Back from Seattle

I interrupt posting the pictures of our tour in Sicily for a short moment, while I publish the pictures of my recent trip to Seattle.

I was in Seattle (actually in Tacoma) for one week workshop with a firm specialized in WPF, IdentityMine. I spent three days with Jonathan Russ, who is without any doubt one of the most talented developer I ever met, and at the same time a very good man, always ready to take time to discuss ideas or to explain concepts. It was a great week, and my only regret was I couldn't meet Nathan Dunlap and Robby Ingebretsen because they were both out of house. That said, I met other members of the team.

After 3 days of intensive work, I took one day on my own to go and visit the city of Seattle. It was a wonderful day, very sunny (against Seattle's reputation) and the people were really nice. I first took the bus in the morning from Tacoma, in front of the hotel (I was staying in the Marriott Courtyard Downtown, excellent hotel!) The bus trip is 3 U$ only, and the bus is very comfortable. Arrived in Seattle, there are many stops, and I decided to go down quite near from Chinatown. I then walked down to the seashore, and visited the piers, in particular "Ye olde curiosity shop", a very interesting shop full of souvenirs and tourists, but also a few interesting things to see like 2 (supposedly real) mummies, shrunken Jivaro heads, etc...

After that, I walked to the pioneer quartier, the original settlement of Seattle's founders back in 1851. The most interesting thing to visit in this area is the Underground Tour. It's a very funny and interesting experience, under Seattle's sidewalks. In fact, these are the original sidewalks, before the city authorities decided to raise all the streets by 3 meters, after the great fire of 1869, and in order to solve sewer and mud problems. Since the works to raise the streets were going to take a very long time, and the shop owners couldn't wait that long, the people rebuilt their house on the ground next to the elevated streets. The result was very impractical of course, so eventually the shop owners had to build sidewalks at the street level. The shops' first floor became the ground floor, and the original ground floor was now the cellar. The tour is about an hour and a half long, it's very funny because all the tour guides have a great sense of humor, really to recommend!

After the tour, I walked to Chinatown for lunch, which I took in a Vietnamese restaurant. I had Pho Bo, which reminded me of the time spent in Hanoi many years ago... Later, I walked through the city's main streets to Pike Place Market, in which I spent quite some time visiting and exploring.

After that, I walked all the way to the Space Needle, stopping only for a cold drink in a small café on the road side and using the free wireless to check my emails (by the way, I never saw so many wireless networks in one place :-) At the Space Needle, I hesitated to take the "Ride the Duck" tour, but it was late already and I rather felt like relaxing a little. Instead, I strolled in the attraction park at the foot of the tower, before taking the monorail back to the city center. There, I enjoyed a cold drink while sitting on the roadside and watching people walk... This is also where I took the ride back to Tacoma, where I was quite happy to have a good dinner at the Pacific Grill (excellent food and great service) and a good night's sleep!

More

Road trip in Sicily, part seven: Siracusa

(Date: 19-21.07.2007)
(Written: 21.07.2007)

After a great breakfast with the best possible view on old Caltagirone, we walked back to the car through the maze-like streets, and then drove to Siracusa (Syracuse). It was wonderful to discover this island so full of houses that you feel they're going to overflow and fall in the sea... We drove to the hotel, named 'Palazzo del Sale' or palace of the salt. It's a historic house, a palace converted to bed and breakfast. The room was just great, two floors with two beds on the top floor (the kids were delighted to have their own room), and the bottom floor for Chi Meei and I, and also a very stylish bathroom. In the bathroom, some parts of the floor was tiled, while some other parts and the walls were a little like lava stone, very beautiful. Also the accessories, the sink, the shower, all were very stylish and the whole set looked really nice.

Since we were staying two nights in Siracusa, we took it easy and also spent some time resting and reading. The heat is pretty terrible these days in Sicily! But still, we also spent a lot of time outside, walking the small lanes and discovering the hidden places of the island. As the evening came, we walked to the Piazza Duomo for dinner. It was not exceptional, certainly not comparable to the previous day's in Caltagirone, because the place is just too touristy. We'll d better the next day :)

After a good night's sleep, we took the car to drive out of the old town and went to visit the archeological park. One impressive feature is the Greek theater carved out of a hill, and of course the 'Ear of Dyonisius'. He was a tyrant (ruler) of Siracusa (as well as other parts of Sicily) who used this ear-shaped cave to keep prisoners of war. The interesting fact is that the acoustic of the cave is supposedly so good that everything said inside of the cave can be heard from the outside, so that secrets exchanged by the prisoners could be overheard. What part is legend and what part is reality is unknown, but the cave itself is really worth a visit. Even more when you know that 7000 men are supposed to have died here after a war with Athens, which gives a tragic feel to the place.

Other features of the park are a roman theater and other antique monuments. We also walked to the nearby necropolis, in which the supposed location of Archimedes' tomb can be seen. Again, we're not sure he is really resting there, but this is a good place to pay respect to the man who was probably the greatest mind of his time. After reading so many histories about him and his inventions in school, it was a strange and good feeling to spend some time in thoughts in this place.

After this visit, we drove back to the island and went to see the Castle Maniace, which occupies the whole tip of the island. The visit was a little disappointing; there is nothing much left to explore and the heat was just too much to bear, so we decided to go back to the hotel. There, Alise and I changed to swim suits and walked to a nearby tiny sandy beach, and we had a good swim in the cool sea water, and then spent time looking for shells and nice looking stones. Finally, a good shower and an afternoon nap.

Not wanting to make the same mistake as the previous day, we asked the hotel's owner for dinner advice, and he recommended us a small typical Sicilian trattoria just 200 meters from there. The food was excellent (I had a carpaccio and the swordfish, local specialty), and while we ate we enjoyed some Sicilian music, and then some jazz. A good glass of Moscato wine (for me) and some house made tiramisu (for Chi Meei and the girls) ended a great day in Siracusa!

More

Road trip in Sicily, part six: Caltagirone

(Date: 18-19.07.2007)
(Written: 20.07.2007)

After the visit of Piazza Armerina, and under a suffocating heat, we drove further to Caltagirone, a very scenic small town not far from there. Driving to the center was an adventure, because of the very narrow labyrinthine lanes, so after a while we just dropped the car in the center and walked to the bed and breakfast 'Tre metri sopra i cielo' (poetic name...). To reach the house, you must climb a HUGE staircase, which is used in spring to display thousands of flowers, or later in July to display some illuminated scenes with hundreds of lanterns. During our visit, however, the staircase was just for people, and we climbed up and down a few times during our stay.

The B&B itself was great. Very small (2 rooms and a common room and balcony), with an amazing view on the city, and a very friendly host, Gaetano Pace. He explained the whole city to me in Italian, and thus armed we could take a walk to the public garden, where we had a nice granite.

In the evening, after buying a few typical Sicilian products, and after a shower in the hotel, we followed Gaetano's advice and went to a restaurant nearby, Il Locandiere. There we had a great meal: first a lobster cooked with spaghettis (we chose the lobster ourselves from the display), and then a fish cooked in a salt crust and served with a sauce of herbs and melted butter. This was really a kingly meal. Walking up the stairs again that night was a real challenge, but we succeeded and enjoyed a peaceful night 3 meters under the sky.

More

Road trip in Sicily, part five: Piazza Armerina

(Date: 18.07.2007)
(Written: 20.07.2007)

Leaving Agrigento, we drove towards the center of the island, direction Piazza Armerina, a small town hosting an amazing roman villa, the "Villa Romana del Casale" (UNESCO world heritage) discovered only during the 20th century. What makes it really impressive is the collection of mosaic floors: every piece of floor is covered by more or less (but rather more) well preserved mosaics representing all kind of scenes, for example hunting, fishing, family portraits, etc... It's also interesting to see the archeologists at work, since not everything in the villa is uncovered yet, and also for restoration work.

More

WPF: Workshop in Tacoma, WA, with IdentityMine

I am thrilled to be here in Tacoma again, second time this year (and overall) after we were given a WPF training by IdentityMine very innovative and specialized firm. These few days with them are going to be devoted to reviewing some of our design choices, discussing ways to make our designers' work easier (making the application "blendable"), etc...

So, now it's 3AM and though I went to bed at 9PM last night (flying in from Zurich through London), I can't sleep, so I am taking a short break from bed :-)

Side note: This is the first time I enter USA in Seattle (last time I flew in through Chicago and did immigration there). No offense to the Chicago people, but yesterday's experience was better by far. Much less waiting, and more smiling. The officer actually took time to chit chat (for, like, 10 seconds :-) I guess people around here are just more relaxed. I ike this place (and not just because of the immigration officers :-)

Road trip in Sicily, part four: Agrigento

(Date: 16-18.07.2007)
(Written: 19.07.2007)

After our unplanned day trip to Palermo, we drove south to Agrigento, a small city especially famous for its Valle dei Templi (valley of the Temples). In fact, it's not really a valley, rather a succession of hills with beautifully preserved temples and other interesting monuments. When you arrive in Agrigento, the first thing you cannot miss is the huge but partially destroyed Temple of Juno (or Temple of Hera; Juno is the roman name of the Greek goddess Hera, wife of Jupiter/Zeus).

Since it was rather late already when we arrived, we just spent a moment in the hotel's swimming pool before going for dinner. We chose a small restaurant named Kalo in the old Agrigento (the city has two very distinct parts; our hotel was in between). The restaurant was great, the food wonderful. Our girls enjoyed a risotto with seafood (tutto mare). Me I had 3 different marinated fishes as appetizer (almost raw fish and shrimps marinated in various sauces, delicious) before enjoying some veal cooked with Marsala wine. The setting was very nice too, we had small balcony to ourselves, facing the Piazza Aldo Moro and enjoying the scenic evening life.

The next morning, after breakfast, we went to visit the valley of the Temples. It was hot already, so visiting in the morning is definitely the best choice. The walk is very nice, with many monuments to be seen (the best preserved is the Temple of the Concord, which was saved from the Christians' destructive rage because it was turned into a church). Also many trees, especially almond trees (a specialty of Sicily), but also figs, etc.

On the other side of the hill, we took a short walk amongst the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, a HUGE but unfortunately destroyed temple. The fact that it has been destroyed in one of the Punic wars gives an additional charm to the ruins. It was like walking in one of the history books we read during our Latin classes back in pre-university.

For lunch, we went back to old Agrigento and walked the small lanes for a while, until everything was closed. We then followed the 'guide du routard' signs to a small but excellent restaurant where we had meals and drinks for 4, all for 15 Euros.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to visit the archeology museum, with a very nice collections of vases and statues, and an especially impressive piece: A partially destroyed statue previously adorning the temple of Jupiter gave a better feel as to how huge that temple must have been. Really quite a sight.

After going back to the hotel and a swim in the hotel's pool, we went out for dinner again, this time in another restaurant named Kokalo. The food was OK, but not as nice as the previous day's. A good night's sleep concluded that day, before we drove further direction Piazza Armerina and Caltagirone.

More

Road trip in Sicily, part three: From Marsala to Agrigento via Palermo

(Date: 16.07.2007)
(Written: 19.07.2007)

This trip to Palermo was not really planned, but since our bag was finally found, and broken (thanks Air One), we decided to repair it the same day (we had only seven days to get it repaired for free, which is really a shameful service). Anyway... On Mondays, all shops are closed in the morning including the siesta, which lasts until 4PM. So we had a full day to kill, which we did in Palermo, strolling the small lanes.

We found the luggage shop quite fast and parked nearby (near the Teatro Massimo) and then found the archeology museum, which we visited (we wanted to go there anyway). The museum is nice, there are a few impressive pieces, even if all in all it's rather small. But the small yards are so peaceful and cool that it was nice to lazy there for a while.

After the museum, we found a small lane with a market, and possibility to buy amazing fruits and vegetables, spices, and pretty much everything including underwear... We walked until the harbor, and then came back (the small lanes were cooler) and found a great little restaurant, where we had pasta and where Laeticia spent time running after many baby cats. Eventually, we went back to the luggage shop and waited in front of the Teatro Massimo until the opening time. That gave us the occasion to enjoy a glass of hand made lemonade served on crushed ice, a delight in the hot temperatures.

Once the shop opened, all went very fast and our bag was fixed in 5 minutes. So it's with a happy heart and a full trunk that we took the road to Agrigento, which we reached 2 hours later.

More

Road trip in Sicily, part two: Marsala, Isola di Mothia, Segesta

Marsala

(Date: 14-16.07.2007)
(Written: 18.07.2007)

After leaving the Palermo airport (without a bag, see previous post...), we drove south to a small hotel not far from the city of Marsala. In fact, this hotel called Isola di Mozia (island of Mozia) is facing the island itself, and offers a magnificent view on the salines and the bay. We had a very nice dinner (antipasti and spaghetti vongole) in the nearby restaurant... Mothia (not very original name, but very good food). I finished the day with a delicious glass of Marsala wine, which tasted very much like Port wine (Marsala wine was made by people from England who wanted to have something similar to Port wine on their ships, but couldn't ask the Portuguese because of never ending fights). Finally, getting back to the hotel, we enjoyed the amazing sunset on the bay.

The next day, wearing the previous day's clothes (yuk, but what can you do without a bag...), we went out early and went to the nearby saline, to take a boat. The bay is half closed by a very long island, and in the center of the 'lagoon' is the small island of Mozia (or Mothia). The trip starts in a small channel, passing by huge mountains of salt, covered by tiles to protect the salt from the weather. The salt itself is made by evaporating sea water in big square ponds. It's quite an impressive view.

Then, crossing the shallow lagoon, we reached the island itself and took a stroll under the pine trees. The island was a very early phenician settlement, and many traces from this civilization can be found. The most impressive piece found on the island is a statue of a Greek youth, very big and well preserved.

Statue of a Greek youth

More

Segesta

Back on the mainland, we drove to Marsala, but on a Sunday pretty much everything was closed. So instead we decided to drive to Segesta and visit the very impressive unfinished temple there. According to the legend, Segesta was founded by followers of Aenea after the war of Troy. The temple is very well preserved, partly because of the legendary common origin of Segestans and Romans (the Romans gave protection and privileges to the city) and partly because it was never completed (so the Christians, well known destroyers of non-christian religious buildings, left it in peace). Also, it's quite outside of everything, so probably it was one more factor protecting it. The building itself is very impressive, even more so because it's in the middle of nowhere.

Being very courageous, we decided to walk up to the Greek theater on top of the hills. Very hot and quite long walk, but the view from up there was really rewarding, The theater faces the valley, and one can see all the way down to the sea. Beautiful place, and almost no one around!

We ended this day by an unnecessary drive to Palermo, unfortunately (see previous post), but eventually we had a very nice dinner again in the restaurant Mozia, and then a very peaceful night in that wonderful hotel.

More