Tag Archives: Chaput foot prints

Greece

Mykonos Island

We went to explore some of the Greek Islands in the Aegean Sea. We went to the Island of Mykonos which is one of the more popular islands and is located in the Cyclades group of islands.

View of the town of Chora on Mykonos Island

We stayed in the town of Chora which is also referred to as the town of Mykonos. Our hotel was well situated and we had a great view of the city and sea. We enjoyed watching the sun set from the pool area.

The view from our hotel in Mykonos
Pool area at our hotel with views of the sea.
Shelley and Ray with view from the hotel poolside.

We went into the old part of town and explored the narrow white washed streets. The white walls and blue trim on the buildings were very stunning.

Ray in the old part of Mykonos.
Typical street in the old part of town in Mykonos

There were many unique shops, art stores and restaurants. We explored some of the art shops looking at the unique pieces for sale.

Shelley looking at some art pieces

We explored the town walking along many interesting streets. There were small churches and even a fish cleaning station near the shoreline.

Fish cleaning station on the shoreline in Mykonos.
One of the many churches in Mykonos
Typical street with numerous restaurants in Mykonos.

We explored the town enjoying the spectacular sites and sounds. We found a beautiful little restaurant near the shoreline which provided us with a great view. We stopped and took some time to enjoy the moment.

Ray and Shelley at a restaurant in Mykonos

We enjoyed a glass of wine while looking at the iconic landmarks of the 16th century windmills that sit on the hill in Mykonos.

“φροντίστε και να έχετε μια καλή μέρα”

Spain

A Barrell of fun

We went to a bar called “Bodega del Riojano” in Santander Spain. This was a very interesting and quaint spot with an unassuming front entrance.

Entrance to the Bodega del Riojano in Santander, Spain

We went inside and immediately were impressed by the atmosphere and the unique decorations. There were barrels tops all painted with different images throughout the entire bar.

Barrels with unique paintings on each one above the bar area.
Barrels painted in the hallway of the Bodega del Riojano

We found a nice area to sit down and enjoy a drink . We could see that each barrel was painted with a different style and look. Some of the barrels had images that were photographs while the majority of them were hand painted.

Shelley, Ray, Mark and Vicki in the Bodega Del Riojano in Santander

The bar was a lot larger than it appeared with a large dinning area towards the rear of the building.

Part of the dinning area in the Bodega del Riojano
Barrels on display in a section of the Bodega del Riojana

There was some very interesting barrel paintings, including our favourite one. When you look closely at the painting you can see that one eye is missing. At the bottom of the paining is a bowl with an eye in with the olives.  The painting is done in a somewhat cubism style.

Barrel Painting entitled “Baco Cosecha 59” In the Bodega del Riojano

What was very interesting is that every barrel was painted by a different artist. The above barrel was painted by Sergio del Pozo Cossío, in 1994 “Baco Cosecha 59”.

Below are a few of the 126 barrels that are displayed in the Bodega del Riojano.

Artist Victor Merino
Artist Ricardo Zamorano Molina
Artist Pedro Flores
Artist Javier Vila Tierra Trágame
Entitled Peces
Artist Ana, Paillole

The Bodega del Riojano was a very unique spot and we enjoyed our time exploring the different barrels.

“Ados eta egun handia”

Spain

Inside the Guggenheim Museum

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We bought tickets to go to the Guggenheim museum. The tickets were 16 euros each and provided a specific time for entry into the museum. We went a bit early and managed to get in before our selected time by approximately 30 minutes.

Shelley using the hand-held audio device issued by the museum

The inside of the museum is very unique and interesting. In the main atrium area of the museum there was a large flowing material which looked similar to a plant. It is called the “Egeria”, and is made of different fabrics, colours and textures. It flows throughout the ceiling and walking areas.

a section of the Egeria art exhibit in the atrium of the Guggenheim museum
A large section of the Egeria art exhibit hanging in the centre of the atrium area
Shelley and Ray on a walkway in the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

The “Egeria” exhibit was created by Joana Vasconcelos a reputed Portuguese artist. She was also one of the featured artist in the museum with her exhibit show entitled “I’m your mirror”

We went through her exhibits and were astonished by some of her art. In particular the “Call Centre” which was made up entirely of old style dial telephones.  The telephones are combined to create a black handgun. It was surprising to hear the telephones playing  an electo-acoustic symphony using the bells in the telephone.

The Call Center exhibit by Joana Vasconcelos in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

We also came across Joana Vasconcelos’s  Marilyn, from 2011. It is a pair of large stiletto shoes that on closer inspection are composed of pots and pans.

Joana Vasconcelos art piece entitled Marilyn, a pair of large stiletto shoes made of pots and pans.

There were many unique and interesting pieces at the museum. One exhibit which was extremely large and different was created by Richard Serra. It was entitled “The Matter of Time”

The exhibit was so large that an entire wing of the museum housed the exhibit. It was made using weathered steel and consisted of eight different sculptures. The steel was quite thick and each piece was approximately 20 feet hight.

The Matter of Time, sculptures at the Guggenheim museum
sculptures of “The Matter of Time” in the Guggenheim museum

We walked through the different sculptures and each one was a different. The walls of each one of the sculptures were slanted in different ways. After walking through the sculptures it made us feel slightly dizzy and disoriented. It was a weird feeling because we had just walked through the sculptures.

Shelley and Ray in the centre of one of “The Matter of Time” sculptures

We spent most of the day in the museum exploring the different exhibits. It was a very enjoyable and a great experience.

“Ados eta egun handia”

Spain

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

We had the chance to go to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The museum building itself is an amazing piece of architecture and art.

Shelley and Ray in front of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain

We walked around the building admiring the different shapes and art pieces on display outside.

Large flower puppy designed by Jeff Koons at the main entrance area of the Guggenheim museum

There was an area beside the museum which had a pond with a fog drifting above the water.  It was called the “fog Sculpture” designed by Fujiko Nakaya, and was created using 1,000 fog nozzles and a high-pressure pump system.

Fog Sculpture designed by Fujiko Nakaya at the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao

There was also some tulips on display outside of the museum.  These tulips were large and made with chromium stainless steel and had a transparent colour coating.

Tulip sculpture designed by Jeff Koons outside of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao
Ray’s reflection in the tulip taking the photo.

We came across a large “Spider” which was on the walkway between the river and the museum.

Large spider exhibit on the sidewalk beside the Guggenheim Museum

The building is very large and took quite awhile to walk around the parameter.  As we came to the back side of the museum we found a large “diamond ring” in the pound.

Ray in front of the “diamond Ring” at the Guggenheim Museum
Engagement Diamond ring created by Joana Vasconcelos  outside of the Guggenheim museum

The engagement ring was made of gilded wheel rims and glass whisky tumblers for the diamond, it was quite impressive.

The building itself was multi-shaped and had a very distinguished look. The walls were curved and covered in a shiny metal which made the building look more like a piece of art than a museum.

A view of one of the wall areas of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa
Ray in front of the walls of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
Guggenheim museum building in Bilbao

The outside of the Guggenheim was such a great thing to experience. We enjoyed seeing the large art pieces and the building architecture but the inside is amazing and warrants a blog post of its own.

“Ados eta egun handia”

Spain

Ahoy Matey der be a Spanish Galleon!

There was a replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon sail ship docked at the Alicante marina. We decided to go down and check it out. We could see the galleon from a distance and it was quite impressive.

A replica of the 16th century Spanish galleon Andalucia

We went on board and took a guided tour seeing what life was like working and living on a 16th century shipping vessel. It was an exact replica with cannons, rigging and wooden decking etc. We walked up the ramp onto the main deck of the ship. This area of the ship is known as the Quarter deck. On this deck there is a main mast known as the Mizzen mast.

Mizzen mast

It is also the wheel that controls the ship is located. Officers would command the direction of the ship but would not actually handle the wheel, which was done by sailors.

The tour guide showing us around the Galleon sail ship
Navigation wheel of the Spanish Galleon Andalucia
quarter-deck of the galleon sail ship

We could see the bell which they used for different communications on board. It was on the forecastle deck. This deck has the front sail mast, known as the fore mast, the bell and two anchors that weigh over two tons each.

Iron anchor with wooden shaft weighing over 2000 lbs.
Ray on the quarter-deck of the Spanish Galleon Andalucia Sail ship
Bell used to communicate between ships in fog and for work shifts etc.

There was the poop deck at the stern of the ship which we did not have access to.  The origin of the name poop deck is from the  french word “poupe” which over time was shortened to the common term of poop deck.

View of the stairs leading to the poop deck

The poop deck was where officers could view the crew and the maneuvers of the ship. There is a large lantern which was used to identify the ship at night and to communicate with other ships.

Main lantern on the poop deck of the galleon ship

Below the poop deck was the “Noble Area”. This area was restricted to officers, and high ranked passengers.

Noble area below the poop deck
Area for Nobles and officers to relax

We went down one level to the gun deck which is where the cannons for the protection of the ship are mounted.  The galleon ships travelled in large groups for better protection against pirate attacks.

Gun deck cannons

The guide explained how they used different types of cannon balls for defence. There was the standard cannon ball which would make a single large impact. There was also a cannon ball chained to another cannon ball, which was used to destroy sails and mast of a ship. They also had a special one with small iron balls bunched together for a shotgun effect.

Different types of cannon balls used for defence against pirates

The deck below the gun deck is called the Hold. It is an area of the ship which holds the precious cargo.

Cargo area in the Hold of the ship

The cargo could be wine, oil or other products from Europe heading to America or it could be gold, silver and other precious metals from America. Only a small part of the hold was used to store basic food for the crew for the journey across the ocean.

“Adios y que tengas un grand dia”