THE LAST DAYS

THE LAST DAYS:
Zurich & Istanbul:
Well the end of the trip is here, I’m on the plane in Dubai, hopefully I get some free wifi in Singapore (otherwise this will be sent from Auckland). The rain has been off and on on this trip, but in the last 2 destinations it has done nothing but rain… so no real good shots of outdoors. On the morning we left Demark for Zurich, it was Sharon’s Birthday, and the family we were with did something very special and that is fly the Denmark Flag (you can only do that on special occasions), so it was very honouring.
Zurich was a great city, but nothing is cheap here except……. You guessed it watches, We had an awesome time with Matt & Bethany who we stayed with (they arrived in from Israel after us, so we greeted them in their home). We went to their church ICF, it was great singing all the same songs we sing. We tried to dodge the rain and see as much as we could, and sampled some traditional Swiss meals, the food was really nice, we did some shopping for watches, which was real easy, everywhere you go there is a store on every corner… The pics don’t do the place justice, I’m sure on a Sunny day this place is spectacular…
Istanbul, that was a mission to get to our hotel, metro, tram then drag our bags for a while, but we did and it was great to rest our feet. Dinner out both nights was amazing, Turkish food is so good! We did the Blue Mosque and Ayasofia, they w ere great, lots of history here. Then we went to the Grand Bazzar, that was lots of fun, to be honest we thought the haggling and the pressure to buy would have been worse than what it was, some were not even pushy, so it was a fun time, bought lots of bits and pieces.
This morning (Thursday) we had to get to the tram, but we were not dragging bags, so we were going to get a cab, but it was pouring down rain so there were no cabs, cause everyone had the same idea. We finally got one, but he ended up dropping us off quite a distance from the tram, so we walked and got soaked in process. We finally made it to the airport, ready to go home, via Dubai, Singapore, to Auckland. Got a great shot of a Maybach (for the boys) this is being raffled off in Dubai airport for $250 USD a ticket, but I resisted the temptation to get one.
Well that’s it for s, happy to have experienced it all, but happy to be coming home to family, and friends and church, and work, all in that order. AWESOME!!!!!

DENMARK

21-23 October:
DENMARK:
We got picked up from Hamburg Airport to go up to Denmark, as our friends Gert and Sabine, live just over the German border, for what was a 3 hour ride (should have been under 2) due to really bad traffic jams due to road works on the Autobahn. It was a cold morning the next day ice on the roof and cars and anywhere where the sun hadn’t got to, but a beautiful crisp clear day. We went down back into Germany to Flensburg (a previously Danish city) it was shopping for the girls. Yesterday, we went to Tonder, Mogeltonder, and had Danish waffles, and hit a few antique shops, and their Christmas shop, which is always a treat. Today, (Saturday) we went up to Arhus, the second largest city Denmark, and we toured the old town, which are buildings from many centuries ago, some of which have been relocated from all over Denmark, stone by stone, board by board, and reconstructed here, so it was a great look back into Demarks past 700 years. A night in tonight, and pack our bags as we fly to Zurich tomorrow lunchtime.

VIENNA

19 & 20 October:
VIENNA:
Here we are sitting at Vienna Airport, on our way to Denmark. The last 2 days were tour Vienna days, and we gave it a good going over, we also changed hotels for the last night, to Hotel Imperial, a lovely place to stay. Yesterday was to the Spanish Riding School at the Hofburg , in the Volks-garten. This was there training sessions for the horses, in the indoor arena, there were people everywhere, and you weren’t supposed to take video, but I found that out after I took some, so that doesn’t officially count.
Then we hit the shopping mall in town, up to St Stephans platz. Then back for a power nap before heading out for dinner, what a great city this is for food, great stuff!!! Today we got up packed,, got breaky (coffee at Nespresso Gallery) then off to this funky grocery store, ordered our breaky rolls, hand made from huge cabinets of food to choose from. Hum… did I mention this place has amazing food. , off to Sacher Hotel for some famous Sacher-torte!! Then we hopped on the tram that does the tour around “The Ring” and that was great, saw lots of great buildings and history, including the one that housed the Gestapo in WW2, (see pic). Then we hit the underground for a trip to see more of the area around the Volks-garden, then back to pick, up our bags and head to the airport. Next bog from Denmark.

NICE, ST PAUL & VIENNA

17 & 18 October:
Nice, St Paul de Vence and Vienna.We did our overnighter in Nice, and the next day we went up in the hills to Saint Paul de Vence. What a gem of a village,(thanks Angie for the tip) lodged in the hillside very old, very beautiful, and very wet. The day didn’t start too well with the GPS, which we though was powered through the cigarette lighter thing, wasn’t, and we didn’t charge it the night before, so it was very flat, so we had to find a map and go there, which we eventually did. Because it began to rain fairly steadily, we headed for a restaurant and sat and had some great food, GPS in tow and I charged it while we ate. It did the trick enough for us to use it for the rest of the afternoon, as we had 2 trips to the airport to make. So we said goodbye to Emma as she went to London, and then we went 2 hours later to Vienna.
We didn’t get into our Hotel till about 11.30pm, after catching a train lugging our bags up and down stairs again, to the underground, got out and stumbled our way to our hotel. Today we went on a river cruise up the Danube through the Wauchau Valley to Melk. The cruise was rally rated high, but for us it was disappointing,(mind you it was very foggy and low cloud all day, so we weren't getting the best scenery) but the place Melk has the most amazing Abbey, built and then modified a few times, the Benedictine Monks still work from here. It has housed the Ruling Families of Lower Austria, over the centuries. The tour was really enlightening the church was typical Baroque style, O.T.T. in its ornateness, but beautiful Frescos on the ceilings and dome. It has an amazing Library of both Religious and Science text books dating back over 1000 years, 10 rooms of them, still used today by Universities.

ALL THE TOWNS & VILLAGES IN PROVENCE

12 to 16 October
St Remy, Arles, Les Baux, Mullane L’Occitane, Aix En Provence,Cannes Monte Carlo & Nice:
We said no more markets, so we planned for St Remy, guess what markets, but these were big and they were great, different, in many ways. St Remy is a lovely town, just different, quaint, and peaceful, even with the bustle of the Markets. We then went to Arles, very old, very Roman (more arenas), it was not as pretty but full of history and old places.
The next day went to one of the “Plus Beaux” villages (these are the beautiful villages in France), very old, and beautiful. Les Baux de Provence was where we went, and the vistas from the position of this high in the hills is beautiful, and it has got to have the best Cross I have seen in France (see pic). It was howling a cold wind that day, but well worth the trip, unfortunately these are highly geared to tourists, so that is a minus. We as lunch in a little village about 10 minutes from there, Mullane, grabbed some absolutely fab food and sat in the square with all the locals and watched time tick by slowly. Then off to drop the girls off to horse ride, so Sharon and I did a tiki tour around the area. On the way home we found this Chateau that produces its own wines, and obviously does weddings, and is part of the Chateau’s and Villas Accommodation in France (see pics).
Today, our last day in Provence, it was off to L’Occitane factory in Manosque, girls were over the moon, I wasn’t strangely enough…. They bought up big, then we headed off to Aix En Provence, for lunch. One of the girls at L’Occitane gave us the name of a place to have coffee / hot chocolate. This place has the best hot chocolate in the world the girls said, way better than Max Brenner, and their desserts, well, I’m not that fussed on them usually, but the strawberry one I had was absolutely the best dessert I have ever had (see pic) sorry about the little bit missing, but I couldn’t wait to try it… And Aix En Provence, as a city, wow, full of life clean, the old city s beautiful, and the shopping was endless and very different, a big tick from the girls all round, a great find…..
On our way into Nice, we stopped into Cannes, and then Monte Carlo, for the girl’s sake, as Sharon and I had already done these, but it’s always great to look at the filthy rich and drool and dream. When we pulled into Monte Carlo, Princess Cruises had the Star Princess in port, or should I say took over the port, what a monster vessel, awesome!

AVIGNON & PONT DU GARD

October 10 & 11:
Avignon & Pont du Gard:Better weather today, and we have made friends with Daisy the Crazy dog. Daisy is our vacuum cleaner, the owner’s dog, but is shared around the villas here. We were off to Avignon, a very strategic city, it was basically Rome in the 13th to 15th centuries it housed the ruling Popes before the uprising of the people. So we did the tour of the Palais du Papes, it is nothing like the Vatican, it is very big, but sparse and modest in comparison, (see pics) it has been stripped bare, only a very few frieze’s and wall painting exist, still fascinating history, and a very cute town (see Pics).
Today (Tuesday) was off to another village market (Tarascon) bought our produce for the next 2 days. Then off to Pont du Gard and then Nimes. Pont du Gard, is still an amazing engineering feat today, water bought from here to Nimes 28 km’s away, 2000 years ago. The Romans knew how to do stuff (see pics). Then we headed to Nimes, to see the Arena, and gardens, but when we got there there was a huge demonstration (because they want to change the retirement age). This caused major traffic problems and we spent an hour trying to get near the centre of town and park.
We finally did, and I didn’t take any pics here as I had last time we were here. Tomorrow I think the two girls are doing horse riding, I’ trying to con Sharon to be my caddy and we do golf,(not working so far)..

PARIS & BEAUCAIRE

October 8 & 9:
Paris last day and Beaucaire:Today (Sunday) is a wet day out there, so we have been out for food, back for lunch, and about to do washing. So, time to update the blog as well, finally great free wireless here. The last day of Paris for us was off to St Germaine for Brunch we found a nice spot for coffee (nice and expensive, see pic) but it was a cute café. Then we walked the streets, gallery after gallery, it was great to see the Left bank in all its artistic charm, a very chic place to be seen.
Then we finally found the Luxembourg gardens (had trouble with the map reading and getting our bearings). These are just so big and well-manicured with artists, painting or drawing. People just sitting in the sun or sprawled out sunbathing, couples walking and kissing in their lunchtime……
Sharon and I went out that night for date night (celebrated our wedding anniversary from June), and ate at a beautiful restaurant built in 1900, very art nouveau style. The place was buzzing, lots of fun, good food, and not too expensive (see pics).
The next day off to the markets for breakfast (see pic),and then on the Metro and train for Avignon. What a mammoth effort to drag all our bags for that, but we made it. Picked up the car, finally worked out where the hang the stupid hand brake was on the Citroen, and off we went. Got the Tom Tom working eventually, and found our Villa in Provence (see pic). We went out for dinner last night, in Beaucaire, some of the back streets are a bit dodgy, so we got on the main drag and we were fine.
Today we got up and went to the markets, fresh produce everywhere, bought heaps and came back to have some lunch, and start prepping for a few great feasts at nights, with all this local food, fruit and vegies…
Tomorrow we will start some sightseeing around Avignon, Nimes, Pont du Gard, etc.. Au revoir!!

PARIS

5 to 8 October.
Paris:
Paris has been full on. Tuesday was just travel Rome to here. Day 1 of Paris was a great start, we stumbled across some markets just a few blocks away from us, had a very yummy breakfast from there. Then we hit some of the most well worn tourist spots, Musee de Orsay (Renior, Monet, Sisley, the list goes on, the Art Noveau area was amazing) then to Notre Dame, St Chapelle (where the Bible is done in Stained Glass) then the shopping areas of Galleries Lafayette, where I was in tow of 3 women on a mission.
Day 2 was Sacre Coeur, Montmartre District, Musee de l’Armee (the Hotel national des Invalids), this was great lots of military history on show. There was a ceremony happening in the parade area, there were decorating some of the Military people, it was great to watch. Napoleon’s Tomb, was amazing, in one of the most beautiful buildings, I’ve been in. Then at night we did Seine river cruise from the base of the Eiffel Tower, always a highlight. Today a bit of a wander around St Germaine, and then off to meet the other girls at Champs Elysees

FAREWELL POSITANO HELLO ROME

October 1,2 & 3:
Salerno & Rome:
Last morning in Positano, we said goodbye to our Villa, and Luigi (see Pic) and took the ferry back to Salerno to take the Train back to Rome for our 3 nights there. On the ferry we met another Luigi, (see pic) I talked with him for most of the hour we sailed to Salerno. 20 years on the water, doing what he loves, he lives in Amalfi, with his family. The thing here is people don’t move up any ladder corporate or society, they just do life and love life for what it is. Mind you this is pretty much paradise, why would you want to stress out. It was great talking to him about life for generations on the Amalfi Coast.
Then we hit Rome, certainly an experience for the girls with suitcases on the Metro, it was crazy, but we got to our apartment at the Spanish Steps. We didn’t really know how this would go, but we are a block away from the Piazza di Spagna & Spanish Steps. This is the bomb location, and we look down on a street with a Café just under our window, with lots of posh shops, it’s great to watch. Sunday, we hit the Colleseum and then headed to the Forum. There was a big Market Fair on for Organic food, so we just sampled food for Africa, it was awesome, and we bought heaps of fresh organic things for dinner tonight, it was great!
We went to the Vittoria Emanuelle, a most beautiful and imposing structure in Rome, but full of History, a monument to all those who have bravely fought over the centuries. We spoke to one of the Carabinieri, (Military police)on duty there, due to heightened security alert (see his Pic as well). He served in a few wars, spent 2 years in hospital after his tank was hit with a shell, and he lost his Capitan. His Uncle came to Australia in 1938, and loved the fact that they accepted him so openly, he served (volunteered in WW2 for Australia), now laid to rest in Adelaide War Cemetery. He himself went to Bali for a few years after the Bali bombing, working with Aussie and NZ peace keeping troops. Fascinating to spend time talking to him, such a lovely brave and caring man, given his whole life to protect others.
Then it was shopping all afternoon for the girls (me in tow), $$ were spent today as they found the shopping strip…… Monday, Emma and Ali are off to the Vatican, Sharon and I are off to meet Fabrizio (Umberto’s Uncle), for a day of sightseeing Italian Style!!!! He is an architect that specializes in restoration of old building, but blending with modern style, We had a great time with him, lots of walking, to the artistic area, the Medieval area, The Jewish Grotto (we had Kosher lunch there), and all points in between. Lots of history. One of the photos shows 2000 years of Rome in one shot, all the different building periods from the Romans through to today, just priceless. Off to Paris tomorrow!!
Au Revoir!

Capri & Positano by Night

September 29 & 30:
Sorrento, Capri & Positano by Night:Wednesday we decided to go to Sorrento, later in the day so we could travel back to Positano at night and get some shots. Sorrento is good for cheap shopping, which was good for the ladies to get some retail release… I didn’t take photos here, because I have a pile from our last trip here 3 years ago. The night shots didn’t go as planned for me. The motion on the bus with the delay on the camera for night shots, didn’t work real well, you really need a tripod.
Thursday was the pick of the weather, and we were off to Isle of Capri. There were a few cruise ships in which made it chaos in Capri. One of the things we wanted to do was see the Blue Grotto, an amazing hole in the cliffs just big enough to get a 5 person boat (lying down through the hole) and then into this rock cave hollowed out, with rock floor, and the sun hitting the water, gives off this electric blue iridescence. Well the ferries to take you there were full, and there was up to a 2 hour wait to get in. But we saw a sign for a boat hire place, so we investigated.
Long story short, we hired a small speed boat, and off we went. I was the Captain of my boat. Scary seeing I have never driven one before, but the guy assured us it’s easy. We had a blast, we had it for 3 hours and went all around the island. My crew were not very helpful (threatened munity a few times), but we did get to see the Blue Grotto and we swam at the Green Grotto as well. (See Pics) An awesome day in all, beautiful weather, and we did and saw so much.
Last night we strolled along the cliffs, to have Pizza and a glass of wine at Fornillo, the next little bay around from Positano, and when we got there, the sun was setting, so lots of pics as the sky changed colours,it was beautiful, but not much action there, so we ot our pizzas and we ended back at Positano at the jetty, watching one of the local ladies catching squid and octopus, as we ate what would have to be the best Pizza ever….. Today (Friday) it’s relax, wash, and pack, as we leave Saturday morning, and head back to Rome for 3 days. Arrivederci!!