Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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18. March 2014 12:03
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden pedalling his bike

18. March 2014 12:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day Aiden figured out how to pedal his big bike (with support wheels).

He was very proud and keen to get out riding.

18. March 2014 12:03
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Playing at the park

18. March 2014 12:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day we went to the park to play with the kids.

I brought the camera along to take a few shots of Lucas on the swing.

He was so tired that he almost fell asleep on the swing.

I also managed to get a couple of great photos of Aiden.

20. February 2014 12:13
by Rene Pallesen
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Super hero

20. February 2014 12:13 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day Aiden came back from daycare with face paint around his eyes proudly saying that he was a super hero.

19. February 2014 06:37
by Rene Pallesen
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Serenpidity canyon

19. February 2014 06:37 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last year I received a gift voucher through work and decided to use it for a canyoning trip in the blue mountains before it expired.

one of the companies were doing intermediate canyons and it happens that the canyon they were doing this Sunday was the serendipity canyon at mount Wilson. We (two guides and 6 other clients) parked at mount Wilson fire station and headed down the trail 30 minutes downhill.

After a quick briefing about the canyon and a change to wetsuits we absailed into the canyon itself.

There were lots of yabbies...really big ones everywhere.

It was a fun canyon with a couple of a absails and lots of jumps into water pools and swim-throughs. It was raining a lot the day before so there was a lot of water in the canyon and the water was relatively warm.

Once we were out of the canyon we had some lunch and headed back to the car a 45 minute uphill walk later. We returned back to Katoomba at around 3pm in thick fog. After a quick turnaround I headed back towards sydney as a snail pace until I was below the clouds where visibility improved. I made it back just in time for having dinner with the family.

A lot of the canyons in the mountains are still closed due to the bushfire a couple of months ago.

10. February 2014 12:13
by Rene Pallesen
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Baking bread - Sourdough

10. February 2014 12:13 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

For the past 9 days is has been a small project of mine to try and bake an authentic sourdough bread.

By sourdough I mean by using the old techniques of not adding yeast and let the bread ferment using the natural yeast from the air.

As such it is not a lot of work, but there is a lot of waiting time and there are a lot of places that things can go wrong.

I finally managed to bake an actual bread last night and brought it for the family to taste.

They liked it and asked if I could bake them some more. Fortunately I still had some ferment left over for an additional two breads...photo above is one of them.

Although it was interesting to do, I think it will take a while before I attempt it again...the whole process is just too long.

6. February 2014 04:26
by Rene Pallesen
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Emmas Babtism

6. February 2014 04:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Emma was baptised this weekend at the local church. Fastest ever...the priest was speed reading!

6. February 2014 04:24
by Rene Pallesen
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Chinese New Year 2014

6. February 2014 04:24 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day it was Chinese new year. It is now the year of the horse.

Again it was celebrated with vegan food and money was put on Aidens rocking horse for good luck.

6. February 2014 04:19
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden pedalling his tricycle

6. February 2014 04:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden has finally learned how to ride his little tricycle (the one his grandma gave him just before she passed away) by using the pedals.

He is very proud...hopefully he is able to soon using his new skills on the bike he got for christmas.

Even Lucas was proud and gave Aiden the victory jump.

6. February 2014 04:02
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Baking bread - Walnut and Fig bread

6. February 2014 04:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

At the moment I am going through a phase where I Loooveee baking bread.

There is something really satisfying about working with something that is so diverse and alive. And there is nothing like eating a freshly baked bread with a nice crust.

So far I have found a couple of recipes I really like...one of them is this walnut and fig bread.

On the weekend I made it for the family dinner and they wanted the recipe.

- 400g white flour into a bowl
- Add 100g of wholemeal flour
- Add 10g of sea salt flakes
- Add 5g of dry yeast into the bowl
- Add 335ml of water
- Mix it all together using your hand
- Kneed it by stretching it out on a table and then roll it up...do this 3-6 times
- flatten the bread to a thickness of about 15mm and then place walnuts and chopped figs on top. Roll up the bread with the walnuts and figs inside.
- Stretch the bread another couple of time and roll it up until the walnuts and figs are mixed into the bread.
- Put the bread in a bowl and cover it with glad wrap (or better yet, just leave it on the table and cover it with the bowl) for one hour...knock back the bread every 20 minutes (3 times in total).
- Leave the bread for another one hour (without knocking it back). After 30 minutes (30 minutes prior to baking) start preheating the oven with a baking/pizza stone at 250 degrees. Also put a small metal tray in the oven (for the ice cubes)
- Add a bit of semolina (or flour) to the baking stone and to the top of the bread to avoid it sticking.
- Place the bread on the baking stone and make a couple of cuts to the top of the dough.
- Add 3-4 ice cubes to the metal tray
- Close the oven and turn down the temperature to 200 degrees immediately.
- Bake for 30 minutes and remove from the oven.

23. January 2014 12:39
by Rene Pallesen
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Hunter Valley Gardens light show.

23. January 2014 12:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Every year hunter valley garden put up a light show where they decorate part of the garden in christmas lights.

They leave this open until end of January, so this year we headed up there to have a look....enjoy.

10. September 2010 09:29
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Global Corporate Challenge ended

10. September 2010 09:29 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This week was the end of the GCC challenge at work. It was 16 weeks of walking almost 10km every day competing against other teams within the company and other companies. In total there was more than 13000 teams of 7 team members each. By the end of the challenge our team was positioned at the top 10% which I think is pretty good.

Since the race finished I've been walking to work every day.

7. September 2010 04:09
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Breakfast with Audrey and Aren

7. September 2010 04:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last week we had breakfast with Audrey and Aren. Aren was born three days after Aiden was born at the same hospital and during Kims pregnancy we met them at the antenatal classes.

Menu was pancakes and afterwards I offered to do some photos of Audrey and Aren.

24. August 2010 11:06
by Rene Pallesen
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10 minute passport photo shoot

24. August 2010 11:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This afternoon Kim and I decided to try and take a photo of Aiden for his passport. This was not as easy as it sounded and he couldn't sit or lie still and was making all sort of expressions.

These photos were all taken within 10 minutes from start to finish... He is such a funny little boy!

23. August 2010 10:42
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Family Photo Shoot

23. August 2010 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we finally got around to taking some nice outdoor family photos.

We made out way to Centennial park in the afternoon for a coffee, walk and photoshoot. When we got there they had closed most of the roads for a bicycle race so we had to park outside the park.

After the coffee we walked over to one of the closer located lakes and set up for a couple of photos and these are the results.

Aiden was very well behaved although having a few problems with locating the direction of the camera and being confused with the new exciting surroundings. He is now 11 weeks young.

(strobist: SB80DX @ 1/2 power with 1/2 CTO camera left triggered by CTR301P, Nikon 80-200mm f2.8, 3200s, D50)

20. August 2010 12:31
by Rene Pallesen
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Volunteering at the Celebral Palsy centre

20. August 2010 12:31 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Every year my work provides with a Volunteer day where we don't have to work and can do volunteer work for any organisation of our choice.

This Friday some of the guys at work organised a day of work at the Celebral Palsy centre (spastic) so I chose to help out (beats sitting behind a desk on a sunny day). The location was at one of their houses in Frenchs Forest and we were to do some maintenance of their garden and some painting of the interior.

There was seven of us so we split up into two teams where I was on the team doing painting. The gardening team definitely had the easier job.

It was a really good day and here are some of the photos from our day out.

16. August 2010 10:43
by Rene Pallesen
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Skiing at Perisher 2010

16. August 2010 10:43 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last year Kim and I won 5 days worth of accommodation at Smiggings Hole at Perisher. Because we had Aiden it was difficult for us to go (for some reason the place would not allow children that young).

We therefore decided to let KC and Chong have three of the days with their kids and then I would go with someone else for a weekend. We were lucky that the place would allow all of us to go on the same weekend during the peak season at Perisher.

Soeren and I left Friday afternoon to do the 500km drive to Perisher. We stopped at Cooma to pick up car chains and ski gear and arrived at the lodge just before 7pm...just in time for dinner with the rest of the family.

In the morning we woke up to a glorious day and we hit the fields immediately heading straight to the Blue Cow area after doing a few warm up runs. In the past I have only been skiing in the front of the valley and Mt Perisher itself so it was nice to have some new unexplored territory and it was also nice to get away from the crowds.

In the evening we again had dinner with the family...4 courses at the lodge. I think everyone was pretty tired from a whole day outside so it was a fairly early bedtime.

On the second day the weather closed in and there was a blizzard. On the tops there was a fresh load of snow. My highlight was that I managed to have a good run of Kamikaze which is the only double black diamond in the area and I felt really good on it because of the great conditions. The photo above was taken on top of Bluecow shortly earlier.

Later in the morning Soeren and I met up with chong and we did a couple of runs at Perisher Mountain. Again, because of the blizzard there was no crowds and off the sides of the slopes the snow was soft and deep (for Australian standards). I had really good fun on the unprepared runs in the loose snow and felt solid getting down the terrain (you don't gain much experience from running on prepared slopes all the time).

In the early afternoon we headed back down, packed up and made our way back to Sydney (in just under 6 hours).

16. August 2010 03:01
by Rene Pallesen
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Fatherhood

16. August 2010 03:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

So how is daddy coping with fatherhood. Fatherhood is great...So far it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. So far I would by lying if I didn't say that I enjoy every minute of it.

Everyone around me told me that it is sooo hard having kids, especially the first few months are a nightmare. Not sure what they are talking about...yeah Aiden wakes up at weird times wanting a feed, but besides from that he is doing what babies are expected to be doing. He is sleeping, pooping, crying and eating...easy!

...That is when I'm around. For example this weekend when I was in the snow he was crying all the time. It seems that he somehow senses when I'm not around and then starts being difficult. Maybe he is turning into a daddy's boy ;-)

When we were expecting I promised myself that I would just relax and enjoy the new company. There is no point stressing and swimming against the current...so if he wants to cry then he can cry, and if he wants to eat then he can eat. While we were planng kids I was worried if I was parent material and how good a dad I would be. I had never really been around newborns...let alone picked up one. I am getting a lot more confident now.

During the week Kim does the night feeds as I have to go to work in the Morning, but during the weekends I generally give him the bottle at night. Sometimes I have to then catch up on some sleep later in the day (otherwise Kim will have to deal with two babies) but that is ok.

Aiden turned two months old a couple of days ago and is a good little boy. He has started smiling and laughing once in a while when he is in a good mood. He is very curious and looks around to study and understand his surroundings all the time which I take as a good thing.

I think his favourite time is when we take a shower together. Kim and I discovered that it is a lot easier to just take him in the shower with me rather than having to fill up bath tubs etc. We also think that his least favourite time is go leave the shower.

8. August 2010 07:38
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City 2 Surf 2010

8. August 2010 07:38 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This morning I had an early start (for a Sunday) taking the bus into the city to participate in the city to surf race. This is a race that starts from Hyde park in the centre of Sydney and ends at Bondi beach which is one of the most famous beaches in Australia (but not the best).In this years race there were over 80,000 participants.

I met up with a couple of work colleagues at Martin place in the city. We all also participate in the Global Corporate Challenge and this was a good way to increase our stepcount. We were starting at the back of thepack...which pretty much meant that we were planning to walk the 14.1 kilometers to Bondi.

Out team name in the GCC is Onthophagytes (Dung beatles)...so the photo above is very appropriate.

It was freezing in the morning but the sun was out, so as soon as we started walking we were warm.

Along the way to Bondi there is different people entertaining and a lot of people were dressed up (we were overtaken by Superman and an Avatar).

When we got to Bondi (I'll know my race time later but I think it will be around 2 hours and 15 minutes...It turned out to be 2:29:28...just just below my target of 2.5 hours) te queue for the buses were mile long. I already knew they were going to be impossible and therefor decided to walk to Coogee (another 7km) and then have Kim pick me up from there. Two of my colleagues decided to join me on the walk and then catch the bus from there.

It was a pleasant walk where we stopped for a bite at Bronte and eventually had a quick beer (for me anyway) at Coogee before Kim called me and told me she was there with Aiden in the car.

26. July 2010 10:02
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Walk at Cape Banks

26. July 2010 10:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Sunday I had a couple of hours to spare to explore while Kim was looking after Aiden. I decided to drive to La Perouse and then walk along the coast to Cape Banks to find the shipwreck of SS Minmi.

The ship hit the cliffs in heavy fog and storm in 1937 and broke in two. Part of the wreck is still visible on the rocks. Because it is on the inside of the heads the wreck isn't as exposed to wind and waves as it would have been on the outside so there is still a lot of the ship left.

The walk out there from La Perouse was longer than I expected so I was a bit rushed and didn't have as much time taking photos as I would have liked. It took me about two hours to walk out there and back via Henry Heads (here there is still some remnants of gun positions from the wartime).

It is actually a really nice walk and I will have to come back with Kim and Aiden sometime. I will have to check out if it is possible to drive a bit closer.

I managed to make it back just in time for the family coming over for dinner.

11. July 2010 08:49
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1 Month Old

11. July 2010 08:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Hi everyone. My mum and dad is telling me that I am now one month old...what ever that means. I am still coming to terms with me feeling really hungry every 3 hours. One Month....how many feeds is that?

I am getting more used to be in this world, my mum and dad are doing their best to make me comfortable but I still cry once in a while. My dad is telling me that big boys like me shouldn't cry...but I feel so little compared to all of them so why shouldn't I cry?

In the evening I like to sit in daddy's lap. It is nice, warm and secure there. Sometimes I almost fall asleep there before my dad puts me to bed, but I usually beg him to let me stay a little longer. On the weekends he is happy with me spending time there, but I really miss daddy during the week when he is at work. During the week I ask my mummy as well, but she is too tired from feeding me all the time...I think this sometimes frustrates her as she would like some rest in between my feeds. I have grown a lot and I can no longer fit into my first set of clothes it must be all those meals.

I have also started having a shower on some days with my dad instead of a bath in my bathtub. It is really nice to feel the warm water drops on my little body and it feels much nicer and secure than having a bath in my bathtub. I have learned that I should close my eyes and hold my breath when he puts my head under the water. Daddy says that hopefully it will make me less scared in a couple of years time when he is going to teach me something called 'swimming'.

5 weeks old

Most evenings I get a little upset for a couple of hours, I don't understand why but mummy and daddy calls it my 'witches hour' and says that it is normal and should pass. My dad is very patient and is telling me that for the first 6-8 weeks they will respond to all my needs, but after that they will start setting some rules to make me sleep all through the night.

My dad is still taking photos of me. I still find it confusing and I am not sure in what direction to look when he is taking photos. Should I look at him, mummy, the lights or all the interesting alien space ships I'm surrounded by?

2. May 2013 08:09
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Vanuatu - Waterfalls

2. May 2013 08:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

There are a number of waterfalls on the main island Efete in Vanuatu.

Some of these are very accessible as they are right next to the road such as this one.

Others are a bit more of a hike, but definitely worth it...such as these ones at Mele.

Unfortunately the access to the falls is not being very well managed. They have cut steps into the limestone and scrubbing the surface to avoid people slipping when walking. Unfortunately this also erodes and changes the waterfalls and I think they should put a walking track adjacent to the falls instead.

2. May 2013 08:08
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Vanuatu - Out and about

2. May 2013 08:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

One day we hired a driver to take us around the island.

One of the places we stopped was the Blue Lagoon which is a small semi freshwater lagoon with large lime stone deposits making the water very blue to look at.

We also stopped at Turtle Bay which is supposed to be a turtle sanctuary...but for what it is (tiny) and the knowledge of your guide (none) very over prised.

But they did have some live coconut crabs.

Some baby turtles

And a couple of large turtles in a very small and dirty enclosure.

2. May 2013 07:33
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Vanuatu - Around the hotel

2. May 2013 07:33 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The hotel we stayed at was in a great location at the back of the lagoon with a little private beach.

...and a Tam Tam out the front.

It was great using some of the watersport equipment such as kayaks and catemarans

And it had a golf course which we didn't get a chance to use.

Mostly we would just relax or swim when around the hotel.

2. May 2013 07:16
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Vanuatu food

2. May 2013 07:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

You would think that a country with access to some of the best seafood and freshest produce would have fantastic food.

Although the food was Ok, we didn't find it fantastic and generally very over prised.

There was plenty of restaurant in and around Port Vila and some of them serving specialties such as coconut crabs and flying foxes.

We tried the coconut crab...but it was overcooked and dry and had surprising little meat on it (no meat in the body itself).

So we stuck to more traditional seafood which most often was battered and deep fried.

And as usual Aiden got into the free kids menu desserts

2. May 2013 05:26
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Lake Macquarie 2013

2. May 2013 05:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we went up to Lake Macquarie with the family to stay for a couple of night at a resort. I didn't take a lot of photos because we either didn't do much or were too busy with the family.

I did however take this one photo one evening at Katherine Hill Bay.

1. May 2013 12:38
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Vanuatu - Star fish

1. May 2013 12:38 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The beach at the hotel was full of really big and colourful star fish....couldn't help but take a few snapshots.

26. April 2013 10:46
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Lucas 7 Months

26. April 2013 10:46 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas is now 7 Months and for this month we decided to take his Monthly photos while he was on his first overseas trip to Vanuatu.

This series of photos was taken at Eton Beach on the east side of the island of Efate in Vanuatu...he loved the water and had a hard time to understand that it is unpleasant to eat the sand and drink the salt water.

He is now almost able to crawl...he just needs to figure out that it is not enough to just move the legs...you also have to move your hands.

3. April 2013 07:20
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Another old Lucas 4 months photo

3. April 2013 07:20 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I know it was a couple of months ago, but I only now got around to processing it.

Here is another photo that I took of Lucas when he was 4 Months.

27. March 2013 11:15
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Axolotls

27. March 2013 11:15 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other night we went for dinner at Marks place. He asked us if we could help him take some photos of the kids Axolotls...our response was 'Their WHAT??'.

Anyway, it turns out to be some sort of Mexican Salamander and he'd attempted to get some photos using his point and shoot camera, but wanted something better that he could print and hang on the kids wall.

Here are some of my efforts:

27. March 2013 11:12
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Sucking feet

27. March 2013 11:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

When Lucas doesn't have any toys to play with then his favourit pass time is to suck his feet. Here is a quick snapshot from the other day when he was at it again.

He's now got two teeth, so hopefully he wont chomp off his toes.

27. August 2009 10:07
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Going Solar

27. August 2009 10:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

When we came back from our holiday our watertank had started leaking significantly. Actually it had started leaking slightly back in May where at the same time the government was introducing the stimulus package as part of their rescue plan for the financial crisis. Part of this package was an increased rebate on Solar hot water which provided a total $3400 government funding.

Back then I got a couple of quotes, but never proceeded hoping that the tank would last a little longer.

When we came back the leak had become a lot worse and could burst any time. It therefore had to be replaced very fast. It seemed that just replacing the existing electric tank would cost almost the same as installing Solar hot water and would be more expensive in electricity. Besides we have already installed extra insulation and energy efficient appliances so it only made sense to use Solar hot water as well.

Click here for more photos

It took them 3 hours to pull down the old 160 litre tank and install a new 300 litre tank on the roof. So far we are happy with the system. We have more hot water than before, it is not nearly as hot as the old system, but plenty hot for what is needed (The old system had water which was close to 90 degrees Celcius and the new is appx 60 degrees).

It has an electric booster installed for cloudy days, but once summer is here I should be able to turn that off completely. And an extra advantage is that it has cleared out some space on the side of the house.

27. August 2009 02:00
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Jump shots

27. August 2009 02:00 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

While we were travelling in Denmark and Italy we did a large number of Jump shots.

Here are some of the coolest ones we did.

First in Denmark

Then Italy

17. August 2009 10:30
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Switzerland - Going home

17. August 2009 10:30 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

After Lake Como it was our last day and Italy and was time to go home. We had to return to Milan that evening to fly back to Sydney next morning.

We decided to detour around the lake and possibly stop at some of the villages along the way. At the top end of the lake we came to a T intersection. I told kim that Switzerland was one hour if we turned left and Milan was 2 hours to the right. I asked her if she felt like a quick dash across the border before returning.

Most of the borders to Switzerland (and Austria) are located on the top of the mountain passes since the Mountains was what defined the borders the old days. The road up to this mountain pass was very narrow and full of blind corners. Kim developed stomach cramps on a number of occations on the trip and we eventually came to the conclusion that it was the tension when driving on these roads.

The scenery on the way up there was stunning. It was nice and cool climate and we were soon above the tree line and could see patches of snow on the mountains surrounding up.

The style of houses changed from being traditional italian to be more swiss looking.

Eventually we got to the border. Unfortunately the officer at the post didn't have a stamp to stamp Kims passport.

We had lunch at the border and then returned toward Milan. We had dinner at the southern end of Lake Como and arrived at our airport hotel at 10pm.

I had to return the car to the rental company at the Airport. Fortunately the hotel had an efficient shuttle bus service that made it easy to come back to the hotel. Unfortunately I forgot the cover for my phone in the car so I had to make the trip twice and was pretty knackered (and grumpy) when I eventually got back.

At 6am next morning we were back at the airport returning to Sydney.

17. August 2009 10:29
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Lago di Como

17. August 2009 10:29 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

After the Riviera we drove up to Lago di Como (Lake Como). This was the only place on the trip where we hadn't organised accomodation prior to us arriving.

When we arrived we initially used the TomTom to find us a B&B, but it kept taking us up into the hills on all these narrow streets with blind corners. We therefore instead decided to drive up along the shore of the lake and just check out whatever hotels we came past.

We ended up finding a place for a reasonable price in Argegno. It was right on the lake next to the passenger ferry and our room was facing the lake....perfect!

For dinner we drove to Menaggio a bit further up the lake. Parking was impossible because there was another festival happening so I ended up doing another illegal parking (If you are in Italy you do like the Italians).

Next morning we went down to the ferry and bought a day ticket for the central part of the ticket. This enabled us to take the ferry and hop on and off whenever we felt like it.

This meant that we we easily could get to other places on the lake such as Bellagio and Varenna. It also meant that we were able to look at the expensive villas from the lakeside.

On the way back in the afternoon we stopped at Tremezzo at one of the large villas that was open to the public. The villa was surrounded by a beautiful garden.

In the evening we were tired (and I was finally developing some sort of a sun tan evident from the sandal stripes on my feet).

17. August 2009 10:28
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Italian Riviera & Cinque Terre

17. August 2009 10:28 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

After Pisa we headed to the Italian Riviera, also called the Flower Riviera. I asked Kim to find us a nice spot along the coast for lunch and she picked Lido di Camaiore.

When I was a kid I went to the italian riviera quite a lot with my parents. My mum and dad met eachother here in a town called Diano Marina, both working for the same travel company as travel companies. We used to stay in caravan parks along the coast and I don't remember the place being very busy (but I may remember wrong).

When we arrived to Camaiore we were met by beaches full of hotels (whom had each closed of an area of the beach for themselves), umbrellas and people boiling in the sun and tanning oil.

After lunch I decided to drive along the coast to our hotel in Sestri Levante...this turned out to be a mistake. After 30 kilometers full endless beaches covered in umbrellas, of dodging pedestrians and cyclists, traffic lights and people parking to go for a swim I decided I'd had enough and headed for the motorway. This part of the riviera is really not very nice and I was looking forward to go somewhere with a bit more charm.

Sestri Levante was the only place we could find accomodation. The hotel was up in the hills far away from the coast line, it was expensive and absolutely nothing special compared to all the other places we were staying during our trip.

In the evening we drove to a town called Rapallo for dinner. The city had closed off the roads around the water because of a festival, so it was really nice to sit at the water eating seafood and watch people.

After dinner we went for a walk along the water down to the area where the festival was taking place. We were sitting there for a while listening to the music and enjoying a perfect evening.

When we came back to the car to drive home it turned out that we'd received a parking ticket (20 Euros). We were parking in a valid parking space and I thought we were outside the hours wheer we had to pay....but obviously not. I'd done lots of illigal parking elsewhere on the trip so didn't feel too bad about it.

Next day it was time to explore Cinque Terre. This is a national park along the costline with 5 small villages accessible only from the ocean (There is a trainline now). We drove to the only one of the villages that can be accessed by car Monterosso and parking right next to the village area.

From here we walked down to the water. It turned out that the trains weren't running between the villages so the only access was by boat or walk. We didn't have time to walk so bought a day ticket for the boat.

While on the boat we did a bit of planning and decided to go to the furtherst village Riomaggiore first and from here walk to the next village Manarola. From here we would take the boat to Vernazza and then back to Monterosso.

Cinque Terre is a beautiful part of the Italian riviera, and although there is a lot of tourists there it doesn't feel overcrowded such as many other places. When we vere having lunch along the beached the previous day I was dreading that Cinque Terre would be as crowded as that.

In the evening we decided to drive to Portofino for dinner. We arrived there (along all these small narrow streets) around 7pm. Although Portofine if a nice place it doesn't beat the villages at Cinque Terre in beauty. The place is expensive in all respects and there isn't a lot of shops and restaurants, it is mainly fashion and expensive jewellery being sold there. Obviously catering for the Euripean rich who dock here in their expensive million dollar boats.

We therefore decided to go back to the centre of Sestri Levante and have dinner here.

17. August 2009 10:27
by Rene Pallesen
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Pisa - A revisit three decades later

17. August 2009 10:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

When I was a child I spend a lot of summers with my parents in Italy. They used to work in the Northern part of Italy as travel guides and as a result we generally headed that way during the summer time with our caravan or with a tent.

When I was a baby my parent took me to Pisa (I have to trust them I an don't remember) and also up into the leaning tower.

Kim and I was planning to drive from Tuscany to the Italien Riviera and I asked Kim if it was ok to make a short stop at Pisa for me to have a look at the tower some 3X years later.

Our Tom-Tom navigated us by the backway into the city and within a short timefra we were at the tower. We had a look for a parking spot and literally found a spot less than 100 metres from the tower (so far pretty fortunate with the parking).

It was really cool to have a look at the tower. They have started allowing people to enter the tower again, but when we got there they next timeslot was 6pm in the evening (8 hours later) so we instead took some photos and bought some T shirts for Kims family.

Of cause we had to take the classic photos of trying to straighten the tower.

And a couple of nice ones

And then there was the silly ones

And then some photos from the beautiful architecture of the tower and the church next to it.

17. August 2009 10:26
by Rene Pallesen
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Tuscany

17. August 2009 10:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

While Kim and I was in San Gemignano in Tuscany we spent a day just driving around in the beautiful landscape. Even though we just missed the harvest it was still really beautiful. It is full of all these rolling hills, Vineyards, Sunflower fields and old Italian houses.

Driving was fun and I could easily have spent longer time just driving around there exploring small villages etc. I would love to go back there during spring when all the flowers are out and the fields have been planted.

17. August 2009 10:25
by Rene Pallesen
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Siena and one expensive dinner

17. August 2009 10:25 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the first day in Tuscany we decided to drive into Siena and have a look around.

Our first impression was that parking was going to be a problem. There was some large tourist carparks on the outside of the city walls changing an exorbant amount of money per hour. We were planning to have dinner in the city and was planning to be there for most of the day and eventually we found a spot in a parking area that didn't have any meters. There was some italian scribling underneath the sign and we hoped that it didn't say "Reserved for residents and permit holders".

Anyway, eventually we made it inside the city walls and was met by 8 storeys of escalators from the walls to the innner city (You wouldn't want those fat Americans loosing any weight while on holiday).

We went around to some of the tourist attractions and there was unbeliveable queues everywhere. We started queuing up to get into the large tower at the main square and for 30 minuted the queue didn't move. Eventually we gave up and couldn't be bothered.

Click here for more photos

Instead we decided to wander around the city looking at the old buildings and at shops which is really nice.

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Siena is known for the annual horse race in the center of the city. It was amazing to look at the area and suddenly realise why the horses often go flying into the barriers when they get around the corners of the race course.

The details of the houses is incredible. Everything is decorated. A metal spike is not just a skike any longer, but a instead formed into a dragon, a snake or a swan.

Click here for more photos

In the evening we were going for dinner at an italian restaurant called 'Cane e Gato' (Kat and Dog). It was recommended to Kim by one of her colleagues who had also warned us that it was a bit on the pricey side.

At the place we were staying I found a book about Tuscany where it said that the degustation was 50 Euros (Appx $95 AUD). When we arrived we were given no menu's or any price list. The girl (Who turned out to be the daughter of the owner, who himself was in the kitchen with his wife) showed us our table.

We were told what was the degustation menu consisted of and got started. The food was quite nice...all ingredients that were in season from the surrounding country side. The pastas were home made and everything was very delicious.

At the end Kim and I was discussing what the damage was...a bit of a surprise when we were presented with a bill of 175 Euros ($320 AUD). This was a bit more than we expected.

Fortunately we didn't have a parking ticket when we got back to the car (This would have been the icing on the cake).

Another late night finishing dinner after midnight and then 45 minutes drive back to San Gimignano.

17. August 2009 10:21
by Rene Pallesen
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Manhatten of the Medievil - San Gemignano

17. August 2009 10:21 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

After Verona we drove to Tuscany to a small medievil town called San Gimignano. It is a very small town where in the medievil days they were competing who could build the most 'high-rises'. This means that today the town is full of all these tall towers (There used to be a lot more back in those days).

Click here for more photos

The town is full of tourists during the daytime and at night the town is again taken over by the locals including the werewolves from the surrounding area.

We were staying inside the old city walls, so for the most part we were safe except for the odd werewolf.

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They also have the world champion in Gelato...normally I don't belive marketing gimmick like this, but I must admit that the gelato was very nice.

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At night time once the tourists were gone it was an amazing place. The towers are rising into the night sky and I had a lot of fun taking photos of the towers just using the ambient light.

Click here for more photos

17. August 2009 10:18
by Rene Pallesen
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Verona and the Opera - Italy

17. August 2009 10:18 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

We arrived to Milan in Italy from Copenhagen in the evening. The first thing we did after landing was to pick up our rental car which was a small Fiat Panda (Never, ever rent a large car in Italy...some streets only accomodate snall cars) and then drive to our Hotel. The Tom-Tom nagigator software on my mobile phone turned out to be exceptionally useful on our trip to find our way around.

The next morning we drove towards Verona and at lunchtime we had a look at our map and noticed that we'd drive right past Lago di Gardia (Lake Garda). I asked Kim to plan a diversion somewhere for a lakeside lunch.

She chose Sirmione which is a long peninsula on the southern side of the lake.

I used to stay at Lake Garda with my parents when I was a kid. The water is bright blue and it is a beautiful place.

We then continued to Verona early afternoon and found our bed and breakfast which is about a kilometer from the city centre. The road up there was very narrow and anything wider than the Panda would not have been able to get through.

As soon as we had gotten settled we walked down into the city centre.

We had opera tickets for Aida in the old coloseum in Verona in the evening, but had to first pick up the tickets. The tickets were quite pricey so we had chosen to get ticket on the upper stairs with almost everyone else.

It meant that it was a bit less confortable and that we would have to enter early to get a good seat. But it also meant that we were sitting up higher which is better for taking photos.

The performance was amazing. There was approximately 500 actors on stage (and 4 horses) and ther used about a quarter of the coloseum as the stage.

It was a beautiful and warm night with a brightly lit full moon.

The performance finished around 1am at night and from there we walked to one of the squares of Verona and had some coffee (Places were still open).

The next morning we did a bit more exploration around Verona. Kim wanted to see the romantic balcony of Romeo and Juliet (Or Donald and Daffy Duck as I called them as they are just as real as the imaginary Romeo and Juliet)

Since we were there we also had to rub the right breast of the Juliet statue there for good luck.

In Daffy's house they also has a lot of interesting art work.

Verona is an interesting city. They have a whale bone suspended from one of the gates...apparently the legend says that it will fall down upon the first 'Just' man who passes under it (and kills him??). Unfortunately (or fortunately) it didn't fall on neither Kim or I.