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FordBurton Travel Blog
Home
TEAM FURTON
Gallery
Numbers Counter
Family Blogs
Nina Liv's AVACADO
Moss Furton's travel blog
Parental Blog
Contact
Timeline
Gallery
Album
Getting there and getting around
October in Oxford
Our Neighbourhood - Jericho
November!
Halloween / Bonfire
December: Israel and Jordan
December: Sicily with family
December: Prague for Christmas
La Casa Toscana
January 2019
February 2019
March 2019
April 2019
May 2019
June 2019
The Port Meadow on our first day
The bridge at the Trout Pub, with heron
Our kitchen - a bright extension on a 2 up / 2 down worker's cottage backing onto Worcester College Green
A mummified two year old in the Ashmolean
Plexiglass and X-ray representation of poor mummified two year old
The kids at the lock
The Ravens at St. Anne's College
Would-be punters on Matriculation Day
Matriculation Day punters, struggling a bit - note the standup paddle boarders navigating through the middle
A ceilidh (pronounced cay-lee) outside Oxford
The ceilidh band, with traditional Irish instruments
Nina Liv's birthday present: a trip to a remarkable candy store on the High Street
St. John's College
A fun visit from Dappa. Here, we're at the Bookbinder's Pub near our house
You can't go to Oxford and fail to visit the Turf Tavern.
All Souls
All Souls
Several good bike sharing programs in Oxford - we liked the Pony Bikes and used them lots.
Homeschooling and perhaps even learning something
the Tower of London tour
Tower Bridge
The Tower of London tour
Walking I
The Ghost Tour - Nina Liv got a hat!
The Ghost Tour - Moss suffered ;-)
This statue of Eleanor Roosevelt outside the Bonavera Institute for Human Rights was installed in October. There's an identical one in NYC
On Halloween, we did the spooky tour of Oxford Castle and Jail. It was actually pretty spooky!
Former residents of the Oxford Jail
Lovely local flower shop, run by a former Canadian
Oxford University Press
Blavatnik School of Government
Outside the old Book Binders pub.
The "Old Book Binders Pub."
An old school, now converted to residences.
The view from the Richmond Hotel.
the synagogue
We fixed a traffic pylon that was knocked over by vandals.
Gentrification and new developments in this formerly working class neighbourhood have changed it.
A wine & cheese tasting at Jericho Cheeseworks is more like a tutorial and less like a social event - it was great and we learned so much.
Remembrance Day, 100 years after the end of WWI.
The Natural History Museum is a high risk place.
Walking II
The lovely Baroness Ruth Deech invited us to the House of Lords. What a privilege.
Moss's birthday dinner, at the beautiful Old Parsonage.
scariest pumpkin ever - CLIMATE!
Nina Liv in the stock at Oxford Castle.
The Scary (zombie) tour of Oxford Castle
Bonfire and fireworks in South OXford with Imogen, Mark, Oliver, and Seb.
The Kotel with dear friend Yane Svetiev!
Happy Hanukkah, from the House of Lords.
Are these bags really going to make it from the airport to Jerusalem?!
Sasha with Israeli food for shabbat!
Walking the old city walls
The ramparts walk
On the ramparts
The Ein Gedi Kibbutz Botanical Garden
Birdwatching in the Ein Gedi Botanical Garden
Ein Gedi Kibbutz - beautiful and, sadly, quite empty these days.
Staying at the Ein Gedi Kibbutz Lodge
Nina Liv on the way to the Red Sea in Eilat
Masada, looking toward the Mountains of Moar in Jordan.
After some great snorkelling in the Red Sea.
The Wadi Moussaf (Valley of Moses) near Petra!
Gorgeous, rich red sandstone at Petra
It's about 1.2 km into Petra, through an incredible deep valley.
Some cool Bedouin dude.
The kids rode horses for the first part of the trip into Petra.
Taken by a nice Russian family - yet another language we know three words of.
Petra was a large town before the Romans forcibly moved the trade routes to the coast.
Donkeys, camels, horses, dogs, cats.
We stayed in the most incredible Bedouin tent camp - Seven Wonders Camp. It was cold but we had four thick blankets each.
They serve delicious, sweet sage tea in the camp's main tent - a bit smoky from the fire but warm and lovely.
An incredible place - Westerners only (re)discovered it in 1812.
Gorgeous garden at our new Sicily home outside Cefalu
The tiny village of Sant Ambrogio, just up the hill
Sant Ambrogio
Cefalu in the rain has its upsides.
Nadya and Moss
Sant Ambrogio
The waterfront in Cefalu
Direct from the farmer: eggs in paper bags!
Happy cappuccino. No one speaks English in Sicily (at least in the winter off season).
Ping pong!
Ping pong!
Siblings with coffee
The impressive Norman/Arab/Gothic cathedral in Cefalu - with massive mountain behind.
Nadya and NLFB
John!
The old washing steps in Cefalu - used until the 1950s. Clear, clear spring water.
EMay and Sasha buying groceries
Osteria Bacchus in Cefalu has 12 tables and good food. The chef (aka the mom) runs the kitchen with no staff at all! Her husband or son run front of house.
Gelato
Gelato and a green-eyed, not blue-eyed, girl.
The Valle dei Templi near Agrigento is really impressive. This is apparently a temple to Hercules!
Nadya
Pieris in Vancouver doesn't bear fruit but here it does - beautiful but toxic.
A fairly old olive tree - 100 years
Family pic
This was first a temple to Demeter and Persephone (Greek) - later to Castor and Pollux (Roman)
Girgentana goats have curled horns
The Temple of Concord is incredibly preserved, because it was in regular use for centuries - by Greeks, then Romans, then Byzantines (as a temple to Peter and Paul, somehow)!
Santo Stefano di Camastra is a small town on Sicily's coast with a vibrant ceramics industry.
Town square in Santo Stefano di Camastra - tile in foreground by same artist as round plate in the museum
Items in the ceramics museum in Santo Stefano di Camastra were not always labelled, and what little info there was was in Italian. So it was all a fun mystery.
Benches on the street in Santo Stefano di Camastra
A high wall on the water's edge at Santo Stefano di Camastra - more ceramics.
Traditional Czech Christmas Eve dinner is Carp - couldn't be fresher. Buy them on the street & they'll gut them for you.
It came with the place ... ;-)
Memorial for Vaclav Havel in our neighbourhood, where he lived.
Father, daughter, and the old town square.
Prague was *busy*. The Old Town Square with astrological clock.
The apostles in the city hall tower - great to see the inner workings.
Street Meat
Street Meat: the origin story.
The mandatory Jewish yellow hat, from the Middle Ages
NL and friends on Christmas morning
Crazy mistletoe people
The "haul" - with stockings ;-)
You-Know-Who
Learning in the Old New Synagogue
The Golem
The Pinkas synagogue, with names of all 78k Czech Jews who died in the Holocaust
Public art in the public library
Moss's dream: a tornado (whirlpool?) of books.
Forged steel (chocolate) treats on our last day
Thanks to Rony for this gorgeous pic. Sasha in Prague in 1988
Old Town Square, 1988
1988: not so touristy!
Sasha, Prague, 30 years ago.
Chickens! (hens and actually several cocks, too many ...)
The kids mapped out the property and took us on a tour
Day 1 in our new home. Really excited to be here.
Heading down the First Zig toward Bamboo Lane
Chilly but sunny and truly beautiful
Epiphany Day rituals include a Vespa club parade, old cars, and Bafana (candy-giving witch)!
Plaza Santa Maria de Novella, with Vespas, Epiphany Day 2019
Sasha has always wanted a Vespa.
Cute big-eyed bug. ;-)
Swings at the Student Hotel - where they also have ping pong, folding bikes, beer on tap ...
Una latte caldo, per favore.
Poor rolling stone.
Photobomber
Dehydrated citrus fruit is a beautiful thing.
"our" chickens!
The view from the cafe at the Museo dei Inocenti - which tells the story of 500 years of abandoned babies in Florence. Very moving.
Dear friend Sarah - we had a terrific week with her.
How cute is this guy.
This is the kind of serious portrait you could get at the Bay when I was a kid.
At the franciscan monastery on the hilltop of Fiesole, overlooking Florence.
Challah made with 15 year old yeast mother, given to us by some folks at the EUI.
We spent three fun days in Rome! So nice to be there in low season.
Dinner chez French nuns in Rome.
Gladiator school!
Gladiators were forced to wear helmets that restricted their vision & breathing - unlike what the legionnaires wore.
NL.
SPQR!
Pushups for failing students at gladiator school.
Upstairs Downstairs
Nina Liv makes her space her own. Never travel without washi tape.
We finished our first 1000 piece puzzle!
La Valle Equitazione, where the kids start riding lessons soon.
Horses, chickens, goats, sheep, dogs at La Valle Equitazione!
Street art in Florence sometimes involves goggles.
Goggles #2
Making cookies in Italian language classes
We're getting organized!
New ski clothes at Decathlon in Prato - like a Wal-Mart for sports gear
My stylish hubby. xx
One of the EUI vehicles - perfect for driving between Villas in the Tuscan hills.
On our way to Italian classes
Day trip to Vinci, home of Leonardo
Vinci
Vinci: imagination trumps view
Birthplace of Leonardo
Yes, this is actually one of the formal gardens where Cristie works.
One of many great customized street signs in Florence
READY.
In Alta Badia, in the Dolomites - perfect conditions!
Jet streams overhead in the chairlift line - busy skies.
Uncle Rony sent us strudel & prosecco for Sasha's birthday!
Salvation, ancient and modern versions. (See the helicopter?)
Many quaint, melting, quiet towns in the Dolomites
Our trusty ride: a Cleo
The train to Switzerland, Nina Liv-eye view.
Ber-Ber the beloved
Bern was charming, if rainy ... sibling love + grumpiness
The Matterhorn!
Zermatt! The Matterhorn
Conditions were completely fierce at the top. Where the T-bar was, for chrissake.
Day One, cheese fondue at our hotel in Zermatt - the Walliserhof
Day Two, chocolate fondue!
Note the slate plates on which the old houses sit
Zermatt - Grammy would have loved it here.
All the vehicles in Zermatt are electric, except the ones driven by gorgeous teams of horses
off to the Grimsel Pass ...
We took 5 trains, one bus, and one cable car before we even got to this point ...
Tunneling through the mountains under Grimsel Pass
... and through the hydropower plant ...
... and then onto this crazy old cable car ...
... to reach the unbelievable Grimsel Hospiz - an amazing hotel at the top of the world.
Ice chair, designed and custom made by Moss
The main floor library in the Grimsel Hospiz
Seams of crystal discovered when they built the power plant tunnels!
There are still a few of these old Fiat 500s around
The kids made masks for Carnival - which we did in Bern because we missed it in Italy
Spring flowers for sale in Bern
New chicks!
Sasha takes matters into his own hands, since barbershops seemingly fill the teenage boy with ennui
Thursday evening karate class
Walking - the series
The private chapel adjoining our house, where Doreen & Massimo were married 54 years ago
Wisteria on our patio
A purchase from Nina Liv's Random Stuffs Shop
So wonderful to have Rony and Xochitl with us for an extra week
The Ponte Vecchio ... +
... Sasha ... =
Sasha rowing under the Ponte Vecchio!
Clet
"Blub" (maybe not the greatest name for a street artist)
Lucca
Crazy driving in Lucca. Only one accident ...
The Lucchese city walls
Water balloons being launched from the roof!
Sasha in his EUI gear
Russia conquered! Another 1000 piece puzzle down. (Thanks Uncle Rony)
Our lovely landlady Doreen left this sparrow nest on our patio table
Cristie went to Hamburg for a few days, and ate Labskaus.
Cherry blossoms in Hamburg, a little behind where they'd be in Vancouver at same time of year
Meanwhile, Sasha took the kids on a mini-vacation at a fancy hotel out of town.
Look what Doreen did for the kids on Easter Sunday. So lovely.
Venice!
Yes, we did a gondola tour ...
Morning rush hour for the people who bring goods in and out of the city
Venice has a longstanding & varied Jewish community - the word "ghetto" comes from here.
The truly incredible Bevilacqua velvet factory, still making velvet the old way.
This is Sasha and me, arriving by water taxi at the Hotel Danieli one lovely evening
Bagni di Lucca was lovely
Exploring the haunted house
Just another standard Florentine door
Swimming in Italy - they're not smiling but I was.
A camellia at my work
The Rose Garden on the Oltrarno
You can always count on Sasha to find the great little hideaway for a coffee
San Miniato is truly an exceptional church - went for vespers, still proper Gregorian chant by the resident monks.
Someone in Italy has a contract to produce white leather bags & taser holsters
Happy Norwegian Independence Day! courtesy of Henrik & Anya
Sprained ankle. Luckily not too serious.
Lasagna! (again)
The 1000 Miglia went right through La Lastra!
A lovely weekend trip to Tellaro, small town near the Cinque Terre
Legend has it that a giant octopus saved Tellaro from the Saracen invaders!
Pompeii was amazing. Pictures can't do justice.
In the charming town of Scilla (yes, across from Charybdis)
Sicily!
Mount Etna - we missed the lava but caught the fog
Siracusa
An overambitious swimming pool design by the beach
The remarkable pottery town of Caltagirone
Sasha does the Vogalonga in Venice
Sardegna!
The kids scuba dive for the first time
Night swim
Our last night in Florence, with new but dear friends Ian and Sinead, Oisin and Aoife
Home.
+39 333 6920657
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email Cristie for emails for the rest of the Furtons
fordcristie@gmail.com
Via Bolognese, 309, Florence, Italy 50139
