How to get funny looks in Rome

How to guarantee strange looks from every person standing near you:

Take a flowery, china teacup, set it down on a 2000-year old ruin, and proceed to take a picture.

Then be prepared to explain yourself.

The choices for a Teacup Tale shot in Rome were endless. There were so many great sites.

I settled on two.

First, my SGTC teacup came to the Colosseum. Finished in 80AD, the Colosseum is still standing. Not completely, and not in the state it was enjoyed in all those years ago, but it's there.

We joined a walking tour to explore it early in the morning. As you can imagine, it gets quite busy, and at this time of year, pretty damn hot. We spent a while walking through the interior, before stepping outside into the seating areas. This was my photo op.



I've become used to setting up the teacup for pictures in random places (on top of mountains, in front of waterfalls, in small Italian villages), so I forget how odd it must look. This time I was reminded. My entire tour group, plus any others near by, just stared. I heard one couple behind me: "Where did she get that? She must have bought it with her. What for?" Then I had to tell the story of my teacup.

Then I had show people photos of the teacup, and I have more than 2000 pictures on my camera at the moment so that took some searching. Everyone loved the idea, which was nice.



The next day I took the teacup to Vatican City. Neither the Vatican Museums or the Sistine Chapel were good places, so I was thinking of St. Peter's Basilica. Then our guide read the rules: "No strange photographs". I didn't know whether photographing my teacup inside the Basilica was "strange" but I didn't want to find out. The Swiss Guard may be dressed like jesters, but I doubt they enjoy jokes.

So I settled for outside:



 

 

 

 

 

Teacup visits the Leaning Tower

A few of the places I've taken my teacup may have not been recognisable to some of you.

But this one will be. After all, how can you not recognise the greatest architectural stuff-ups of all time?



The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of Italy's most iconic landmarks, for all the wrong reasons. It's also the only reason we visited Pisa, which is true for most of visitors to the city. My Secret Garden teacup had to come here too!

I thought I'd get some weird looks while taking this picture, but the crowd was distracted by the whistle-blowing guard that kicked the people off the grass section in front.



 

Teacup visits the Cinque Terre

 

[caption id="attachment_2006" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Riomaggiore"][/caption]

In a couple of weeks, the Cinque Terre will be a mad house. But for now, these five little villages on Italy's coast are somewhat accessible - without the craziness of peak season. With my teacup in tow, I explored Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.

[caption id="attachment_2007" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Manorala"][/caption]

Riomaggiore was my home for three days. It turned out to be my favourite of the five villages. There is a path through the Cinque Terre National Park that links all five, but because of landslides in recent years, not all of it is open. Manorala is a short, 10-minute stroll along Lover's Lane, the path that connects it to Riomaggiore.

[caption id="attachment_2008" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Corniglia"][/caption]

The Cinque Terre trail would usually give tourists a beautiful, if a bit rugged, trek along the coastline. But that's not possible at the moment, nor will it be anytime soon. There is a second track between Manarola and Corniglia, but it goes way up the mountains and is quite challenging. There is no track between Corniglia and Vernazza. So it was with a combination of walking, trains and hiking that I made it to Monterosso.

[caption id="attachment_2009" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Vernazza"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2010" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="Monterosso"][/caption]

Teacup goes roadtrippin'

My little SGTC tea cup has travelled about 5000km since leaving Vancouver three weeks ago. Actually so have I. Funny that. But once we touched down at St. John's Airport in Newfoundland, my teacup and I found a new way to travel: by car.

I hadn't driven since leaving Tasmania nearly a year ago. And I had never driven on the right-hand side of the road. Except for those times when it's a country road and I can see who's coming. I hope no traffic cops are reading this.

With my teacup safely buckled up in the front seat, we spent two days driving around Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula and added another 500km to our journey. We stopped in some beautiful spots including Brigus and Cupids - two historic towns not far from St. John's.

 Brigus

Resting on a bench in Cupids

The next day, battling some very strong winds and unpleasant rain, we visited Cape Spear. Yes, that's right. My little teacup has travelled from Kerrisdale allll the way to the most eastern point of North America.

In front of the new lighthouse at Cape Spear

The weather really was shocking. I only let go of the teacup for a second to snap a picture and then grabbed it before it ended up flying over a cliff into the Atlantic Ocean.

A careful shot in front of the old lighthouse

Back in the city, I strolled the colourful streets of St. John's. I visited Signal Hill, but after the battle with the winds the day before, I didn't want to put the teacup at risk again. And my hands were too cold! But I still needed a photo in St. John's. Finally I found something as pretty as the teacup. One of St. John's famous jellybean houses. It's hard to see, but it's there on the door step.



 

 

 

 

 

Big ship. Little teacup.

It turns out Halifax doesn't have many distinctive landmarks or attractions. That limits my options for a memorable photo of my little tea cup in the city. I really wanted a sailor. I'd seen them walking around in their little uniforms. How funny would it have been to get a picture of them holding my lovely little cup? But I never had it with me when I saw one.

So finally I settled on the next best thing: one of the Navy ships. The ships are quite a sight in the harbour.



I couldn't get very close, but that's probably a good thing. Small teacup. Big ship. It wouldn't have worked well. It was either this or sneaking it into the shipwrecked china display at the Maritime Museum. But I don't want to lead my teacup astray now...

My little teacup gets a little wet

My last day in Quebec city and my little SGTC teacup had yet to make an outing.

So I packed it up and on the bus to Montmorency Falls we went. The falls are about 12km from the centre of Quebec City and the bus there only takes about 30 minutes. It wasn't a nice day, but I walked the stairs down the side of one of the cliffs adjoining the falls to admire them from below. Although not as an impressive sight as Niagara, these are in fact higher (they have 30 metres on the world-famous falls). I'm always in awe at just how powerful waterfalls are.

The little teacup posed for some pictures on the edge of one of the viewing points. I'll admit I was a tad concerned for its safety....the railing wasn't wide and it was windy! It survived, albeit a little wet from the rain and the spray from the falls.



 

Picnic with my teacup on Montreal's Mont Royal

As dusk falls over Montreal, the Kondiaronk Belvedere in front of the of Mont Royal Chalet begins to fill. Tourists prepare to capture the sunset, runners take a breather and stretch before their descent and a sly few enjoy a beer or three. Then there is me; setting my pretty china tea cup down on the edge and photographing it with the views of downtown Montreal behind it.



It isn't a long walk up to Mont Royal, but having felt the result of the first few thunderclouds to roll over Montreal, my friend Lucie and I decide we should reach the top ASAP - so on the bus it is. Despite the view over the city below, we feel a million miles away. Lucie explains Mont Royal is described as the "lungs" of Montreal.

The sun returns and we are greeted with a beautiful rainbow over the city skyline while we have a picnic outside the Chalet. With temperatures of more than 30C during the day, it's too hot for tea, so it's juice in my Secret Garden Tea Company teacup instead.



When the sky starts to look a little dark again we escape down the stairs into the city centre. Soon we can hear traffic and sirens - our escape was too short.



 

Everyone will want a little teacup

My little Secret Garden Tea Company teacup had been cooped up for a few days so I took it out for breakfast on board The Canadian.

We were somewhere between Allanwater Bridge, Ontario, a station that exists only to serve a nearby wilderness lodge, and Collins, a First Nation community home to about 30 people on the journey to Toronto.

As I unwrapped it from the tissue paper and handed back the boring white cup already on the table, I shared its story with the crew. They thought it was gorgeous. "Now everyone will be asking for the nice china," one of the servers said.

I didn't hear anyone ask, but the other passengers who later shared my table gave it a glance before looking back at their normal cup.



It sure did brighten up the table. Wonder how long before cute cups become standard issue on Via Rail?

My teacup rides the Jasper Tramway

After a hike up to the base of the Jasper Tramway tucked safely in my camera bag, my little teacup came out to play at the top of Whistlers Mountain.

A post on the Tramway will follow shortly....

Teacup Tales - The beginning

This post is in the wrong place...I should have written it before my first post of my travels, but anywho, here it is.

Last night I had to say goodbye to Vancouver, a city I've fallen in love with over the last nine months. Vancouver has been very, very good to me. In short, I've had a blast. I've also met some incredible people and it was even harder to say goodbye to them.

It's nearly a year since I left Tasmania. That departure was hard, but I was more than ready to leave. Oh so ready! This time, I wasn't. It's only by situation and circumstance that I'm leaving at all. Oh why oh why did I apply for a UK working visa as a "back up".

I'm leaving some of the most amazing people I've ever met. I'm also leaving a job that rarely felt like work. As a farewell present my wonderful bosses at The Secret Garden Tea Company, Kathy and Erin, let me select a teacup from the selection of vintage cup and saucers in store. The decision wasn't hard. I'd been in love with one for weeks.

That teacup is now living in the top of my camera bag. The safest place I can think of for now. It will accompany me on my travels and be a little reminder of everything Vancouver means to me. I will photograph it on my journey so Vancouver and everyone I love there knows I haven't forgotten them.

xx

[caption id="attachment_1392" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="My gorgeous teacup from The Secret Garden Tea Company at our first stop: Jasper"][/caption]