lace from my stash.

On the morning of our third day in Vienna, we met up at 8 am with our local guide, Irene, for a 2 hour walk through the city. She showed us some interesting spots including a few of Mozart’s many homes. In the 10 years he spent in Vienna, he changed residences 13 times. He died quite possibly of rheumatic fever at the age of 35.

At about 10:30 we took the bus from our hotel and drove 45 minutes to Festschloss Hof, the country home of the Hapsburg Dynasty, originally built by Prince Eugene of Savoy. This palace, on the border with Slovenia (we could see the suburbs of Bratislava from the castle) has been recently reopened to the public after many years where it was first ravaged by the military and then by time and neglect. Restoration work is still continuing and the Austrian Government is trying to locate and return many of the missing artwork from the palace.

The palace originally had just two floors. When Empress Maria Teresia came to live there she found it a bit small so she added a third floor. There is however a painting done of the palace as it was originally built by Prince Eugene and I took a photograph of that because it appears so much more elegant and graceful with just the two stories.

The children went off to make pottery while a lovely lady called Maria gave us a tour of the palace, explaining its sad history and the efforts being made now to restore it to its former glory. The gardens are almost complete and they are a sight to behold indeed! We had lunch on the palace grounds after which the children went to the petting zoo while we did went off for a Schnapps tasting. Later we all enjoyed a horse & buggy ride around the extensive palace grounds. We learned of the existence of blue eyed donkeys and European bison. In days gone by children in Austria kept donkeys as pets instead of dogs & cats. The horses pulling our buggy were of a special breed too, really big boned, tough and shaggy.

I got some very nice photos of Lily getting to know one of these horses. They are beautiful gentle creatures!

Do you You Tube?

I have not been able to scrap lately. But this information was too good to hold on to till I do my next page. So check this out ...

Vienna Second Day (5)

First layout done with Club Scrap All that Glitters kit, a photo turn, Gelatins alpha stamps and ribbon from my stash. Second layout is done with a kit from Scrapologie. Again Gelatin alpha stamps and chipboard accents. Third layout done with Crate paper. All three layouts inspired by some lovely work in the current CK.

What a wonderful way to finish this very special day in Vienna. After we had rested for a few hours a bus picked us up from our hotel and took us back to Schonbrunn. We did not enter the palace grounds from the main entrance but from a side gate. It was the palace zoo. Founded by Franz Stephan in 1752, this is the oldest zoo in the world. We arrived there at 6 p.m. which was closing time. So we had the whole zoo to ourselves.

A couple of the zoo keepers gave us a tour of the animals. I was keen on seeing the lions but lazy beasts that they are, they were all sleeping inside. What we did see was a cheetah. I have never seen one in captivity before. Amazing how healthy it was. The zoo had all sorts of contraptions to help simulate a chase and kill so the cheetah would be able to get the exercise it needs. Unlike the tigers and lions, these cats are not the lazy kind! What was really scary was how the cheetah kept following the smallest child in our group. The barriers between the animals and people are see-through and to watch the cheetah focus on a little child and get ready to leap was definitely unnerving!

Later we all met up at the Emperor’s Pavilion which is a beautiful structure in the centre of the zoo. Emperor Franz Josef used to stroll from the palace to this pavilion every morning for breakfast. We had dinner instead. And a very nice dinner it was too.

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A Modern day Da Vinci genius!

Vienna Second Day (4)

First layout made with Club Scrap Passage of Time kit from Jan 2001. Alphabet stamps and fresh cuts. Second layout is done with Carolee's papers. The swirl is handmade. Ribbon and a flower brad - not sure who makes these.

First layout is Ricky at the Authentic Austrian restaurant we had lunch at. In Austria Ricky was in food heaven! Meat, sausages and potatoes? He wishes he could eat these everyday - unfortunately his mother makes him eat other stuff like vegetables and pasta and rice. He stepped out of the restaurant to check out the surroundings. There was farm next to the restaurant. After lunch all the children went to pet the animals. Ricky preferred to stay outside and play his PSP.

Second layout are the Marionette Theatre photo for Lily's album. And a photo of what she seems to be doing perpetually these days - texting!

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French Toast - Do you really know how to make it?

Vienna Second Day (3)

All layouts done with Club Scrap Travels kit. Also used chipboard accents, scenic Route rub-on alphabets, 7 Gypsies journalling tags, French Curves and other stickers and rub-ons from my stash. You can read about the Gloriette in last bit of the journalling for Vienna Day 2.

Who let the dogs out?