One way to shorten a long winter is to travel to warmer climates and in March we decided to give it a try. Lisbon is only 2 hours flight away and when one day of vacation is combined with a weekend, it is a good destination for a little getaway.
(Click on the picture to see it full size, use a back button to return to this spot.) Even though the first day of our trip was interrupted several times by showers, the second day turned out very nicely and we were able to see just about everything we wanted too. Lisbon has a fabulous location on a hilly north side of the estuary of river Tagus. As far as capital cities go, it is small and relaxed, very manageable. Even when it rained, the temperatures were in the mid teens and thus quite tolerable.

There are very new and modern sections, but Lisbon is a city where one can easily travel back in time. We visited Belen from where the fleet used to set sail for the Indies and other exotic locations, had the famous Belen tarts in the bakery which has been in place for nearly 200 years, visited cathedrals, monasteries and what remains from Lisbon castle.

The little streetcars still running are reminiscent of the first half of the last century in most of other European cities – I think they keep them as a tourist attraction, but I was amazed by the steep slopes they are able to climb. Plenty of small bars and cafes, some still clearly showing the connection to the former Brazilian colony. All in all, a very nice trip.

The next voyage was something unplanned, even though not unwelcome. Business trip to Russia, but this time to St. Petersburg, which I had not so far visited. Unfortunately, March is not a good time to go and winter has been particularly severe this year in Russia. Temperatures ranged from -3 to -12, which is really not that cold by Canadian standards, but the long stay in Texas totally eliminated my tolerance for low temperatures – I did not like it. The city was, however, quite interesting. In many respects where Moscow was 10 years ago, the difference between the capital and the leading provincial town is quite striking: in terms of modernization and catching up for the time lost under the communist regime. In many ways a more beautiful city than Moscow, but here it is clear that size mattered.

As you stand in front of the Winter Palace (where it all started, or ended, depending on your point of view), you have to wonder why would anybody ever need such a large square other than just simply to show off and impress. The same goes for the very wide streets ( which today are filled with traffic, but during Peter’s time, why did they need 6 lane streets?). And of course, in a cold climate, wide open spaces are something you need like a hole in the head – nowhere to hide from the biting wind.

To warm up we headed for a week on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. We chose Puerto de la Cruz on the northern, wetter, and therefore greener, side of the island. As it turned out we did not get any rain at all. Temperatures were pleasant, around 24 degrees, water about 20, and apparently the water temperature stays about the same all year around even though the air temperature goes up a little higher during the summer. Stuck my feet in the water, but still little bit too cold for my taste. There was no shortage of people swimming, however, most of them probably German. In fact the town we stayed in and the surrounding area had a feeling of a German colony: doctors, sausages, bread, cakes, real estate agents. After Spanish, German was definitely a close second in terms of language heard on the street.