Hi all,
We just had a great weekend in Scotland. We left Cardiff on Friday evening and arrived in Edinburgh about an hour later. It was amazing that everything run like clockwork and within 30 minutes of landing we had picked up our hire car and were at our accommodation in the city centre. We stayed at the Glenora Guest House, about 1 mile from the Edinburgh Castle, and would recommend it to anyone. The family room was enormous and without a doubt the best family room we have stayed in all year, I double bed and 3 singles. the breakfast the next morning was also superb, 10 out of 10!! In fact the accommodation in Scotland for all three nights was very good and surpassed most of our (hotel) accommodation in any other country this year.
On Friday night we went into the city centre and had a look at Edinburgh Castle all lit up and near the Scott Monument, there was a "Winter Wonderland" (most Uk cities have one at this time of year, rides, ferris wheels, ice skating etc..). Next to the "rides" was a German Market, where we had our dinner and our first mulled wine of the season.
Saturday morning, after a great Full Organic Scottish Breakfast, we visited the Edinburgh Castle and walked the Royal Mile down to Holyrood Palace (The Queen's official Edinburgh residence). We did a little bit of shopping and Kristin had another mulled wine (11 a.m.!!) before we left Edinburgh. I think, if time permitted, we could have spent several days in Edinburgh.
We left Edinburgh and headed over the Firth of Froth on the Froth Road Bridge (about 1.5 km long and running parallel to it a magnificent railway bridge) on the way to the Home of Golf, St. Andrews. At St. Andrews we first drove through the main street, down to ruins of the Priory and Castle. Next step was the Golf Course, and if you have ever watched the British Open at the Royal and Ancient, it was exactly how you imagined it to be! The Old Course was open to the public to walk around and was great to make the visit (next time? will need to play a round!). From St. Andrews we headed to Inverness, via Dundee and Perth. As we got into the Highlands, plenty of the mountains were covered in snow (does this count as a White Christmas?).
We stayed at the Columba Hotel in Inverness which is right on the river Ness in the heart of the town. Inverness (Scotland's third largest city) was nothing spectacular did have a lovely castle and I'm sure in the warmer months the riverside would be bustling and a great place to be. Sunday morning, we went to the Culloden Battlefields before heading down Loch Ness. The drive along Loch Ness was brilliant, and we were very lucky to a bright sunshiny day. We stopped at Drumnadrachit and did the Loch Ness Centre (it seems to me that this was another classic con job to improve tourism to the area in the 1930's, but then again I'm a cynic!) and then the ruins of Urqhart Castle.
The next stop was Glenfinnan, near Fort William, was has the Glennfinnan Monument (to Bonnie Prince Charles and the Jacobites) and the Glenfinnan Viaduct (the railway bridge made famous by the Harry Potter movies). We had lunch in Fort William, whcich sits on the base of Ben Nevis (UK's highest point).
The journey then continued through lots of snow covered mountains near Glencoe and further south we drove along Loch Lomand. Unfortunately the skies opened up at this stage and it was starting to get dark and late in the afternoon we arrived in Glasgow. Sunday night and Monday morning we walked around Glasgow, along the River Clyde, the Cathedral and the town centre. At about lunchtime we headed back to Edinburgh to catch a flight home to Cardiff.
A very enjoyable few days! We have a week and a half of school left (last Tuesday 22nd), then we move to London for a couple of days before we head off home! All the photos are available on the Web Albums.
Cya soon!
View Scotland in a larger map
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Rugby @ Millenium Stadium
Hi all,
The countdown has begun and the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel (I hope it isn't an oncoming train).
The weather has been very poor of late (probably the opposite of what most of you are experiencing and they are predicting 0 C overnight later in the week) and days are getting very short (sunrise: 7:30am and sunset 4:30pm)!
Anyhow the only real interesting thing going on, has been the Rugby Union International of Wales versus Australia at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.
The countdown has begun and the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel (I hope it isn't an oncoming train).
The weather has been very poor of late (probably the opposite of what most of you are experiencing and they are predicting 0 C overnight later in the week) and days are getting very short (sunrise: 7:30am and sunset 4:30pm)!
Anyhow the only real interesting thing going on, has been the Rugby Union International of Wales versus Australia at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.Although we aren't great Rugby fans, it was a great day and even better that the Aussies managed to thrash the Welsh (33 - 12)! A dominant performance by the Wallabies!
The 4 of us went down to Cardiff with Les (Dave's father-in-law) and had a few pre-match drinks and also met up with Mike (who we met in Turkey, Paris and Cambridge). We bought our tickets through the Australian Rugby Union site and we sat with other Aussies, but were probably in the worse seats in the stadium (top level, back row).
It was a lot of fun sitting amongst the "Fanatics" and were entertained by 3 young (very pissed) Aussie gals in front of us, who had very little idea of the result by the end of the game! From the game, we had a quick wander around Cardiff, then walked to Canton and met Les and Kay for a drink (or ten!).
We are going to Scotland for a flying visit this weekend and that will be the end of the big adventure, beside a few days in London before we fly out. So I'll probably do one of our last blogs next week after Scotland.
Hope all is well and see you after Xmas!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Cambridge & East Anglia
Hi all,
It is 5 pm as I write this blog and it is pitch black outside! The weather lately has been very cool and wet, and are very envious of Melbourne's weather at the moment. Andy and Kristin are suffering through work and are certainly in countdown mode. Billy and Declan are still enjoying school, both are playing in the school rugby teams (Y8 and Y10) and Declan is also goalkeeper for the Year 8 Football (it is better known as soccer!). Billy has been doing cooking this term at school and has made some lovely dishes - the highlight being the Spicy Tomato Soup.
This weekend we headed East. We drove for and about three and a half hours Saturday morning and arrived at a village called Lavenham. Lavenham is in Suffolk, and as the Lonely Planet guide suggests "there is hardly a straight line in the whole topsy-turvy Lavenham, Eastern England's loviest medieval wool town", and I think they maybe correct! Checkout our photos and you will see buildings leaning at all angles. There is a lovely old church, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, built about 1485.
From Lavenham, we headed to Ely about 15 miles North East of Cambridge. Ely has a fantastic cathedral and is your classic Georgian town. As the whole surrounding area is extremely flat the Ely cathedral is visible from quite a distance in all directions. Ely is situated in the Fen lands of East England. A lovely city and we thought that we should have spent a year in this Ely, not Ely Cardiff!
We arrived in Cambridge mid-afternoon in very dark and rainy conditions, and after a quick drive around the city, we decided to go to our accommodation, Arnie's Guest House. We have stayed in varying degrees of accommodation this year in a lot of different cities and countries, but unfortunately, Arnie's was one of our worse! Less said about it the better! On Saturday night, we caught the bus into the city centre and had a wander around before meeting up with Mike (we met earlier in the year in Turkey) and having a few drinks and a meal at "The Castle" hotel, a nice little pub near "Castle Mound".
Sunday morning, after our non-existent full English breakfast and cold toast, we walked around the city and focussed mainly on the colleges. After a dismal Saturday, weatherwise, Sunday morning was lovely in Cambridge (although a little cool!). Our first sight was the Fitzwilliam Museum, a grand neoclassical building, then we walked through the grounds and buildings of Peterhouse College (the first college in Cambridge -1284).
Next we went down to the River Cam by Queen's College and watched the "tourists" being "punted" along the river. Then we headed into King's College, probably the most impressive of all the college's, and it's Chapel worthy of being a cathedral in most citiess! The grounds were immaculate and buildings very impressive! We also walked pass the colleges of Trinity, St. John's and Magdalene. We managed to get a photo of The Bridge of Sighs (the 3rd Bridge of Sighs we have seen this year, Oxford and Venice being the others)!
There was a market in the city centre, which Kristin was very happy to see and after a quick lunch we headed off back to Cardiff! Lucky that we are now experienced traveller's of the UK, because our Sat Nav was not charging off the cigarette lighter and we had to navigate our own way home! It wasn't that hard, but if it was earlier in the year we may still be in Cambridge!
Checkout the photos in the Web Albums, and if you have a bit of time on your hands (and unlimited internet use) have a look at the Fireworks (around Bonfire night - Guy Fawkes - we had several nights of fireworks going off around the area and we had our own fireworks display!)
cheers,
Andy
View Cambridge in a larger map
It is 5 pm as I write this blog and it is pitch black outside! The weather lately has been very cool and wet, and are very envious of Melbourne's weather at the moment. Andy and Kristin are suffering through work and are certainly in countdown mode. Billy and Declan are still enjoying school, both are playing in the school rugby teams (Y8 and Y10) and Declan is also goalkeeper for the Year 8 Football (it is better known as soccer!). Billy has been doing cooking this term at school and has made some lovely dishes - the highlight being the Spicy Tomato Soup.
This weekend we headed East. We drove for and about three and a half hours Saturday morning and arrived at a village called Lavenham. Lavenham is in Suffolk, and as the Lonely Planet guide suggests "there is hardly a straight line in the whole topsy-turvy Lavenham, Eastern England's loviest medieval wool town", and I think they maybe correct! Checkout our photos and you will see buildings leaning at all angles. There is a lovely old church, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, built about 1485.
From Lavenham, we headed to Ely about 15 miles North East of Cambridge. Ely has a fantastic cathedral and is your classic Georgian town. As the whole surrounding area is extremely flat the Ely cathedral is visible from quite a distance in all directions. Ely is situated in the Fen lands of East England. A lovely city and we thought that we should have spent a year in this Ely, not Ely Cardiff!
We arrived in Cambridge mid-afternoon in very dark and rainy conditions, and after a quick drive around the city, we decided to go to our accommodation, Arnie's Guest House. We have stayed in varying degrees of accommodation this year in a lot of different cities and countries, but unfortunately, Arnie's was one of our worse! Less said about it the better! On Saturday night, we caught the bus into the city centre and had a wander around before meeting up with Mike (we met earlier in the year in Turkey) and having a few drinks and a meal at "The Castle" hotel, a nice little pub near "Castle Mound".
Sunday morning, after our non-existent full English breakfast and cold toast, we walked around the city and focussed mainly on the colleges. After a dismal Saturday, weatherwise, Sunday morning was lovely in Cambridge (although a little cool!). Our first sight was the Fitzwilliam Museum, a grand neoclassical building, then we walked through the grounds and buildings of Peterhouse College (the first college in Cambridge -1284).
Next we went down to the River Cam by Queen's College and watched the "tourists" being "punted" along the river. Then we headed into King's College, probably the most impressive of all the college's, and it's Chapel worthy of being a cathedral in most citiess! The grounds were immaculate and buildings very impressive! We also walked pass the colleges of Trinity, St. John's and Magdalene. We managed to get a photo of The Bridge of Sighs (the 3rd Bridge of Sighs we have seen this year, Oxford and Venice being the others)!
There was a market in the city centre, which Kristin was very happy to see and after a quick lunch we headed off back to Cardiff! Lucky that we are now experienced traveller's of the UK, because our Sat Nav was not charging off the cigarette lighter and we had to navigate our own way home! It wasn't that hard, but if it was earlier in the year we may still be in Cambridge!
Checkout the photos in the Web Albums, and if you have a bit of time on your hands (and unlimited internet use) have a look at the Fireworks (around Bonfire night - Guy Fawkes - we had several nights of fireworks going off around the area and we had our own fireworks display!)
cheers,
Andy
View Cambridge in a larger map
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tunisia
The Half term finished with Declan and Andy spending most of the last week with the "flu", but not to be deterred we set off for Tunisia on Sunday morning on our final big trip for the year - excluding our trip home!
When we arrived at Monastir airport, we had a little hassle getting an entry visa. Interestingly they let you go through customs (without your passport), collect your bags and enter the airport and get money (Tunisian Dinar) and then go back into to collect your passport and visa! When we got back in the "travel rep" of Thomas Cook was finding out what the delay was with the visa, managed to upset the man who was organising it, to which he threatened to refuse our entry!! anyhow half an hour later we were on a bus to our hotel - Vincci Nour Palace, Mahdia.
Tunisia is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in Northern Africa, about 80 miles from Sicily and wedged between Algeria and Libya. Tunisia is about the size of England and Wales, population of about 11 million and about one third desert (the Sahara). Mahdia, where we stayed, is located on the Eastern coast about 150 km South of the capital Tunis. Tunisia has a rich Roman, Spanish, French and Arab history.
We went for the All Inclusive package at the hotel, so we wasted no time in getting a drink at the poolside bar not long after we arrived! The weather for the week was similar for most days, low 20's and a bit of a cool breeze, which made sun baking and swimming in the outdoor pool not as enjoyable as we had hoped! (But having got back to Cardiff where it is 12 oC, wet and windy - It wasn't too bad in retrospect!).
Monday afternoon, Andy and Kristin went into the local town of Mahdia, where we looked at the sites - ancient ruins, Great Mosque, lighthouse, Mahdia Medina, local bazaar and Andy had a haircut and shave!
We caught a taxi into Mahdia, we were warned that there were only 2 types of drivers - Michael Schumacher and Noddy and nothing in between - well take it from me there is only one type - The F1 wanna-be!!
Tuesday saw a lazy day around the pool, the bar and all-you can -eat breakfast, lunch and dinner! Someone has to do it!! Tuesday night dinner was at the Tunisian restaurant at the hotel and we had traditional Tunisian food - mainly Couscous! The food had a heavy French influence (former colony) and I quite enjoyed it (washed down with a local red), as did Kristin and Billy, but it wasn't Declan's idea of dinner - he went to the buffet restaurant and ate his traditional food - pizza!
Wednesday was another pool day and visit to Mahdia (the boys came this time) and lots more shopping! Wednesday night dinner was the Italian Restaurant - not as good as the Tunisian but ok!
On Thursday morning we headed off (quite early) on a 2 day tour of Southern Tunisia and this was the highlight of the week away! the first stop was about an hour away at a place called El Jem. El Jem has a Roman Colosseum, which compares well to the Colosseum in Rome, and even better you could access all parts of the colosseum, even the Gladiator quarters. If you look at the photos, you will see that the arena surface was in place and you can walk under the arena. It was quite impressive, even though a little smaller than the Rome Colosseum!
After a bit of a drive South and a stop for lunch at a hotel in Gabes (and by chance, sat next to another Aussie couple!), we headed for Matmata. Matmata is the area where the Troglodytes houses of the Berbers are situated. To give you an idea what they are like, think of the original Star Wars film (A New Hope) and Luke Skywalker's home in Tatoonie. These homes are carved into the mountains, and in fact it was this area that inspired George Lucas for the first Star Wars film and many of the scenes were shot here. After a visit to a troglodyte home we stopped at the top of the mountain at Matmata and viewed the "Lunar Landscape". Not far from here was the ancient town of Tamezret, which was totally destroyed by heavy rains in 1969 - I suppose that is a problem with building houses out of mud and sandstone! I suppose it isn't too bad an idea when most of the country has a rainfall in the 150 - 300 mm range!
Next we continued the bus tour to the town of Douz which sits on the Northern part of the Sahara Desert (the World's Largest Desert in Tunisia. At Douz, we went on a camel ride into the Sahara and watched the sunset over the Sahara - Special!! Everyone enjoyed the camel ride, although Kristin was complaining that she was a bit saddle sore the next day!
We stayed the night at a hotel in Douz, where there was a thermal swimming pool - this was quite nice - until we noticed back in our rooms that our bathers and towels were quite muddy! After dinner we had an early night, because we were having a 4 am start the next day!
Friday morning we headed off to the Salt lake, Chott El-Jerid, about 51000 square kilometres, making it one of North Africa's largest salt lakes. We stopped halfway across the 64 km causeway to watch the sunrise over the salt lake and the colours were very impressive.
From Chott El-Jerid, we went to the town of Touzer, which is a tourist centre based on a huge oasis. Here we went on a horse and carriage ride around the oasis and saw a demonstration of how they collect the dates. Next was 4WD trip to the mountain oasis of Chebika. Chebika is located in the Atlas Mountains (which forms a natural border between Algeria and Tunisia) about 20 km from the Algerian border. Natural springs from the mountain, allow the town to grow date palms and other other fruits and vegetables. Chebika also was severely damaged in the 1969 floods! Not far from Chebika are the waterfalls at Tamerza, but the flow of water was not very high and wasn't as spectacular as it apparently can be! It is more famous for the filming of The English Patient in this area.
After lunch at Gafsa, we headed to the Holy City of Kairouan, an important pilgrimage for Muslims. Apparently 4 visits to Kairouan can be considered the same as visiting Mecca once - only three to go!! There is a Great Mosque situated in the impressive medina walls. From Kairouan we headed back to the hotel via several stops at other resorts, dropping others from the bus tour.
The 1200km 2 day trip was a real highlight of the trip to Tunisia. The last day was spent around the pool, eating and drinking! Have a look at the Web albums (there are 8 different folders) to see the variety of landscape that we experienced in Tunisia.
We have started the last half-term (7 weeks), it gets dark about 5 pm and I think winter has settled in, so we are beginning to think that going home sounds good! (They don't have a day off for the Melbourne Cup here - how backward!).
Check out the Web Albums and see the sights of Tunisia. Cheers for now~
When we arrived at Monastir airport, we had a little hassle getting an entry visa. Interestingly they let you go through customs (without your passport), collect your bags and enter the airport and get money (Tunisian Dinar) and then go back into to collect your passport and visa! When we got back in the "travel rep" of Thomas Cook was finding out what the delay was with the visa, managed to upset the man who was organising it, to which he threatened to refuse our entry!! anyhow half an hour later we were on a bus to our hotel - Vincci Nour Palace, Mahdia.
Tunisia is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in Northern Africa, about 80 miles from Sicily and wedged between Algeria and Libya. Tunisia is about the size of England and Wales, population of about 11 million and about one third desert (the Sahara). Mahdia, where we stayed, is located on the Eastern coast about 150 km South of the capital Tunis. Tunisia has a rich Roman, Spanish, French and Arab history.
We went for the All Inclusive package at the hotel, so we wasted no time in getting a drink at the poolside bar not long after we arrived! The weather for the week was similar for most days, low 20's and a bit of a cool breeze, which made sun baking and swimming in the outdoor pool not as enjoyable as we had hoped! (But having got back to Cardiff where it is 12 oC, wet and windy - It wasn't too bad in retrospect!).
Monday afternoon, Andy and Kristin went into the local town of Mahdia, where we looked at the sites - ancient ruins, Great Mosque, lighthouse, Mahdia Medina, local bazaar and Andy had a haircut and shave!
We caught a taxi into Mahdia, we were warned that there were only 2 types of drivers - Michael Schumacher and Noddy and nothing in between - well take it from me there is only one type - The F1 wanna-be!!
Tuesday saw a lazy day around the pool, the bar and all-you can -eat breakfast, lunch and dinner! Someone has to do it!! Tuesday night dinner was at the Tunisian restaurant at the hotel and we had traditional Tunisian food - mainly Couscous! The food had a heavy French influence (former colony) and I quite enjoyed it (washed down with a local red), as did Kristin and Billy, but it wasn't Declan's idea of dinner - he went to the buffet restaurant and ate his traditional food - pizza!
Wednesday was another pool day and visit to Mahdia (the boys came this time) and lots more shopping! Wednesday night dinner was the Italian Restaurant - not as good as the Tunisian but ok!
On Thursday morning we headed off (quite early) on a 2 day tour of Southern Tunisia and this was the highlight of the week away! the first stop was about an hour away at a place called El Jem. El Jem has a Roman Colosseum, which compares well to the Colosseum in Rome, and even better you could access all parts of the colosseum, even the Gladiator quarters. If you look at the photos, you will see that the arena surface was in place and you can walk under the arena. It was quite impressive, even though a little smaller than the Rome Colosseum!
After a bit of a drive South and a stop for lunch at a hotel in Gabes (and by chance, sat next to another Aussie couple!), we headed for Matmata. Matmata is the area where the Troglodytes houses of the Berbers are situated. To give you an idea what they are like, think of the original Star Wars film (A New Hope) and Luke Skywalker's home in Tatoonie. These homes are carved into the mountains, and in fact it was this area that inspired George Lucas for the first Star Wars film and many of the scenes were shot here. After a visit to a troglodyte home we stopped at the top of the mountain at Matmata and viewed the "Lunar Landscape". Not far from here was the ancient town of Tamezret, which was totally destroyed by heavy rains in 1969 - I suppose that is a problem with building houses out of mud and sandstone! I suppose it isn't too bad an idea when most of the country has a rainfall in the 150 - 300 mm range!
Next we continued the bus tour to the town of Douz which sits on the Northern part of the Sahara Desert (the World's Largest Desert in Tunisia. At Douz, we went on a camel ride into the Sahara and watched the sunset over the Sahara - Special!! Everyone enjoyed the camel ride, although Kristin was complaining that she was a bit saddle sore the next day!
We stayed the night at a hotel in Douz, where there was a thermal swimming pool - this was quite nice - until we noticed back in our rooms that our bathers and towels were quite muddy! After dinner we had an early night, because we were having a 4 am start the next day!
Friday morning we headed off to the Salt lake, Chott El-Jerid, about 51000 square kilometres, making it one of North Africa's largest salt lakes. We stopped halfway across the 64 km causeway to watch the sunrise over the salt lake and the colours were very impressive.
From Chott El-Jerid, we went to the town of Touzer, which is a tourist centre based on a huge oasis. Here we went on a horse and carriage ride around the oasis and saw a demonstration of how they collect the dates. Next was 4WD trip to the mountain oasis of Chebika. Chebika is located in the Atlas Mountains (which forms a natural border between Algeria and Tunisia) about 20 km from the Algerian border. Natural springs from the mountain, allow the town to grow date palms and other other fruits and vegetables. Chebika also was severely damaged in the 1969 floods! Not far from Chebika are the waterfalls at Tamerza, but the flow of water was not very high and wasn't as spectacular as it apparently can be! It is more famous for the filming of The English Patient in this area.
After lunch at Gafsa, we headed to the Holy City of Kairouan, an important pilgrimage for Muslims. Apparently 4 visits to Kairouan can be considered the same as visiting Mecca once - only three to go!! There is a Great Mosque situated in the impressive medina walls. From Kairouan we headed back to the hotel via several stops at other resorts, dropping others from the bus tour.
The 1200km 2 day trip was a real highlight of the trip to Tunisia. The last day was spent around the pool, eating and drinking! Have a look at the Web albums (there are 8 different folders) to see the variety of landscape that we experienced in Tunisia.
We have started the last half-term (7 weeks), it gets dark about 5 pm and I think winter has settled in, so we are beginning to think that going home sounds good! (They don't have a day off for the Melbourne Cup here - how backward!).
Check out the Web Albums and see the sights of Tunisia. Cheers for now~
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Liverpool, Chester and Ironbridge
Friday morning I got up to drive Kristin to work and the entire right hand mirror of the car was missing. Someone had obviously had decided that their need was greater than ours!
On Saturday we headed off to Liverpool (w/o driver's side mirror) and arrived unscathed about midday. We decided to have a much quieter weekend than our normal trips!
The first stop was Albert Dock, we didn't do The Beatles Story (did it Sunday), but grabbed a lot of information to decide what we would do. From the docks we walked to the Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican) and from the outside it looked very big, perched on top of the highest hill (St. James' Mount) in the city. It was constructed during the 20th Century of locally quarried (reddish) sandstone and a tower height of 108 metres. Inside there was some sort of Anglican festival going on with lots of different activities. We climbed the Tower (well mainly used the lifts) and got panoramic views of Liverpool. From the Tower, we spotted our next location to visit - the Catholic Cathedral (Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King).
The Metropolitan Cathedral was completely different to all other cathedrals that we have seen this year - and that is saying something because I reckon the count has to be over a hundred! It was very modern, built in the 1960's, but to me it just seemed like a very, very big suburban church in Melbourne!
From the Metropolitan Cathedral we walked down Brownlow Hill to the shopping centre of Liverpool and made our way to the Cavern Quarter. Here we visited Mathew Street which has the Cavern Club, made famous by The Beatles. So the "Fab Four", Kristin, Andy, Billy and Declan went into the club and by the looks of the place, I don't think much has changed in the last 50 years! The was a two-piece band playing and for a Saturday Arvo, it was quite crowded.
Next, we drove to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and took the obligatory photos. From there we found our hotel, the Throstle's Nest (I assume a Throstle is a bird, a thrush?)and had a quick break before going back into the city centre for dinner. Liverpool was rocking early in the evening and on the corner of Mathew Street and Temple Court, it was impossible to have a conversation in the street, due to the blaring music from all venues!
Sunday morning, saw us visiting Liverpool FC's ground, Anfield and around the corner Everton's home ground, Goodison Park. Then we drove to Aintree, the racecourse where The Grand National is held (on the first Saturday in April). After our sporting fix, we went back into Liverpool and Andy & Kristin did The Beatles Story and really enjoyed it.
We left Liverpool, via the Kingsway Tunnel under the Mersey River and headed to Chester, which once upon a time was a more important port than Liverpool! Now it is a quaint medieval town where the rich football stars have mansions! Besides having the obligatory cathedral and city walls, the most interesting feature of the town was the ROWS, a series of two-level galleried arcades, like having a 1st story footpath, which was convenient because when we arrived in Chester in was raining!
Our last location for the weekend was Ironbridge Gorge, a World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution was kicked started here by Abraham Darby, who discovered how to smelt Iron ore with coke, which led to mass-production of iron wheels, rails and locomotives. The town has the world's first iron bridge (still standing), constructed in 1779.
From Ironbridge we headed back to Cardiff, and are getting ready for another week at the "Salt Mine". As usual all the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
View Liverpool Trek in a larger map
On Saturday we headed off to Liverpool (w/o driver's side mirror) and arrived unscathed about midday. We decided to have a much quieter weekend than our normal trips!
The first stop was Albert Dock, we didn't do The Beatles Story (did it Sunday), but grabbed a lot of information to decide what we would do. From the docks we walked to the Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican) and from the outside it looked very big, perched on top of the highest hill (St. James' Mount) in the city. It was constructed during the 20th Century of locally quarried (reddish) sandstone and a tower height of 108 metres. Inside there was some sort of Anglican festival going on with lots of different activities. We climbed the Tower (well mainly used the lifts) and got panoramic views of Liverpool. From the Tower, we spotted our next location to visit - the Catholic Cathedral (Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King).
The Metropolitan Cathedral was completely different to all other cathedrals that we have seen this year - and that is saying something because I reckon the count has to be over a hundred! It was very modern, built in the 1960's, but to me it just seemed like a very, very big suburban church in Melbourne!
From the Metropolitan Cathedral we walked down Brownlow Hill to the shopping centre of Liverpool and made our way to the Cavern Quarter. Here we visited Mathew Street which has the Cavern Club, made famous by The Beatles. So the "Fab Four", Kristin, Andy, Billy and Declan went into the club and by the looks of the place, I don't think much has changed in the last 50 years! The was a two-piece band playing and for a Saturday Arvo, it was quite crowded.
Next, we drove to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and took the obligatory photos. From there we found our hotel, the Throstle's Nest (I assume a Throstle is a bird, a thrush?)and had a quick break before going back into the city centre for dinner. Liverpool was rocking early in the evening and on the corner of Mathew Street and Temple Court, it was impossible to have a conversation in the street, due to the blaring music from all venues!
Sunday morning, saw us visiting Liverpool FC's ground, Anfield and around the corner Everton's home ground, Goodison Park. Then we drove to Aintree, the racecourse where The Grand National is held (on the first Saturday in April). After our sporting fix, we went back into Liverpool and Andy & Kristin did The Beatles Story and really enjoyed it.
We left Liverpool, via the Kingsway Tunnel under the Mersey River and headed to Chester, which once upon a time was a more important port than Liverpool! Now it is a quaint medieval town where the rich football stars have mansions! Besides having the obligatory cathedral and city walls, the most interesting feature of the town was the ROWS, a series of two-level galleried arcades, like having a 1st story footpath, which was convenient because when we arrived in Chester in was raining!
Our last location for the weekend was Ironbridge Gorge, a World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution was kicked started here by Abraham Darby, who discovered how to smelt Iron ore with coke, which led to mass-production of iron wheels, rails and locomotives. The town has the world's first iron bridge (still standing), constructed in 1779.
From Ironbridge we headed back to Cardiff, and are getting ready for another week at the "Salt Mine". As usual all the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
View Liverpool Trek in a larger map
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
South England
Last week Gabby & Andrew Wynne (and their girls Madi & Steph) dropped in for a visit on their UK/Europe trip. It was great to catch up, have a few (too many) beers and some nice Indian food.
Billy has been a bit crook with a dose of the flu and the rest of us have been a bit 'flu-ish' as well.
Anyhow we spent the weekend in the South of England. We headed off Saturday morning and drove to Canterbury arriving just before lunch. Canterbury is a lovely medieval city which has city walls, a castle ruin, an abbey ruin and a magnificent cathedral. Canterbury is the foothold of Christianity in England, this where St. Augustine established the Christian church in about 590 AD. In the Cathedral there are some famous people buried there, these include Thomas Becket, King Henry IV and the "Black Prince" Edward Plantagent.
After leaving Canterbury, we headed south to the English Channel at Hythe, we were hoping to have a coastal drive as we headed west, but what we found was the coastal road was next to a high embankment which blocked any view of the water. We did stop at a beach called St. Mary's in the Marchs and the wind was blowing a gale and the beach had a series of groynes about 50 metres apart. Travelling along the South Coast we came across towns called, Rye, Eastbourne, Seaford, Hastings & Brighton -why did they copy those Victorian names?!!
The next stop was Battle, near Hastings, the site where William the Conquerer defeated the English forces in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, and thus changing the course of England's history and turning them into Normans.
We stayed overnight in Eastbourne at a bed and breakfast 30 metres from the beach. Eastbourne is your typical British seaside resort with the obligatory promenade and pier with amusement arcade and a shale beach littered with groynes.
After breakfast we visited the Easbourne International Lawn Tennis Club. The traditional ladies lead-up tournament to Wimbledon is held here. From Eastbourne we went to Beachy Head, which has a series of huge chalky limestone cliffs to the water's edge. There is about 5 to 10 km of cliffs like this called the Seven Sisters and a popular surf beach called The Birling Gap. Have a look at the Web albums to see how big and impressive these limestone cliffs look. Interestingly the cliff at Beachy Head drops about 200 metres straight down to the water, with no safety rails or warning signs.
From here, we went Brighton - a larger version of Eastbourne, then onto Arundel. Arundel is another lovely little medieval town with a magnificent castle (the home of the Duke of Norfolk) and yet another cathedral. From Arundel we headed to Portsmouth via Chichester (Another Bloody Cathedral!).
Portsmouth is famous for its Naval history and the Royal Navy has been based here since Henry VIII built his giant warship, the Mary Rose. At the maritime museum, there are 3 famous ships, The Mary Rose, The Warrior (the first modern iron ship) and The Victory (Nelson's ship @ Trafalgar), all very impressive.
On our way home to Cardiff, we went to Salisbury and had a quick drink with the Wynne's who had been visiting Cornwall and Devon and Stonehenge over the weekend (if you are interested in their travels I've put a link to their blog on the top right).
Next week , we may head towards Liverpool - weather permitting - there is a lot of rain around this week!!
Cheers.
View South England trek in a larger map
Billy has been a bit crook with a dose of the flu and the rest of us have been a bit 'flu-ish' as well.
Anyhow we spent the weekend in the South of England. We headed off Saturday morning and drove to Canterbury arriving just before lunch. Canterbury is a lovely medieval city which has city walls, a castle ruin, an abbey ruin and a magnificent cathedral. Canterbury is the foothold of Christianity in England, this where St. Augustine established the Christian church in about 590 AD. In the Cathedral there are some famous people buried there, these include Thomas Becket, King Henry IV and the "Black Prince" Edward Plantagent.
After leaving Canterbury, we headed south to the English Channel at Hythe, we were hoping to have a coastal drive as we headed west, but what we found was the coastal road was next to a high embankment which blocked any view of the water. We did stop at a beach called St. Mary's in the Marchs and the wind was blowing a gale and the beach had a series of groynes about 50 metres apart. Travelling along the South Coast we came across towns called, Rye, Eastbourne, Seaford, Hastings & Brighton -why did they copy those Victorian names?!!
The next stop was Battle, near Hastings, the site where William the Conquerer defeated the English forces in 1066, the last successful invasion of England, and thus changing the course of England's history and turning them into Normans.
We stayed overnight in Eastbourne at a bed and breakfast 30 metres from the beach. Eastbourne is your typical British seaside resort with the obligatory promenade and pier with amusement arcade and a shale beach littered with groynes.
After breakfast we visited the Easbourne International Lawn Tennis Club. The traditional ladies lead-up tournament to Wimbledon is held here. From Eastbourne we went to Beachy Head, which has a series of huge chalky limestone cliffs to the water's edge. There is about 5 to 10 km of cliffs like this called the Seven Sisters and a popular surf beach called The Birling Gap. Have a look at the Web albums to see how big and impressive these limestone cliffs look. Interestingly the cliff at Beachy Head drops about 200 metres straight down to the water, with no safety rails or warning signs.
From here, we went Brighton - a larger version of Eastbourne, then onto Arundel. Arundel is another lovely little medieval town with a magnificent castle (the home of the Duke of Norfolk) and yet another cathedral. From Arundel we headed to Portsmouth via Chichester (Another Bloody Cathedral!).
Portsmouth is famous for its Naval history and the Royal Navy has been based here since Henry VIII built his giant warship, the Mary Rose. At the maritime museum, there are 3 famous ships, The Mary Rose, The Warrior (the first modern iron ship) and The Victory (Nelson's ship @ Trafalgar), all very impressive.
On our way home to Cardiff, we went to Salisbury and had a quick drink with the Wynne's who had been visiting Cornwall and Devon and Stonehenge over the weekend (if you are interested in their travels I've put a link to their blog on the top right).
Next week , we may head towards Liverpool - weather permitting - there is a lot of rain around this week!!
Cheers.
View South England trek in a larger map
Monday, September 28, 2009
White Horses & Cheddar Gorge (again)
Hi all,
The weeks are beginning to get long and the weekends seem too short! Declan is starting to play soccer and rugby for the school again. Billy spends one day a week at school cooking all day (hard life for some!). Kristin is working lots and Andy has one ok week and then a horror week (only 2 free periods for the whole week!!).
Anyhow, this weekend we got up early Saturday to watch the Grand Final - at 5 in the morning and no beers it just doesn't have the right atmosphere!
Sunday, we travelled to Wiltshire and went on the White Horse Trail. There are about 8 White Horses and we managed to see 6 of them. We have been to this area twice before and had only seen a glance of one of them. Some of them would be 10 metres high and 40 metres wide. The White Horses are carvings on the side of hills, the geological structure is of solid white chalk with a thin layer of topsoil. These type of carvings have been given a name, LEUCIPOTTOMY. During WWII the horses were covered to prevent enemy recognition, but since then they have been cleaned and re-cut.
Of the White horses, the best were at Cherhill, Alton Baarnes and Westbury. Early in the year we saw the Uffington White Horse which pre-dates all the Wiltshire horses by several hundred years, but these three were much more impressive. At the Westbury White Horse, we had lunch and watched para-gliders sailing off the hilltop.
Later in the day we went to Cheddar Gorge, again (we had a family pass that allowed us to visit some of the attractions left over from earlier in the year). Last time it was in January and extremely cold, this time it looked a lot different and much busier. We went into the Cox's Cave, not as good as Gough's Cave that we saw last time and then went up Jacob's ladder (274 steps almost straight up) to the Lookout Tower. There was a great view of the surrounding area, and we could even see the Glastonbury Tor from the lookout.
The trip home was terrible, as we spent an hour and twenty minutes on the 20 mile stretch of the M5 from Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol.
Another enjoyable Sunday! We may go to the South of England next weekend. Check out the Web Albums for the pictures.
Cheers!
The weeks are beginning to get long and the weekends seem too short! Declan is starting to play soccer and rugby for the school again. Billy spends one day a week at school cooking all day (hard life for some!). Kristin is working lots and Andy has one ok week and then a horror week (only 2 free periods for the whole week!!).
Anyhow, this weekend we got up early Saturday to watch the Grand Final - at 5 in the morning and no beers it just doesn't have the right atmosphere!
Sunday, we travelled to Wiltshire and went on the White Horse Trail. There are about 8 White Horses and we managed to see 6 of them. We have been to this area twice before and had only seen a glance of one of them. Some of them would be 10 metres high and 40 metres wide. The White Horses are carvings on the side of hills, the geological structure is of solid white chalk with a thin layer of topsoil. These type of carvings have been given a name, LEUCIPOTTOMY. During WWII the horses were covered to prevent enemy recognition, but since then they have been cleaned and re-cut.
Of the White horses, the best were at Cherhill, Alton Baarnes and Westbury. Early in the year we saw the Uffington White Horse which pre-dates all the Wiltshire horses by several hundred years, but these three were much more impressive. At the Westbury White Horse, we had lunch and watched para-gliders sailing off the hilltop.
Later in the day we went to Cheddar Gorge, again (we had a family pass that allowed us to visit some of the attractions left over from earlier in the year). Last time it was in January and extremely cold, this time it looked a lot different and much busier. We went into the Cox's Cave, not as good as Gough's Cave that we saw last time and then went up Jacob's ladder (274 steps almost straight up) to the Lookout Tower. There was a great view of the surrounding area, and we could even see the Glastonbury Tor from the lookout.
The trip home was terrible, as we spent an hour and twenty minutes on the 20 mile stretch of the M5 from Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol.
Another enjoyable Sunday! We may go to the South of England next weekend. Check out the Web Albums for the pictures.
Cheers!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Gower Peninsula
It had been a long week at work (taught 23 out of 25!) and a disappointing effort by the Pies on Saturday, so we thought we'd better do something on Sunday!
We visited the Gower Peninsula, which is about an hour and a quarter West of Cardiff. The Gower Peninsula begins at Swansea, but we didn't stop here as Swansea was the first place we visited this year (Jan 1, in fact - it is worth comparing the pictures from today with then!).
We drove down the coastal road, via The Mumbles and first stopped at Langland. A lovely beach , a row of green and white boatsheds and a nice coastal walk around to Caswell Bay. We stopped also at Oxwich and Port Eynon and leaving Oxwich had to back up about 400 metres along a narrow country lane as another car coming the other reckons it was much further the other way before cars could pass!
The highlight of the day was Rhossili at the Western tip of the Gower Peninsula. We were lucky to visit here on a day with very little wind and a pleasant Autumn day (about 17 C). There were a couple of hang gliders landing in the paddock that we parked our car! At the very tip is a headland called the Worm's Head, only accessible at low tide along a rocky causeway - we didn't get across as the tide was beginning to change! Picture Postcard Perfect!
After leaving the Gower, we travelled to Neath and visited the Aberdulais Falls - the site of a former tin mine.
A lovely Sunday drive - must be getting old!!
Check out the Photos on the Web Albums.
We visited the Gower Peninsula, which is about an hour and a quarter West of Cardiff. The Gower Peninsula begins at Swansea, but we didn't stop here as Swansea was the first place we visited this year (Jan 1, in fact - it is worth comparing the pictures from today with then!).
We drove down the coastal road, via The Mumbles and first stopped at Langland. A lovely beach , a row of green and white boatsheds and a nice coastal walk around to Caswell Bay. We stopped also at Oxwich and Port Eynon and leaving Oxwich had to back up about 400 metres along a narrow country lane as another car coming the other reckons it was much further the other way before cars could pass!
The highlight of the day was Rhossili at the Western tip of the Gower Peninsula. We were lucky to visit here on a day with very little wind and a pleasant Autumn day (about 17 C). There were a couple of hang gliders landing in the paddock that we parked our car! At the very tip is a headland called the Worm's Head, only accessible at low tide along a rocky causeway - we didn't get across as the tide was beginning to change! Picture Postcard Perfect!
After leaving the Gower, we travelled to Neath and visited the Aberdulais Falls - the site of a former tin mine.
A lovely Sunday drive - must be getting old!!
Check out the Photos on the Web Albums.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Snowdonia & North Wales
Llanddewi Brefi
We headed out early Saturday and after a couple hours drive and passing 22 places that began with Llan we arrived at Llanddewi Brefi. Little Britain fans may be familiar with Daffyd, the only gay in the village. Poor Llanddewi Brefi apparently has its road signs stolen on a very regualr basis - but we were lucky, the road signs were there!
Snowdon
By the time we arrived at Llanberis and I could finally get mobile reception and found out that The Mighty Pies had won!! LLanberis was now about the 35th Llan.. place we had passed or seen - what is it with the Welsh? It would be like naming places in Melbourne with the prefix Melb or Vic, imagine that! (Llan means church.) Llanberis is at the base of Mt. Snowdon (Wales highest mountain, 1113 m)and this is where Hilary and his team did their training for Everest. We intended to catch the Mountain Railway to the summit, but unfortunately we couldn't get a ticket - apparently you need to book ahead!! So we had lunch and went for a walk to the waterfall.
From Llanberis, we back-tracked to Beddgelert (means Gelert's grave). Beddgelert is a pretty little village in Snowdonia, who's claim to fame is the grave of a dog! I think we must be getting desperate for things to see!! Apparently Prince Llewelyn, a 13th century prince, killed his faithful dog, Gelert, cause he saw blood all over the dog's mouth and believed that it had savaged his baby son, when Gelert had in fact killed a wolf that had attacked the infant. Others believe that it was an 19th century hotelier's invention to boost tourist numbers!
Caernarfon
After leaving Beedgelert and almost circumnavigating Snowdon, we headed to Caernarfon. Caernarfon is on the Menai Strait, which separates North of Wales from Anglesey and about 10 miles from Mt. Snowdon. There is a grand medieval castle and a walled city situated on the Menai strait.
LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
From Caernarfon we crossed the Menai Strait and first stopped at Britain's longest named place, LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which means "St. Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a Rapid Whirpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the Red Cave". Once again it was a 19th century tourist idea and it still works!
Menai Bridge and Beaumaris
From Llanfair PG, we headed along the shoreline towards Beaumaris, which is a lovely seaside resort town with an old castle. Beaumaris sits at the other end of the Menai strait from Caernarfon. Next we crossed the Menai Bridge and had a quick look at Bangor before headed to our accommodation at Conwy.
Conwy
We stayed at the Youth Hostel and arrived about 6 pm. After settling in we walked into the city - once again a walled city with a glorious castle. We had fish and chips for dinner on the wharf just near the castle and then headed back for an early night.
Llandudno
After brekky on Sunday morning we headed to Llandudno (I think the "llan" count was up to 46 at this point) a few miles from Conwy. Llandudno is your classic British seaside resort. It has a lovely promenade along the beach, hotels lining the promenade, a pier with amusements, a cable car and tramway up the near mountain (the Great Orme) and water on both sides of the town.
The average age of the people we saw there was about 75, so I think it might be one of God's waiting rooms. We drove up to the Great Orme summit, but there was a sea mist blocking most of the views. After spending a couple of hours or so in Llandudno, we drove along the coastline of North Wales and then headed to Llangollen (another Llan!).
Llangollen
Llangollen is a lovely little town which has a canal designed by the 18th century engineer Thomas Telford. Telford's masterpiece is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, about 316 m long, which carrys the canal 48 metres above the River Dee. An amazing engineering feat! While we were there at least 10 canal boats crossed the aqueduct. Llangollen itself was very busy today and there were hundred's of motorcyclists.
Shrewsbury
Our last stop was Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Charles Darwin - so there were many references to Darwin. It has a nice little castle and an Abbey and has a lot of Tudor style buildings.
So we almost did a whole lap of Wales on the weekend and were blessed with very nice weather, about 20 C and very little wind (except from Kristin!!). All the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
PS the final "llan" count was 54!
We headed out early Saturday and after a couple hours drive and passing 22 places that began with Llan we arrived at Llanddewi Brefi. Little Britain fans may be familiar with Daffyd, the only gay in the village. Poor Llanddewi Brefi apparently has its road signs stolen on a very regualr basis - but we were lucky, the road signs were there!
Snowdon
By the time we arrived at Llanberis and I could finally get mobile reception and found out that The Mighty Pies had won!! LLanberis was now about the 35th Llan.. place we had passed or seen - what is it with the Welsh? It would be like naming places in Melbourne with the prefix Melb or Vic, imagine that! (Llan means church.) Llanberis is at the base of Mt. Snowdon (Wales highest mountain, 1113 m)and this is where Hilary and his team did their training for Everest. We intended to catch the Mountain Railway to the summit, but unfortunately we couldn't get a ticket - apparently you need to book ahead!! So we had lunch and went for a walk to the waterfall.
From Llanberis, we back-tracked to Beddgelert (means Gelert's grave). Beddgelert is a pretty little village in Snowdonia, who's claim to fame is the grave of a dog! I think we must be getting desperate for things to see!! Apparently Prince Llewelyn, a 13th century prince, killed his faithful dog, Gelert, cause he saw blood all over the dog's mouth and believed that it had savaged his baby son, when Gelert had in fact killed a wolf that had attacked the infant. Others believe that it was an 19th century hotelier's invention to boost tourist numbers!
Caernarfon
After leaving Beedgelert and almost circumnavigating Snowdon, we headed to Caernarfon. Caernarfon is on the Menai Strait, which separates North of Wales from Anglesey and about 10 miles from Mt. Snowdon. There is a grand medieval castle and a walled city situated on the Menai strait.
LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
From Caernarfon we crossed the Menai Strait and first stopped at Britain's longest named place, LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which means "St. Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a Rapid Whirpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the Red Cave". Once again it was a 19th century tourist idea and it still works!
Menai Bridge and Beaumaris
From Llanfair PG, we headed along the shoreline towards Beaumaris, which is a lovely seaside resort town with an old castle. Beaumaris sits at the other end of the Menai strait from Caernarfon. Next we crossed the Menai Bridge and had a quick look at Bangor before headed to our accommodation at Conwy.
Conwy
We stayed at the Youth Hostel and arrived about 6 pm. After settling in we walked into the city - once again a walled city with a glorious castle. We had fish and chips for dinner on the wharf just near the castle and then headed back for an early night.
Llandudno
After brekky on Sunday morning we headed to Llandudno (I think the "llan" count was up to 46 at this point) a few miles from Conwy. Llandudno is your classic British seaside resort. It has a lovely promenade along the beach, hotels lining the promenade, a pier with amusements, a cable car and tramway up the near mountain (the Great Orme) and water on both sides of the town.
The average age of the people we saw there was about 75, so I think it might be one of God's waiting rooms. We drove up to the Great Orme summit, but there was a sea mist blocking most of the views. After spending a couple of hours or so in Llandudno, we drove along the coastline of North Wales and then headed to Llangollen (another Llan!).
Llangollen
Llangollen is a lovely little town which has a canal designed by the 18th century engineer Thomas Telford. Telford's masterpiece is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, about 316 m long, which carrys the canal 48 metres above the River Dee. An amazing engineering feat! While we were there at least 10 canal boats crossed the aqueduct. Llangollen itself was very busy today and there were hundred's of motorcyclists.
Shrewsbury
Our last stop was Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Charles Darwin - so there were many references to Darwin. It has a nice little castle and an Abbey and has a lot of Tudor style buildings.
So we almost did a whole lap of Wales on the weekend and were blessed with very nice weather, about 20 C and very little wind (except from Kristin!!). All the photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
cheers!
PS the final "llan" count was 54!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
London: late August
We have just spent the weekend in London to say good-bye to Lucy and hello to Mary (Andy's sister) and her husband Dick.
We arrived, via a coach, early on Sunday afternoon and found our apartment (about 5 mins walk on the south of the Tower Bridge - which was convenient because Mary and Dick were just on North side of the Tower Bridge. We were wondering what are we going to do for 2 and a half days because we thought we had done London pretty thoroughly -but we managed to keep ourselves very busy and saw lots of new "things".
Sunday afternoon, after Lucy met us, we went to Notting Hill carnival - a massive street party organised for the Caribbean residents. It was very colourful, loud and extremely busy. Back in London we caught up with Mary and Dick and had dinner at an English pub. It was great to see Mary and Dick, seasoned travellers like us, forget how exciting it is when you see London for the first time!
Monday was a slow start and we were trying to find something "new" to do, so we caught the Tube to Regent's Park and walked through to Primrose Hill - which has a great view of the London skyline. From Primrose Hill we walked along the Grand Union (Regent's) Canal into Camden. The Camden market was in full swing and we had lunch there and did lots of browsing of the goods. Checkout the pics - some very interesting people. Unsure what to do next, we went back to Notting Hill and the carnival to us seemed twice as packed. On Sunday we saw parades of Steel Drum bands but Monday was the parade of the girls (and guys) all dressed up like the carnival in Rio. The music was so loud that my chest was throbbing when you walked past one of the trucks carrying the music gear. It was a fantastic sight.
Monday we caught up with dinner with Mary and Dick again - we had Indian - traditional English food - curry! A lovely meal, but then we had to say good-bye to Lucy - she caught a 9:00 am plane back to Australia and also to Mary and Dick.
Tuesday took us to Harrods (again!) but then to the Victoria and Albert museum (a mix of Art and Design), Kensington Gardens, Royal Albert Hall, Prince Albert memorial, Kensington Palace and the Science museum before we had to catch the bus back to Cardiff.
I went to school today (Wednesday) and it has rained solidly all day and more is predicted tonight!! :(
Cheers for now - check out the photos and I've also put a link to Mary & Dick's blog!
GO PIES!!!!
We arrived, via a coach, early on Sunday afternoon and found our apartment (about 5 mins walk on the south of the Tower Bridge - which was convenient because Mary and Dick were just on North side of the Tower Bridge. We were wondering what are we going to do for 2 and a half days because we thought we had done London pretty thoroughly -but we managed to keep ourselves very busy and saw lots of new "things".
Sunday afternoon, after Lucy met us, we went to Notting Hill carnival - a massive street party organised for the Caribbean residents. It was very colourful, loud and extremely busy. Back in London we caught up with Mary and Dick and had dinner at an English pub. It was great to see Mary and Dick, seasoned travellers like us, forget how exciting it is when you see London for the first time!
Monday was a slow start and we were trying to find something "new" to do, so we caught the Tube to Regent's Park and walked through to Primrose Hill - which has a great view of the London skyline. From Primrose Hill we walked along the Grand Union (Regent's) Canal into Camden. The Camden market was in full swing and we had lunch there and did lots of browsing of the goods. Checkout the pics - some very interesting people. Unsure what to do next, we went back to Notting Hill and the carnival to us seemed twice as packed. On Sunday we saw parades of Steel Drum bands but Monday was the parade of the girls (and guys) all dressed up like the carnival in Rio. The music was so loud that my chest was throbbing when you walked past one of the trucks carrying the music gear. It was a fantastic sight.
Monday we caught up with dinner with Mary and Dick again - we had Indian - traditional English food - curry! A lovely meal, but then we had to say good-bye to Lucy - she caught a 9:00 am plane back to Australia and also to Mary and Dick.
Tuesday took us to Harrods (again!) but then to the Victoria and Albert museum (a mix of Art and Design), Kensington Gardens, Royal Albert Hall, Prince Albert memorial, Kensington Palace and the Science museum before we had to catch the bus back to Cardiff.
I went to school today (Wednesday) and it has rained solidly all day and more is predicted tonight!! :(
Cheers for now - check out the photos and I've also put a link to Mary & Dick's blog!
GO PIES!!!!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Coach Trip Part 6: France
Hi all, We are back in sunny (not!) Cardiff, but are going back to London on Sunday to see Mary & Dick and to see Lucy before she heads back to Oz.
Bordeaux and Poitiers
From Bilbao we headed back into Southern France and the first port of call was Bordeaux. It has a really nice feel about it and apparently when they decided to re-model Paris 150 years ago, it was Bordeaux they used. We could have easily spent a few days there instead of a couple of hours! We stayed overnight in Poitiers, but there was nothing remarkable or noteworthy here.
Ambois and Orleans
The next day was all about getting to Paris but we had 2 stopovers. Ambois is in the Loire river region, which is dotted with castles. At Ambois there is Da Vinci's castle and his burial place, apparently Da Vinci was a close friend of one of the King Louis! We also stopped in Orleans for lunch and took photos of the Joan of Arc statue.
Paris
We arrived back in Paris for our last 2 nights of the tour and Paris doesn't disappoint! On Tuesday night we caught the metro to Sacre Coeur and walked through Pigalle to Moulin Rouge and then onto the Arc De Triomphe and caught the metro home.
Declan's birthday
How many people can say they spent their birthday in Paris? Well Dec can! The highlight of the day was hiring bikes and riding down the Champs Elysees. We had a lovely day seeing a lot of sights that we hadn't seen on our previous visit. Later in the day we met Lucy at the Louvre and walked up the Champs Elysees and then onto the Eiffel Tower for one last time when it was all lit up! !!
Check out the photos for more details! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and need another few weeks to recover!!! Cheers! Go Pies
Bordeaux and Poitiers
From Bilbao we headed back into Southern France and the first port of call was Bordeaux. It has a really nice feel about it and apparently when they decided to re-model Paris 150 years ago, it was Bordeaux they used. We could have easily spent a few days there instead of a couple of hours! We stayed overnight in Poitiers, but there was nothing remarkable or noteworthy here.
Ambois and Orleans
The next day was all about getting to Paris but we had 2 stopovers. Ambois is in the Loire river region, which is dotted with castles. At Ambois there is Da Vinci's castle and his burial place, apparently Da Vinci was a close friend of one of the King Louis! We also stopped in Orleans for lunch and took photos of the Joan of Arc statue.
Paris
We arrived back in Paris for our last 2 nights of the tour and Paris doesn't disappoint! On Tuesday night we caught the metro to Sacre Coeur and walked through Pigalle to Moulin Rouge and then onto the Arc De Triomphe and caught the metro home.
Declan's birthday
How many people can say they spent their birthday in Paris? Well Dec can! The highlight of the day was hiring bikes and riding down the Champs Elysees. We had a lovely day seeing a lot of sights that we hadn't seen on our previous visit. Later in the day we met Lucy at the Louvre and walked up the Champs Elysees and then onto the Eiffel Tower for one last time when it was all lit up! !!
Check out the photos for more details! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and need another few weeks to recover!!! Cheers! Go Pies
Monday, August 24, 2009
Coach Trip Part 5: Spain
Spain: Barcelona, Zaragoza, Madrid and Bilbao
Barcelona
After settling into the hotel in the afternoon, we headed to the beach, about a 30 minute walk. The beach was packed and we claimed our 5 square metres close to the water’s edge. The sand was very coarse but the water was refreshing and got deep quickly. It was fantastic to lie on the beach and have a swim, it has been the only thing that we have missed doing this year. The crowd on the beach was predominately young (15 to 25 y.o). There were plenty of people selling drinks, massages, hair braiding, coconut, doughnuts, etc.. From the beach we walked along the marina at Port Vell to the Christopher Columbus monument and then headed up La Rambla (the main pedestrian walk in Barcelona). We had dinner and looked at all the people and headed back to the hotel.
Next morning was an organised bus tour of Barcelona. First stop was the Barri Gothic cathedral (I’m officially over cathedrals now!) and the surrounding “roman” streets. From there we drove up Mont Juic, the area of the Olympic stadium (first built in 1929 –they wanted the 1936 Olympics, but had to wait until 1992), and also panoramic views over Barcelona. As we drove through the streets we saw plenty of the uniquely designed buildings (see photos) and finished at the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a cathedral that has been built for the last 150 or more years, purely by donations fro the public. It was originally designed by the architect Gaudi. There are supposed to be 16 towers (pillars?) of which only 8 have been finished. The front and the back of the building are magnificent (see photos).
After a siesta, we spent a few more hours on the beach. When we arrived back at the hotel and cleaned up, it was decided that boys would have kebabs for dinner. So we gave Billy and Declan some money to buy these at the Kebab shop diagonally opposite the hotel. 10 minutes later they returned empty handed, because they couldn’t find the shop!!
Zaragoza
The stopover on the way to Madrid from Barcelona was Zaragoza – lovely basilica, square, river, etc..
Madrid
Madrid, the capital of Spain, 650 metres above sea level and bloody hot!! After we arrived late afternoon and settled in, we went for a walk around Madrid. Our hotel was situated close to Retiro Park (The Lungs of Madrid), so we walked through it and contained lots of fountains, trees, statues and a man-made lake. From the park we walk along the beautiful avenue which has the Prado Museum, Reina Sofia and magnificent fountains. We found something for dinner and then headed back to the hotel.
First thing Saturday morning we caught the metro to the other side of Madrid and visited the Royal Palace. The Palace also contained the Royal Armory & Pharmacy. Next door to the palace was the modern cathedral but like the people of Madrid –it wasn’t that impressive! We then walked down to the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art. Declan and Billy went to McDonalds and played cards while Andy, Kristin and Lucy went in. There were lots and Picassos and Dalis, and the main attraction is Picasso’s Geurnica. We then had to get back to the hotel for the included sightseeing of Madrid – which included Las Ventas (bullfighting arena), Real Madrid’s football (soccer) stadium and the square dedicated to Don Quixote. We left the tour in the middle of Madrid and walked around the city centre and ended up at the Prado museum – free entry after 6 pm – the art pieces included works from El Greco, Velaquez and Goya.
After the Prado we had a few drinks in an Irish bar on the way back to the hotel.
Sunday, we had a long day’s drive to Bilbao (situated on the NW of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay). It was extremely hot (about 38 C) and dry. Our stopover city for lunch was Burgos, a lovely little town and one of its statues was of El Cid.
We stopped in the main centre of Bilbao for only about half an hour and took photos of the Guggenheim museum. The hotel had pool and many of the tour had a swim, except for Billy, Lucy and 3 others who went to the Bullfight in Bilbao. Billy and Lucy really enjoyed the experience.
Barcelona
After settling into the hotel in the afternoon, we headed to the beach, about a 30 minute walk. The beach was packed and we claimed our 5 square metres close to the water’s edge. The sand was very coarse but the water was refreshing and got deep quickly. It was fantastic to lie on the beach and have a swim, it has been the only thing that we have missed doing this year. The crowd on the beach was predominately young (15 to 25 y.o). There were plenty of people selling drinks, massages, hair braiding, coconut, doughnuts, etc.. From the beach we walked along the marina at Port Vell to the Christopher Columbus monument and then headed up La Rambla (the main pedestrian walk in Barcelona). We had dinner and looked at all the people and headed back to the hotel.
Next morning was an organised bus tour of Barcelona. First stop was the Barri Gothic cathedral (I’m officially over cathedrals now!) and the surrounding “roman” streets. From there we drove up Mont Juic, the area of the Olympic stadium (first built in 1929 –they wanted the 1936 Olympics, but had to wait until 1992), and also panoramic views over Barcelona. As we drove through the streets we saw plenty of the uniquely designed buildings (see photos) and finished at the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a cathedral that has been built for the last 150 or more years, purely by donations fro the public. It was originally designed by the architect Gaudi. There are supposed to be 16 towers (pillars?) of which only 8 have been finished. The front and the back of the building are magnificent (see photos).
After a siesta, we spent a few more hours on the beach. When we arrived back at the hotel and cleaned up, it was decided that boys would have kebabs for dinner. So we gave Billy and Declan some money to buy these at the Kebab shop diagonally opposite the hotel. 10 minutes later they returned empty handed, because they couldn’t find the shop!!
Zaragoza
The stopover on the way to Madrid from Barcelona was Zaragoza – lovely basilica, square, river, etc..
Madrid
Madrid, the capital of Spain, 650 metres above sea level and bloody hot!! After we arrived late afternoon and settled in, we went for a walk around Madrid. Our hotel was situated close to Retiro Park (The Lungs of Madrid), so we walked through it and contained lots of fountains, trees, statues and a man-made lake. From the park we walk along the beautiful avenue which has the Prado Museum, Reina Sofia and magnificent fountains. We found something for dinner and then headed back to the hotel.
First thing Saturday morning we caught the metro to the other side of Madrid and visited the Royal Palace. The Palace also contained the Royal Armory & Pharmacy. Next door to the palace was the modern cathedral but like the people of Madrid –it wasn’t that impressive! We then walked down to the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art. Declan and Billy went to McDonalds and played cards while Andy, Kristin and Lucy went in. There were lots and Picassos and Dalis, and the main attraction is Picasso’s Geurnica. We then had to get back to the hotel for the included sightseeing of Madrid – which included Las Ventas (bullfighting arena), Real Madrid’s football (soccer) stadium and the square dedicated to Don Quixote. We left the tour in the middle of Madrid and walked around the city centre and ended up at the Prado museum – free entry after 6 pm – the art pieces included works from El Greco, Velaquez and Goya.
After the Prado we had a few drinks in an Irish bar on the way back to the hotel.
Sunday, we had a long day’s drive to Bilbao (situated on the NW of Spain, on the Bay of Biscay). It was extremely hot (about 38 C) and dry. Our stopover city for lunch was Burgos, a lovely little town and one of its statues was of El Cid.
We stopped in the main centre of Bilbao for only about half an hour and took photos of the Guggenheim museum. The hotel had pool and many of the tour had a swim, except for Billy, Lucy and 3 others who went to the Bullfight in Bilbao. Billy and Lucy really enjoyed the experience.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Coach Trip Part 4: Monaco, Cannes, Avignon and Carcassonne
An early start from Florence for a long day travelling to Cannes (French Riviera). We passed through Genoa and at least 170 tunnels (not a lot to see!). The coach passed Monte Carlo (Monaco) from a distance – everyone was disappointed that we didn’t stop but 10 minutes down the road we did stop at a perfume factory (not happy Jan!!!).
We arrived at Cannes late in the afternoon and it was very warm. We walked down to the city centre and dangled our feet in the Mediterranean Sea, had dinner and went up to the Le Suquet, a castle at the top of a hill overlooking Cannes and the marina – great views. More walking around the town (used McDonalds for free internet) before heading back to the hotel.
After leaving Cannes we spent a day driving to Carcassonne via Avignon.
Avignon was once (13th century) the Papal seat for about 7 Popes and several Antipopes. The main sites here are the Papal palaces, the Cathedral and Pont Saint-Benezet. The cathedral had several tombs of the popes, but Lucy wasn’t allowed in because she was inappropriately attired! (Maybe they realised she was never baptisied!). Pont Saint Benezet is a 13th century bridge that was partially destroyed by floods of the Rhone river, but now spans 2/3 of the way across.
Carcassone is close to the French/Spanish border (apparently it was right on the border in times past) and the main attraction here is the Citadel. The Citadel is a massive two walled fortress which has a town inside the walls, as well as the obligatory palace and church. It is a great sight to behold and looked fantastic at night all lit up.
Next stop is Barcelona for 2 nights the Madrid, more soon.
We arrived at Cannes late in the afternoon and it was very warm. We walked down to the city centre and dangled our feet in the Mediterranean Sea, had dinner and went up to the Le Suquet, a castle at the top of a hill overlooking Cannes and the marina – great views. More walking around the town (used McDonalds for free internet) before heading back to the hotel.
After leaving Cannes we spent a day driving to Carcassonne via Avignon.
Avignon was once (13th century) the Papal seat for about 7 Popes and several Antipopes. The main sites here are the Papal palaces, the Cathedral and Pont Saint-Benezet. The cathedral had several tombs of the popes, but Lucy wasn’t allowed in because she was inappropriately attired! (Maybe they realised she was never baptisied!). Pont Saint Benezet is a 13th century bridge that was partially destroyed by floods of the Rhone river, but now spans 2/3 of the way across.
Carcassone is close to the French/Spanish border (apparently it was right on the border in times past) and the main attraction here is the Citadel. The Citadel is a massive two walled fortress which has a town inside the walls, as well as the obligatory palace and church. It is a great sight to behold and looked fantastic at night all lit up.
Next stop is Barcelona for 2 nights the Madrid, more soon.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Coach Trip Part 3: Rome, Pisa and Florence
ROME
The pace has been very hectic and it is surprising how tired you can get travelling long days on the coach – but someone has to do it!
Rome, “The Eternal City”, was fantastic (I’m running out of superlatives to describe places!). We arrived in Rome late in the afternoon and we hopped on a couple of buses to get to the Piazza Popolo, where there was an Obelisk (the first of many in Rome) and lovely statues, fountains, etc.. from here we went to the Spanish Steps and onto the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain, although crowded, was very tranquil and a magnificent work of art. As we made our way to the Vatican via Piazza Novona and Castel Santa Angelo and crossing the Tiber river, it seemed that around every second corner there was another monument/statue/etc. If it wasn’t the emperors of the Roman Empire building monuments to themselves it was the Popes!
The next morning, another early start, we lined up to go into the Vatican Museum/Sistene Chapel (only about 20 minutes wait – free tip get there about 8:00 am). Most of our Coach tour paid 52 euro each (~$80) to go on a guided tour and quick entry. We caught up with them inside, as we all had been given the audio headsets for the day we also got the commentary from the guide – except we paid 52 euro for all 5 of us!! (A big win!).
The museum was nice, but really everyone is there for the Sistene Chapel and it really was worth it. We sat there for about 45 minutes (listening to the guide) and truly amazed by the artwork.
From the Sistene Chapel, we went to St. Peter’s Basilica, if anyone ever tells you the Catholic church needs money, just send them to Rome! We have seen a lot of cathedrals and basilicas this year but St. Peter’s was out there by itself for magnificence! See the pics for an idea.
Next stop was the Colosseum, the boys were really looking forward to this – I think they were hoping to see some blood and guts! I was impressed that after 2000 years that it was still standing and in fairly well kept condition. We also visited the Forum, but the Forums that we saw in Athens and Ephesus (Turkey) were much better.
That evening we went back into Rome and wandered the streets, ate Pizza (you buy it by the weight) at the Trevi fountain and had one last look at some of the many sights of Rome. Like Paris I think you need at least 5 days in Rome – so we may have to come back another day!
PISA
The next day (I’ve lost track of the date and days of the week!) we headed off early, and as usual about an hour on the road the “oldies” needed a toilet stop. By early afternoon we had a short stop (about an hour) at Pisa. Along with the thousands of others there, we took our photos of the “Leaning Tower” and the went to our hotel in Signa (about 30 minutes from Florence). That evening we had dinner at the Pizzeria across the square from the hotel.
FLORENCE
Next morning (Sunday I think), we headed into Florence. The “David” trail began! We first went to the Gallery Accademia and saw Michaelangelo’s David (the real one) and it is a magnificent sculpture, the rest of the gallery had some modern works of Robert Maplethorpe and many 12th, 13th and 14th century artworks – all religious! Then we went to the Duomo, the medieval cathedral that took over 150 years to finish! After grabbing supplies for lunch, we went across the Arno river and up the hill to Piazza Michaelangelo, which gave panoramic views over Florence. One of the David replicas is up here, but has gone green because they stuffed up the cleaning of it! We had lunch overlooking Florence, then headed down to the Vecchio Bridge (full of jewellery shops) and then past the Uffizzi Gallery to see the third David (another replica). By mid afternoon (and it was very hot) we had had enough and caught the train back to the hotel.
We go to south of France next and then onto Spain later in the week.
Cheers for now!
PS Go Pies!
The pace has been very hectic and it is surprising how tired you can get travelling long days on the coach – but someone has to do it!
Rome, “The Eternal City”, was fantastic (I’m running out of superlatives to describe places!). We arrived in Rome late in the afternoon and we hopped on a couple of buses to get to the Piazza Popolo, where there was an Obelisk (the first of many in Rome) and lovely statues, fountains, etc.. from here we went to the Spanish Steps and onto the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain, although crowded, was very tranquil and a magnificent work of art. As we made our way to the Vatican via Piazza Novona and Castel Santa Angelo and crossing the Tiber river, it seemed that around every second corner there was another monument/statue/etc. If it wasn’t the emperors of the Roman Empire building monuments to themselves it was the Popes!
The next morning, another early start, we lined up to go into the Vatican Museum/Sistene Chapel (only about 20 minutes wait – free tip get there about 8:00 am). Most of our Coach tour paid 52 euro each (~$80) to go on a guided tour and quick entry. We caught up with them inside, as we all had been given the audio headsets for the day we also got the commentary from the guide – except we paid 52 euro for all 5 of us!! (A big win!).
The museum was nice, but really everyone is there for the Sistene Chapel and it really was worth it. We sat there for about 45 minutes (listening to the guide) and truly amazed by the artwork.
From the Sistene Chapel, we went to St. Peter’s Basilica, if anyone ever tells you the Catholic church needs money, just send them to Rome! We have seen a lot of cathedrals and basilicas this year but St. Peter’s was out there by itself for magnificence! See the pics for an idea.
Next stop was the Colosseum, the boys were really looking forward to this – I think they were hoping to see some blood and guts! I was impressed that after 2000 years that it was still standing and in fairly well kept condition. We also visited the Forum, but the Forums that we saw in Athens and Ephesus (Turkey) were much better.
That evening we went back into Rome and wandered the streets, ate Pizza (you buy it by the weight) at the Trevi fountain and had one last look at some of the many sights of Rome. Like Paris I think you need at least 5 days in Rome – so we may have to come back another day!
PISA
The next day (I’ve lost track of the date and days of the week!) we headed off early, and as usual about an hour on the road the “oldies” needed a toilet stop. By early afternoon we had a short stop (about an hour) at Pisa. Along with the thousands of others there, we took our photos of the “Leaning Tower” and the went to our hotel in Signa (about 30 minutes from Florence). That evening we had dinner at the Pizzeria across the square from the hotel.
FLORENCE
Next morning (Sunday I think), we headed into Florence. The “David” trail began! We first went to the Gallery Accademia and saw Michaelangelo’s David (the real one) and it is a magnificent sculpture, the rest of the gallery had some modern works of Robert Maplethorpe and many 12th, 13th and 14th century artworks – all religious! Then we went to the Duomo, the medieval cathedral that took over 150 years to finish! After grabbing supplies for lunch, we went across the Arno river and up the hill to Piazza Michaelangelo, which gave panoramic views over Florence. One of the David replicas is up here, but has gone green because they stuffed up the cleaning of it! We had lunch overlooking Florence, then headed down to the Vecchio Bridge (full of jewellery shops) and then past the Uffizzi Gallery to see the third David (another replica). By mid afternoon (and it was very hot) we had had enough and caught the train back to the hotel.
We go to south of France next and then onto Spain later in the week.
Cheers for now!
PS Go Pies!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Coach trip part 2 : Venice
Hi all,
We have just spent 2 nights in Venice and it is a truly remarkable place. Our hotel was about 15 km from Venice, so on the first night (the temperature was still 26 C at midnight!) we caught the local bus to Venice.
We started by having a pizza and beer on the edge of the Grand Canal near the Scalzi bridge (one of the 3 bridges that cross the Grand Canal. From here we walked to the Rialto Bridge (#2), with Kristin only stopping at every second shop! The Rialto has beautiful views along the Grand Canal and we were there as the sun was setting, so all the canal was lit up.
We then successfully got to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Plaza) the main centre of Venice without getting lost in the maze of alley ways, canals and bridges. There were bands playing for the diners at the restaurants on the Piazza. San Marco (the cathedral) looked very impressive and the façade was very ornate (see photos). We went around the corner to see the Bridge of Sighs and this was the only disappointing part of Venice. The building was being restored and only a little part of the bridge was visible! So we think the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford was better!
Next we walked to the 3rd bridge (Accademica) that crosses the Grand Canal on our way back to the bus stop. This wasn’t a problem, but for the next hour we took a wrong turn and ended up walking along the docks, so instead of a 20 minute walk it took 60! They say everyone gets lost in Venice! As a consequence we missed a bus by 2 minutes and had to wait another hour for the next! We were finally in bed by 12:30 am!
Wednesday morning we went back to Venice as a part of the “group sightseeing” day. We caught a motor boat along Canale Della Giudecca to San Marco. First we went to a glass blowing demonstration and showroom for the Murano glass. The products were not my cup of tea but you can appreciate the skill and style of the pieces. We then lined up (about 15 minutes) to go into San Marco cathedral, it was impressive but when you have seen so many cathedrals as we have this year, you get a bit “seen that before”, in fact later in the day we went into the church at Stefano (not far from San Marco) and it was much brighter and just as good (also no queues or many tourists!).
Billy, Andy and Lucy also went up the tower at Piazza San Marco (about 8 storeys) and it gave great views in all directions of Venice and its islands.
After some lunch we walked around more of Venice and the girls bought more trinkets!! Mid afternoon we went on a lagoon cruise and got off at the island of Burano. Originally a fishing village, now famous for lace making, The day finished with dinner at the hotel and a relatively early night, ready for the next start at 7:30 am and off to Assisi and Rome for 2 nights.
Ciao!
We have just spent 2 nights in Venice and it is a truly remarkable place. Our hotel was about 15 km from Venice, so on the first night (the temperature was still 26 C at midnight!) we caught the local bus to Venice.
We started by having a pizza and beer on the edge of the Grand Canal near the Scalzi bridge (one of the 3 bridges that cross the Grand Canal. From here we walked to the Rialto Bridge (#2), with Kristin only stopping at every second shop! The Rialto has beautiful views along the Grand Canal and we were there as the sun was setting, so all the canal was lit up.
We then successfully got to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Plaza) the main centre of Venice without getting lost in the maze of alley ways, canals and bridges. There were bands playing for the diners at the restaurants on the Piazza. San Marco (the cathedral) looked very impressive and the façade was very ornate (see photos). We went around the corner to see the Bridge of Sighs and this was the only disappointing part of Venice. The building was being restored and only a little part of the bridge was visible! So we think the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford was better!
Next we walked to the 3rd bridge (Accademica) that crosses the Grand Canal on our way back to the bus stop. This wasn’t a problem, but for the next hour we took a wrong turn and ended up walking along the docks, so instead of a 20 minute walk it took 60! They say everyone gets lost in Venice! As a consequence we missed a bus by 2 minutes and had to wait another hour for the next! We were finally in bed by 12:30 am!
Wednesday morning we went back to Venice as a part of the “group sightseeing” day. We caught a motor boat along Canale Della Giudecca to San Marco. First we went to a glass blowing demonstration and showroom for the Murano glass. The products were not my cup of tea but you can appreciate the skill and style of the pieces. We then lined up (about 15 minutes) to go into San Marco cathedral, it was impressive but when you have seen so many cathedrals as we have this year, you get a bit “seen that before”, in fact later in the day we went into the church at Stefano (not far from San Marco) and it was much brighter and just as good (also no queues or many tourists!).
Billy, Andy and Lucy also went up the tower at Piazza San Marco (about 8 storeys) and it gave great views in all directions of Venice and its islands.
After some lunch we walked around more of Venice and the girls bought more trinkets!! Mid afternoon we went on a lagoon cruise and got off at the island of Burano. Originally a fishing village, now famous for lace making, The day finished with dinner at the hotel and a relatively early night, ready for the next start at 7:30 am and off to Assisi and Rome for 2 nights.
Ciao!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Coach trip Part 1
London, Dover, Calais, Amsterdam, Heidelberg, Lucerne
Hi all,
We have covered a lot of ground in the last 5 days.
We left Cardiff Thursday morning and arrived in London about midday. We went for a walk from the hostel (King's Cross) into London, via the British Museum, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery and Portrait Gallery. Then late in the afternoon, we decided to go to Greenwich and see the Observatory and straddle the Prime Meridian of Longitude. As we returned to the hostel it started belting down with rain and didn't stop until the next morning, this aborted our dinner plans and we ended up eating in the hostel cafe.
Friday morning we had to catch a bus/coach to Dover, then get on a ferry and then join our tour group in Calais (France). We then had a very long drive through Belgium, then the Netherlands and arrived in Amsterdam at about 9 pm. A long day, but the hotel (Dorint) was fabulous and allegedly the best we will have for the whole tour!
Saturday morning started with a canal tour of Amsterdam and a diamond factory visit (managed to keep Kristin from buying anything!) and then a couple of hours around the city centre. The boys insisted that we went for a stroll through the Red Light District (well, Lucy hadn't been there before), then it was another lond trip to our accomodation in Hennef, Germany.
Another early start on Sunday to catch the 9:00 am boat cruise down the Rhine river from a pretty little town of Boppard. The 2 hour boat trip, was lovely and the scenery spectacular. If you have a look at the photos on the web albums you notcie the vineyards on very steep hills above the river. Besides the many castles there was also the Lorelely Rock, which has a tale about a mermaid/scorned lover/ etc..
After the boat crusie, our next stop (all too brief) was Heilelberg, a pretty medieval (now a university) town on the Neckar river. From Heidelberg we travelled to Lucerne in Switzerland (via France for a short time) in total about 700 km in the day!
Monday began with a walk around Lucerne, which is located a large lake and at the bottom of some large mountains. We visited the Lion's monument, built to commemorate the Swiss Guards who were killed trying to defend Louis XVI (?) and Marie Antoinette, not successfully obviously, and as a result this why the Swiss became neutral. Next was the visit to Stanserhorn (a relatively small mountain ~1900m) which involved a cog railway then a cable car trip to reach the summit. Up there were some great views looking towards other peaks and down on the lake and Lucerne. Back in Lucerne Billy and Declan each bought themselves genuine Swiss Army Knifes and they think they are very pleased with themselves!.
At he moment, we are driving through Switzerland and its amzing scenery and tunnels. One of the tunnels, St. Gothards, is 17 km long, third longest in the world.. Next stop is Lugano, then onto Verona (Italy and the last stop for the day is Venice.
Cheers for now.
Hi all,
We have covered a lot of ground in the last 5 days.
We left Cardiff Thursday morning and arrived in London about midday. We went for a walk from the hostel (King's Cross) into London, via the British Museum, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery and Portrait Gallery. Then late in the afternoon, we decided to go to Greenwich and see the Observatory and straddle the Prime Meridian of Longitude. As we returned to the hostel it started belting down with rain and didn't stop until the next morning, this aborted our dinner plans and we ended up eating in the hostel cafe.
Friday morning we had to catch a bus/coach to Dover, then get on a ferry and then join our tour group in Calais (France). We then had a very long drive through Belgium, then the Netherlands and arrived in Amsterdam at about 9 pm. A long day, but the hotel (Dorint) was fabulous and allegedly the best we will have for the whole tour!
Saturday morning started with a canal tour of Amsterdam and a diamond factory visit (managed to keep Kristin from buying anything!) and then a couple of hours around the city centre. The boys insisted that we went for a stroll through the Red Light District (well, Lucy hadn't been there before), then it was another lond trip to our accomodation in Hennef, Germany.
Another early start on Sunday to catch the 9:00 am boat cruise down the Rhine river from a pretty little town of Boppard. The 2 hour boat trip, was lovely and the scenery spectacular. If you have a look at the photos on the web albums you notcie the vineyards on very steep hills above the river. Besides the many castles there was also the Lorelely Rock, which has a tale about a mermaid/scorned lover/ etc..
After the boat crusie, our next stop (all too brief) was Heilelberg, a pretty medieval (now a university) town on the Neckar river. From Heidelberg we travelled to Lucerne in Switzerland (via France for a short time) in total about 700 km in the day!
Monday began with a walk around Lucerne, which is located a large lake and at the bottom of some large mountains. We visited the Lion's monument, built to commemorate the Swiss Guards who were killed trying to defend Louis XVI (?) and Marie Antoinette, not successfully obviously, and as a result this why the Swiss became neutral. Next was the visit to Stanserhorn (a relatively small mountain ~1900m) which involved a cog railway then a cable car trip to reach the summit. Up there were some great views looking towards other peaks and down on the lake and Lucerne. Back in Lucerne Billy and Declan each bought themselves genuine Swiss Army Knifes and they think they are very pleased with themselves!.
At he moment, we are driving through Switzerland and its amzing scenery and tunnels. One of the tunnels, St. Gothards, is 17 km long, third longest in the world.. Next stop is Lugano, then onto Verona (Italy and the last stop for the day is Venice.
Cheers for now.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Budapest
Hi all,
Budapest (capital of Hungary) was a great city to visit. We had an apartment for 2 days not far from the centre of town (Pest). The Danube splits Budapest into 2 parts, the hilly side (Buda) has the castle and the flat side (Pest) is the commercial/retail/.. area. The currency of hungary is the Forint - the exchange rate is something like 157 florint to A$1 - so they have big notes - e.g. 20000 Ft - so I'm thinking in Hungary, I could be a millionaire!!
For the first time on our tours we did a "Hop-On-Hop-Off" tour. Even though we enjoy the walking around the towns, it was quite enjoyable. It was 33 C, so it was probably a good idea! The buses are open topped and have a audio commentary via headsets. We did all the sites of Budapest, check the albums for photos, including the castle, citadel, heroes park, jewish synagogue, parliament etc.. As part of the ticket we also got a free 1 hour ride on the Danube. It went around Margaret Island and gave another view of the wonderful sites along the river, but must have been too much for Andy and Kristin as they both had a little nap!
Budapest had a very similar geography to Prague, but we enjoyed Budapest a lot more - maybe it wasn't as a "tourist city" as Prague. The streets were a lot more open.
Anyhow we arrived home in Cardiff for a couple of nights and guess what? Rain!! On Thursday we head off to London and Friday morning we start our coach tour. Hope all is well and will try to keep you informed of our travels.
cheers,
GO PIES!
Budapest (capital of Hungary) was a great city to visit. We had an apartment for 2 days not far from the centre of town (Pest). The Danube splits Budapest into 2 parts, the hilly side (Buda) has the castle and the flat side (Pest) is the commercial/retail/.. area. The currency of hungary is the Forint - the exchange rate is something like 157 florint to A$1 - so they have big notes - e.g. 20000 Ft - so I'm thinking in Hungary, I could be a millionaire!!
For the first time on our tours we did a "Hop-On-Hop-Off" tour. Even though we enjoy the walking around the towns, it was quite enjoyable. It was 33 C, so it was probably a good idea! The buses are open topped and have a audio commentary via headsets. We did all the sites of Budapest, check the albums for photos, including the castle, citadel, heroes park, jewish synagogue, parliament etc.. As part of the ticket we also got a free 1 hour ride on the Danube. It went around Margaret Island and gave another view of the wonderful sites along the river, but must have been too much for Andy and Kristin as they both had a little nap!
Budapest had a very similar geography to Prague, but we enjoyed Budapest a lot more - maybe it wasn't as a "tourist city" as Prague. The streets were a lot more open.
Anyhow we arrived home in Cardiff for a couple of nights and guess what? Rain!! On Thursday we head off to London and Friday morning we start our coach tour. Hope all is well and will try to keep you informed of our travels.
cheers,
GO PIES!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Vienna and the Danube
Hi all,
Just left Vienna on the hydrofoil to Budapest, along the Danube river.
Vienna was a very lovely city - we enjoyed it immensely.
Lucy joined us on Friday and we all stayed in our apartment (Opera suites), as the name implies it was next door to the Opera in the heart of Vienna. A great spot. There was even an Aussie bar around the corner. I went in there Fri. afternoon because they were showing the cricket live, bought a local brew (although I could have bought VB, Crownies, XXXX, Tooheys,etc..)watched 1 over then they went off for bad light!!!
Before Lucy arrived, we went for a short walk around the "Inner Strade", and were impressed with the buildings, cathedral, sculptures and open spaces. Not as grand as Paris but lots of similarities. friday evening, we had dinner, but only Lucy had a Wiener Schnitzel (Wien is the Austrian name for Vienna).
Saturday we spent the day walking around the "Ringstrasse", which has all the prominent museums, parliament, fountains, churches, monuments.... very pretty city! See web album to see the sites.
Sat. night dinner, I went for the Wiener Schnitzel washed down with a nice local brew (1516).
Sunday morning, we rose earlier to catch the hydrofoil to Budapest. The trip was about 6 hours long (inluded 2 half hour stops at locks) and overall not bad. The hydrofoil averages about 68 kmh and was very comfortable. For the majority of the trip there wasn't much to see, but there were some very pretty towns and cities along the way. We also passed Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, which sits on the Danube.
We have been blessed with the weather so far, most days for the past two weeks has been between 25 and 30 C. Yesterday on the hydrofoil was about 33 C and when we arrived in Budapest at 3pm it was very warm and a bit humid.
Will write about Budapest in a few days, but so far it looks great!
Just left Vienna on the hydrofoil to Budapest, along the Danube river.
Vienna was a very lovely city - we enjoyed it immensely.
Lucy joined us on Friday and we all stayed in our apartment (Opera suites), as the name implies it was next door to the Opera in the heart of Vienna. A great spot. There was even an Aussie bar around the corner. I went in there Fri. afternoon because they were showing the cricket live, bought a local brew (although I could have bought VB, Crownies, XXXX, Tooheys,etc..)watched 1 over then they went off for bad light!!!
Before Lucy arrived, we went for a short walk around the "Inner Strade", and were impressed with the buildings, cathedral, sculptures and open spaces. Not as grand as Paris but lots of similarities. friday evening, we had dinner, but only Lucy had a Wiener Schnitzel (Wien is the Austrian name for Vienna).
Saturday we spent the day walking around the "Ringstrasse", which has all the prominent museums, parliament, fountains, churches, monuments.... very pretty city! See web album to see the sites.
Sat. night dinner, I went for the Wiener Schnitzel washed down with a nice local brew (1516).
Sunday morning, we rose earlier to catch the hydrofoil to Budapest. The trip was about 6 hours long (inluded 2 half hour stops at locks) and overall not bad. The hydrofoil averages about 68 kmh and was very comfortable. For the majority of the trip there wasn't much to see, but there were some very pretty towns and cities along the way. We also passed Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, which sits on the Danube.
We have been blessed with the weather so far, most days for the past two weeks has been between 25 and 30 C. Yesterday on the hydrofoil was about 33 C and when we arrived in Budapest at 3pm it was very warm and a bit humid.
Will write about Budapest in a few days, but so far it looks great!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Prague
Hi all,
We had a lovely train trip from Berlin - very comfortable!
Prague was very different to Berlin and Paris. It was a lot more compact and therefore looked very busy. The main sights of Prague included the Prague Castle, Astronomical clock (slightly disappointing - 45 seconds and the show is over!), Charles Bridge and the many old buildings.
Kristin enjoyed the shops (Andy and the boys not so much!), Andy sampled several different beers and didn't find a bad one and the boys once again were the perfect travellers.
cheers fro now, next blog will be from Vienna then Budapest. (We are in Vienna now and the city is lovely - more like Paris/Berlin - off to Budapest on the Danube Sunday on a hydrofoil!)
Cheers!
We had a lovely train trip from Berlin - very comfortable!
Prague was very different to Berlin and Paris. It was a lot more compact and therefore looked very busy. The main sights of Prague included the Prague Castle, Astronomical clock (slightly disappointing - 45 seconds and the show is over!), Charles Bridge and the many old buildings.
Kristin enjoyed the shops (Andy and the boys not so much!), Andy sampled several different beers and didn't find a bad one and the boys once again were the perfect travellers.
cheers fro now, next blog will be from Vienna then Budapest. (We are in Vienna now and the city is lovely - more like Paris/Berlin - off to Budapest on the Danube Sunday on a hydrofoil!)
Cheers!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
2 days in Berlin
Hi all,
We are currently on the train from Berlin to Prague. Berlin was very enjoyable.
After catching the plane from Paris (and sitting next to the only other Aussie on the Plane besides us four) we caught a bus to our hotel in the Charlottenburg area of Berlin.
Charlottenburg was a lovely area with some very expensive shops (but I managed to keep Kristin away from these!) and splendid tree-lined avenues.
Once we settled in we went for a walk, our first “tourist” site was the KaiserWilhelm Gedachtnis Kirche, This was a church that had been bombed in 1945 and only the tower part remains.
Next, we walked through the Tiergarten (giant Berlin park), pass the Zoo to the Siegessaule (the Victory Column). The column had a (very) long spiral staircase, which led to a lookout platform had great 360 degree views of Berlin. From here we walked pass the Chancellor’s residence, by accident and then onto the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Tor.
We then head back to the hotel, through the Tiergarten, stopping for a drink in the square near the Europa Centre. All up the walk was about 12 km!! We went out for dinner – souvlakis and beers in the park.
Tuesday was a whole new holiday experience for us. We hired bikes. Berlin is very flat, the name means boggy marsh. We all enjoyed a different form of touring around a city. In total we rode about 45 km and saw the following: Victory Column, Tiergarten, Brandenburg Tor, Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, remains of the Berlin Wall, Museum area, East Side Gallery, Schloss Charlottenburg, Rathaus area and lots, lots, more. After a small rest, we went out for dinner and again had Doner Kebabs and drinks.
Cheers for now! All pics have been posted.
We are currently on the train from Berlin to Prague. Berlin was very enjoyable.
After catching the plane from Paris (and sitting next to the only other Aussie on the Plane besides us four) we caught a bus to our hotel in the Charlottenburg area of Berlin.
Charlottenburg was a lovely area with some very expensive shops (but I managed to keep Kristin away from these!) and splendid tree-lined avenues.
Once we settled in we went for a walk, our first “tourist” site was the KaiserWilhelm Gedachtnis Kirche, This was a church that had been bombed in 1945 and only the tower part remains.
Next, we walked through the Tiergarten (giant Berlin park), pass the Zoo to the Siegessaule (the Victory Column). The column had a (very) long spiral staircase, which led to a lookout platform had great 360 degree views of Berlin. From here we walked pass the Chancellor’s residence, by accident and then onto the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Tor.
We then head back to the hotel, through the Tiergarten, stopping for a drink in the square near the Europa Centre. All up the walk was about 12 km!! We went out for dinner – souvlakis and beers in the park.
Tuesday was a whole new holiday experience for us. We hired bikes. Berlin is very flat, the name means boggy marsh. We all enjoyed a different form of touring around a city. In total we rode about 45 km and saw the following: Victory Column, Tiergarten, Brandenburg Tor, Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, remains of the Berlin Wall, Museum area, East Side Gallery, Schloss Charlottenburg, Rathaus area and lots, lots, more. After a small rest, we went out for dinner and again had Doner Kebabs and drinks.
Cheers for now! All pics have been posted.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Paris Day 6 & 7
Saturday started with meeting up with Mike (who we met from the Turkey trip earlier in the year). By coincidence he was staying at a hostel(called The Peace and Love) 150m from our apartment.
We started the day by catching the metro to the George Pompidou Centre. A modern building, built inside out, we went to the top and got a good view of Paris.(see photos).
Next, we wandered down towards Notre Dame, going pass a concert, where had some lunch. from here we walked along the Rive Gauche (left bank of The Seine) until the Musee d'Orsay.
We fulfilled our cultural obligations for the day by going inside, and we were careful not to confuse the Monets with the Manets. There were also some other famous works, including Whistler's Mother (a portrait in grey and black), Van Gogh's, Rodin sculptures, Renoir, etc... but after 2 to 3 hours we had all had enough!
From here we continued along the river passing the National Assembely, then across the bridge to the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. We crossed the Champs Elysees, checking if all was ready for the cycling tomorrow, and headed north. By accident we walked pass the French President's residence and through the richest part of Paris I think. We finally bumped into the Madeleine.
Here we caught the metro home as a beer around here was about 7 euro!
In the evening, we ate Indian food and had a few Kingfishers to wash it down. After that we decided to have a last drink at a corner cafe/bar - ended paying 7.20 euro (about $12) for a single beer!!!!
On Sunday, we met up with Mike and 2 other young Adelaide boys, Mark and Nathan, that shared Mike's hostel room. Mark and Nathan were two-thirds of the way through a fun-filled European vacation and were having the time of their lives. (I think partying was higher on the list than sight-seeing!)
We all had lunch on the lawns in front of The Hotel des Invalides, which for the young lads consisted of 4 or 5 cans of beer! Kept cold by packs of frozen vegies!
At about 3:00 pm we headed to the Champs Elysees to watch the cycling. It was packed! We picked a spot where you could see a big video screen, about 100 m from the finish, but it was limited viewing, lots of people brought their step ladders! The atmosphere was fantastic and a real buzz. The Caravanne of sponsors went by for an hour, but no freebies! Finally the cyclists arrived and flashed pass us 8 times up and down the Champs Elysees. We were about 50m behind the podium for the presentations. A great spectacle and enjoyable day.
After an early night, we headed to Berlin Monday morning.
More on that soon, au revoir. (I'm trying to upload photos daily - so keep an eye out!)
We started the day by catching the metro to the George Pompidou Centre. A modern building, built inside out, we went to the top and got a good view of Paris.(see photos).
Next, we wandered down towards Notre Dame, going pass a concert, where had some lunch. from here we walked along the Rive Gauche (left bank of The Seine) until the Musee d'Orsay.
We fulfilled our cultural obligations for the day by going inside, and we were careful not to confuse the Monets with the Manets. There were also some other famous works, including Whistler's Mother (a portrait in grey and black), Van Gogh's, Rodin sculptures, Renoir, etc... but after 2 to 3 hours we had all had enough!
From here we continued along the river passing the National Assembely, then across the bridge to the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. We crossed the Champs Elysees, checking if all was ready for the cycling tomorrow, and headed north. By accident we walked pass the French President's residence and through the richest part of Paris I think. We finally bumped into the Madeleine.
Here we caught the metro home as a beer around here was about 7 euro!
In the evening, we ate Indian food and had a few Kingfishers to wash it down. After that we decided to have a last drink at a corner cafe/bar - ended paying 7.20 euro (about $12) for a single beer!!!!
On Sunday, we met up with Mike and 2 other young Adelaide boys, Mark and Nathan, that shared Mike's hostel room. Mark and Nathan were two-thirds of the way through a fun-filled European vacation and were having the time of their lives. (I think partying was higher on the list than sight-seeing!)
We all had lunch on the lawns in front of The Hotel des Invalides, which for the young lads consisted of 4 or 5 cans of beer! Kept cold by packs of frozen vegies!
At about 3:00 pm we headed to the Champs Elysees to watch the cycling. It was packed! We picked a spot where you could see a big video screen, about 100 m from the finish, but it was limited viewing, lots of people brought their step ladders! The atmosphere was fantastic and a real buzz. The Caravanne of sponsors went by for an hour, but no freebies! Finally the cyclists arrived and flashed pass us 8 times up and down the Champs Elysees. We were about 50m behind the podium for the presentations. A great spectacle and enjoyable day.
After an early night, we headed to Berlin Monday morning.
More on that soon, au revoir. (I'm trying to upload photos daily - so keep an eye out!)
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Paris Days 4 & 5
Hi all,
we are having a great time in Paris. On Thursday, we walked to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, along the canal and went via L'Republique monument (they really know how to build monuments and memorials here!). At the cemetery, we saw the graves of Chopin, Jim Morrison, Edif Piaf, Oscar wilde and many more.
From the cemetery we caught the metro into town and walked down from the Bourse to the Louvre. We went inside and it wasn't just the magnificient art works that impressed me, but the building itself is something else! We pushed against the hundreds to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa (Da Vinci could have made it bigger!!!!). The other great art pieces we saw were: The Wedding Feast at Cana, The Raft of Medusa, The Club Footed Boy, Venus de Milo (and about 5 million othe sculptures) and many other wonderful works. The Napolean III apartments were amazing.
After all this we had a quiet evening back at the apartment!
On Friday, we started by catching the Metro to La Sorbonne. the Sorbonne was an interesting enough building but we were pleasantly surprised when we ran into the Pantheon. It is truly a magnificient building - once a church but now a National monument. Under the Pantheon, in the Crypt are the tombs of the famous French (mainly republicans and a few othe noteworthies.
From the Pantheon, we headed to the Jardin Du Luxembourg, where there is a palace (now I think the Senate building), lovely gardens and the Medici fountain.
Next on the agenda, we walked (sounds like too much walking to me!) to the Hotel des Invalides. In the church is Napoleans Tomb, and a few other famous French people. The whole building for the hospital is massive and is located in a very central place of Paris.
We decided from here to walk to the Ecole Militaire (Military School) and then have another look at the Eiffel Tower and have a late lunch on the lawns. The skies started to get grey so we decided we would cross the river and look at the Tower from the other side. Half way across the bridge it started pissing down, so we seeked cover under the bridge (Pont d'lena).
The view of the Eiffel Tower from the Trocodero side is probably the best. It was getting late in the day so we headed back to our apartment.
In the evening, Andy and Kristin went for a nice stroll along the canal at La Villette. Very romantic!! We had a quick drink with our neighbour, Julian, who happened to be a wine merchant (who could speak really good English) and he gave us a taste of a fantastic red wine they were drinking - sensational!
That's all for now, great win to the Pies! All pics are on the web, and today we are off to see more of wonderful Paris and the tomorrow we'll be on the Champs Elysees watching the finish of the Le Tour de France!
Au Revoir,
we are having a great time in Paris. On Thursday, we walked to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, along the canal and went via L'Republique monument (they really know how to build monuments and memorials here!). At the cemetery, we saw the graves of Chopin, Jim Morrison, Edif Piaf, Oscar wilde and many more.
From the cemetery we caught the metro into town and walked down from the Bourse to the Louvre. We went inside and it wasn't just the magnificient art works that impressed me, but the building itself is something else! We pushed against the hundreds to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa (Da Vinci could have made it bigger!!!!). The other great art pieces we saw were: The Wedding Feast at Cana, The Raft of Medusa, The Club Footed Boy, Venus de Milo (and about 5 million othe sculptures) and many other wonderful works. The Napolean III apartments were amazing.
After all this we had a quiet evening back at the apartment!
On Friday, we started by catching the Metro to La Sorbonne. the Sorbonne was an interesting enough building but we were pleasantly surprised when we ran into the Pantheon. It is truly a magnificient building - once a church but now a National monument. Under the Pantheon, in the Crypt are the tombs of the famous French (mainly republicans and a few othe noteworthies.
From the Pantheon, we headed to the Jardin Du Luxembourg, where there is a palace (now I think the Senate building), lovely gardens and the Medici fountain.
Next on the agenda, we walked (sounds like too much walking to me!) to the Hotel des Invalides. In the church is Napoleans Tomb, and a few other famous French people. The whole building for the hospital is massive and is located in a very central place of Paris.
We decided from here to walk to the Ecole Militaire (Military School) and then have another look at the Eiffel Tower and have a late lunch on the lawns. The skies started to get grey so we decided we would cross the river and look at the Tower from the other side. Half way across the bridge it started pissing down, so we seeked cover under the bridge (Pont d'lena).
The view of the Eiffel Tower from the Trocodero side is probably the best. It was getting late in the day so we headed back to our apartment.
In the evening, Andy and Kristin went for a nice stroll along the canal at La Villette. Very romantic!! We had a quick drink with our neighbour, Julian, who happened to be a wine merchant (who could speak really good English) and he gave us a taste of a fantastic red wine they were drinking - sensational!
That's all for now, great win to the Pies! All pics are on the web, and today we are off to see more of wonderful Paris and the tomorrow we'll be on the Champs Elysees watching the finish of the Le Tour de France!
Au Revoir,
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Last Week- Races, Manchester and Paris Days 1,2 and 3
Hi all,
We are in Paris, but I thought I'd better write something leading up to Paris first.
Last week was the last week of school until early September (it is going to take something disastrous to wipe the smile of my face!). The highlight (and lowlight) of the last week was the School trip to go Paintballing. I went with both Declan and Billy and about 45 kids and 5 staff. It was quite enjoyable, except for the student who put a couple of marbles in with the paintballs. They would have killed someone if he wasn't caught!
On Saturday I went to Newbury races (about 2 hour drive) on a bus trip and got home about midnight - enjoyable day but paid for it the next day. The races were of a good standard and betting wise I left the track 8 pounds up. From the race track we went to Chepstow and"invaded" a club, where there were lots of drinks and singing - the highlight being "Down Under" and "Waltzing Matilda".
Sunday morning, we drove to Manchester to meet Linda and Doug, who had flown in from Melbourne on the way to Scotland. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel where they were staying - Midlands Hotel, afterwards we had a little wander around the city and then headed home. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day. On they way home we went via Old Trafford and the the new football stadium of Manchester United.
Early Monday morning we caught a plane from Cardiff to Paris and arrived at our Apartment at about 1:00 pm. After settling in we went for a walk to Sacre Coeur. It has magnificent views over Paris and the mosaic (sorry, no photos) inside the cathedral is worth the visit.
From Sacre Coeur, we walked to the Moulin Rouge and then back to our apartment. That evening Tania and Jeff Cornish come over and we had lots of fun drinking, laughing and generally being silly!
Tuesday morning was very slow but we walked into the heart of Paris, where we saw the Louvre, La Seine, Notre Dame and the Bastille, by this stage Kristin and Andy (to a small degree) were spent, so we caught the Metro home for a kip. Tuesday evening we went to the Eiffel Tower, where we met Tania and Jeff for drinks and had our dinner on the lawns (there may have been a drink or two,... Tan, Jeff, Kristin and the boys at about 10 pm climbed the first 2 levels of the tower (about 700 steps), while Andy minded the bags and gear. We also had a bit of fun buying trinkets and more beers from the Somalian touts! We arrived home about 1 am.
Wednesday, we caught the metro to the Arc de Triomphe, did the tourist things and then wandered down the Champs Elysees back to the Louvre. What a fantastic avenue and everywhere you looked you can see some of the most wonderful building and landmarks that Paris has to offer.
It is late Wednesday afternoon, and we are back in our apartment having a quiet beer watching the Tour de France (pity about Cadel not doing well! - I'll have a word to him on Sunday!) and are expecting Tania and Jeff over for a good-bye drink (they leave tomorrow morning).
Au revoir for now.
PS all the pics are going up each day.
We are in Paris, but I thought I'd better write something leading up to Paris first.
Last week was the last week of school until early September (it is going to take something disastrous to wipe the smile of my face!). The highlight (and lowlight) of the last week was the School trip to go Paintballing. I went with both Declan and Billy and about 45 kids and 5 staff. It was quite enjoyable, except for the student who put a couple of marbles in with the paintballs. They would have killed someone if he wasn't caught!
On Saturday I went to Newbury races (about 2 hour drive) on a bus trip and got home about midnight - enjoyable day but paid for it the next day. The races were of a good standard and betting wise I left the track 8 pounds up. From the race track we went to Chepstow and"invaded" a club, where there were lots of drinks and singing - the highlight being "Down Under" and "Waltzing Matilda".
Sunday morning, we drove to Manchester to meet Linda and Doug, who had flown in from Melbourne on the way to Scotland. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel where they were staying - Midlands Hotel, afterwards we had a little wander around the city and then headed home. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day. On they way home we went via Old Trafford and the the new football stadium of Manchester United.
Early Monday morning we caught a plane from Cardiff to Paris and arrived at our Apartment at about 1:00 pm. After settling in we went for a walk to Sacre Coeur. It has magnificent views over Paris and the mosaic (sorry, no photos) inside the cathedral is worth the visit.
From Sacre Coeur, we walked to the Moulin Rouge and then back to our apartment. That evening Tania and Jeff Cornish come over and we had lots of fun drinking, laughing and generally being silly!
Tuesday morning was very slow but we walked into the heart of Paris, where we saw the Louvre, La Seine, Notre Dame and the Bastille, by this stage Kristin and Andy (to a small degree) were spent, so we caught the Metro home for a kip. Tuesday evening we went to the Eiffel Tower, where we met Tania and Jeff for drinks and had our dinner on the lawns (there may have been a drink or two,... Tan, Jeff, Kristin and the boys at about 10 pm climbed the first 2 levels of the tower (about 700 steps), while Andy minded the bags and gear. We also had a bit of fun buying trinkets and more beers from the Somalian touts! We arrived home about 1 am.
Wednesday, we caught the metro to the Arc de Triomphe, did the tourist things and then wandered down the Champs Elysees back to the Louvre. What a fantastic avenue and everywhere you looked you can see some of the most wonderful building and landmarks that Paris has to offer.
It is late Wednesday afternoon, and we are back in our apartment having a quiet beer watching the Tour de France (pity about Cadel not doing well! - I'll have a word to him on Sunday!) and are expecting Tania and Jeff over for a good-bye drink (they leave tomorrow morning).
Au revoir for now.
PS all the pics are going up each day.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Stratford-upon-Avon, Castles and Cricket
Hi all,
Been a very busy week (9 days). It started last Saturday, when all 5 of us went to Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a very pretty little town with lots of tourists. We first dropped in at Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife) house and then into the town itself. We wandered around and saw the sights of Stratford-upon-Avon. From here we headed to Warwick, where we had lunch in the park. From Warwick we drove through Kenilworth then off to Hereford. Hereford had a nice Cathedral and was a typical British town. From Hereford we started to head back to Cardiff via Hay-on-Wye and Brecon.
Sunday morning, Andy and Declan took Lucy to Caerphilly Castle and Castle Coch.
Lucy left for Amsterdam on Monday and then went to Brussels and Brugge and by the time you read this she will be on her way to Milan and returning to Cardiff on Thursday evening.
Andy played skittles again on Tuesday and had his best round so far: 33 (25 is considered par)
The rest of the week was cricket, cricket, cricket! The first Ashes test was in Cardiff. The boys went on Day 1 and was very enjoyable. On Day 4 we all went and had a very good day even though the last session was washed out (ultimately this cost Australia the test!). We have just arrived home from Day 5 - a fantastic day's cricket - unfortunately Monty Panesar and James Anderson somehow held us out for 11 overs. The English (& Welsh) crowd were carrying on like they had won the test, but the signs look good for the Aussies for the rest of the series.
Anyhow last week of school for the academic year and then 6 weeks off - Whoopee! All pics have been posted on the Web Albums,
Cheers,
Andy
PS Another good win for the Pies!! (Any sponsors for a return trip home, if we make the GF?)
Been a very busy week (9 days). It started last Saturday, when all 5 of us went to Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a very pretty little town with lots of tourists. We first dropped in at Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife) house and then into the town itself. We wandered around and saw the sights of Stratford-upon-Avon. From here we headed to Warwick, where we had lunch in the park. From Warwick we drove through Kenilworth then off to Hereford. Hereford had a nice Cathedral and was a typical British town. From Hereford we started to head back to Cardiff via Hay-on-Wye and Brecon.
Sunday morning, Andy and Declan took Lucy to Caerphilly Castle and Castle Coch.
Lucy left for Amsterdam on Monday and then went to Brussels and Brugge and by the time you read this she will be on her way to Milan and returning to Cardiff on Thursday evening.
Andy played skittles again on Tuesday and had his best round so far: 33 (25 is considered par)
The rest of the week was cricket, cricket, cricket! The first Ashes test was in Cardiff. The boys went on Day 1 and was very enjoyable. On Day 4 we all went and had a very good day even though the last session was washed out (ultimately this cost Australia the test!). We have just arrived home from Day 5 - a fantastic day's cricket - unfortunately Monty Panesar and James Anderson somehow held us out for 11 overs. The English (& Welsh) crowd were carrying on like they had won the test, but the signs look good for the Aussies for the rest of the series.
Anyhow last week of school for the academic year and then 6 weeks off - Whoopee! All pics have been posted on the Web Albums,
Cheers,
Andy
PS Another good win for the Pies!! (Any sponsors for a return trip home, if we make the GF?)
Friday, July 3, 2009
Wimbledon, Skittles and Cricket
Hi all,
Kristin and Lucy went to London last Sunday and the boys "batched" it for a few days. The highlight of the trip was the visit to Wimbledon - a 3 hour wait in the queue - but Kristin is still talking about it! They sat on "Henman Hill" or is that now "Murray Mound" and watched Lleyton win and then Murray play the first game under the roof.
Kristin and Lucy went to London last Sunday and the boys "batched" it for a few days. The highlight of the trip was the visit to Wimbledon - a 3 hour wait in the queue - but Kristin is still talking about it! They sat on "Henman Hill" or is that now "Murray Mound" and watched Lleyton win and then Murray play the first game under the roof.
Lucy has got her new passport and will start travelling again next week - Amsterdam is probably the first stop.
Andy played his fourth game of Skittles this week. I am playing in a team with Sarah's father
and brother. The expression, "its not all beer and skittles" is certainly not apt for skittles, because that all it is! Anyhow we have won 3 of the 4 games that I played in. Our only loss was to an all female team, who's youngest member was about 60! Personally I have scored 13 (terrible), 18 (better), 23 (even better) and 28 (respectable) - I don't think there is much more room for improvement, but certainly for more beers!
During the week the staff at Michaelston played a cricket match (20/20) against another staff of a local high school. We were a couple short, so Billy and Declan.jpg)
played also. They both did very well, Billy 40 n.o. and Declan took 3 wickets. Andy ended up with a sore knee again!! As well as hitting some big 6's.
This weekend we may go for a drive to Stratford-Upon-Avon (Will Shakespeare) and looking forward to the Ashes Test match next week in Cardiff. We are going Days 1, 4 & 5.
Cheers,
Andy
PS Great win to the Pies!! All Photos on the Web albums.
Andy played his fourth game of Skittles this week. I am playing in a team with Sarah's father
and brother. The expression, "its not all beer and skittles" is certainly not apt for skittles, because that all it is! Anyhow we have won 3 of the 4 games that I played in. Our only loss was to an all female team, who's youngest member was about 60! Personally I have scored 13 (terrible), 18 (better), 23 (even better) and 28 (respectable) - I don't think there is much more room for improvement, but certainly for more beers!During the week the staff at Michaelston played a cricket match (20/20) against another staff of a local high school. We were a couple short, so Billy and Declan
played also. They both did very well, Billy 40 n.o. and Declan took 3 wickets. Andy ended up with a sore knee again!! As well as hitting some big 6's.This weekend we may go for a drive to Stratford-Upon-Avon (Will Shakespeare) and looking forward to the Ashes Test match next week in Cardiff. We are going Days 1, 4 & 5.
Cheers,
Andy
PS Great win to the Pies!! All Photos on the Web albums.
PPS It appears Murray is now no longer British but just Scottish!!!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Lucy gets back from Prague - Oxford revisited
Hi all,
It has been a long week here!
Anyhow, Lucy got back Thursday pm from Prague and was in pretty good spirits - I think we did more worrying!!
Had a fun couple of days organising some money to be sent to Prague (Western Union) and then organising through the Consulate in Prague and Embassy in London to get her back to the UK. Lucy was able to get a Provisional Travel Document (a one way use document) and I arranged a flight to Bristol.
We all went to Oxford on Saturday and showed Lucy around - Lucy also bought a new camera. I'll be glad when her new Credit card arrives!!! On the way home we went to Tintern Abbey (near Chepstow). Photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
Lucy and Kristin Went to London (to organise the new passport) on Sunday and went to Wimbledon and will arrive home this evening.
Thanks to all who sent emails and contact details - all seems to be sorted.
cheers,
Andy
It has been a long week here!
Anyhow, Lucy got back Thursday pm from Prague and was in pretty good spirits - I think we did more worrying!!
Had a fun couple of days organising some money to be sent to Prague (Western Union) and then organising through the Consulate in Prague and Embassy in London to get her back to the UK. Lucy was able to get a Provisional Travel Document (a one way use document) and I arranged a flight to Bristol.
We all went to Oxford on Saturday and showed Lucy around - Lucy also bought a new camera. I'll be glad when her new Credit card arrives!!! On the way home we went to Tintern Abbey (near Chepstow). Photos have been posted on the Web Albums.
Lucy and Kristin Went to London (to organise the new passport) on Sunday and went to Wimbledon and will arrive home this evening.
Thanks to all who sent emails and contact details - all seems to be sorted.
cheers,
Andy
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Pembrokeshire:Meeting Russell Crowe...well almost!
Hi all, 
We just spent a weekend at Tenby in a 3 bedroom on-site van at Kiln Park. The van belongs to one of Kristin's workmates and it is almost as big as the house we are living in Cardiff!!! Kiln Park is like a little town, it would have about 300 vans like the one we stayed in, a small supermarket, a bar, a Burger King, Fish & Chip shop, Indoor and outdoor pool, a huge entertainment complex, next door to the Golf Course, etc... The park is located about a 15-20 minute walk along a wide sandy beach from the
Tenby town centre. We arrived Friday evening.
On Saturday, we went touring of the South West corner of Wales, Pembrokeshire. From Tenby we headed to Manorbier, which has the obligatory castle and also a nice little sandy beach. We travelled along the coast (although no sights from the road) until we arrived at a beautiful beach at Broadhaven South (actually nowhere near Broadhaven!!), being National Trust members we got free parking! The man at the gate was extremely helpful and pointed out where else we should go - including meeting Russell
Crowe!! the Broadhaven south beach was very pretty in a cove with a very big beach (tide was way out). Next stop around the corner was St.Govan's. At St.Govan's there is a chapel (built about 600 AD) on the cliff face above the water - see pics. Personally I couldn't think of a worse place to build a chapel!
Next stop was Stack Rocks and Green Bridge, which is located next to the tank firing range. From here we headed to Freshwater West, a mile long surf beach. On the beach was the film
set for Russell Crowe's next movie, Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott. The set-up here for the film was something you had to see to believe. The latest Harry Potter movie was also filmed here the week earlier. We spent about an hour and a half watching several takes of long boats landing and horses charging, camp fires, smoke bombs, helicopter camera shots,etc.. There would have been close to 300 actors and 100 horses in the scenes. On the Web Albums there are several movies and lots of pics. Rusty was a bit busy to talk to us, but I'm sure if time permitted he would have!! It 
was amazing to see the work behind the filming of a scene. Apparently the scene was about French soldiers arriving at Dover, they will use CGI to make the sand dune cliffs white.
From Freshwater we went through Pembroke (another castle - I've been reliably informed that there 365 castles in Wales - one for each day of the year!) and then headed to St. David's. St. David's is the spiritual capital of Wales and also the smallest city in the UK (Wells is the smallest in England). It has city status because of St. David's Cathedral, but it is no more than a big village.
We headed home to Tenby and walked into town for dinner. In the town centre there was few Hen's nights going on and there were plenty of pissed people (8
pm) - I'm sure they had an early start watching the British Lions lose in rugby to Sth. Africa.
On Sunday we went into Tenby again to catch a boat for a trip to Caldey Island, but the boats don't run on Sundays!! So we had lunch and packed up and headed back to Cardiff.
Cheers.
View Pembroke Peninsula in a larger map
We just spent a weekend at Tenby in a 3 bedroom on-site van at Kiln Park. The van belongs to one of Kristin's workmates and it is almost as big as the house we are living in Cardiff!!! Kiln Park is like a little town, it would have about 300 vans like the one we stayed in, a small supermarket, a bar, a Burger King, Fish & Chip shop, Indoor and outdoor pool, a huge entertainment complex, next door to the Golf Course, etc... The park is located about a 15-20 minute walk along a wide sandy beach from the
Tenby town centre. We arrived Friday evening.On Saturday, we went touring of the South West corner of Wales, Pembrokeshire. From Tenby we headed to Manorbier, which has the obligatory castle and also a nice little sandy beach. We travelled along the coast (although no sights from the road) until we arrived at a beautiful beach at Broadhaven South (actually nowhere near Broadhaven!!), being National Trust members we got free parking! The man at the gate was extremely helpful and pointed out where else we should go - including meeting Russell
Crowe!! the Broadhaven south beach was very pretty in a cove with a very big beach (tide was way out). Next stop around the corner was St.Govan's. At St.Govan's there is a chapel (built about 600 AD) on the cliff face above the water - see pics. Personally I couldn't think of a worse place to build a chapel!Next stop was Stack Rocks and Green Bridge, which is located next to the tank firing range. From here we headed to Freshwater West, a mile long surf beach. On the beach was the film
set for Russell Crowe's next movie, Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott. The set-up here for the film was something you had to see to believe. The latest Harry Potter movie was also filmed here the week earlier. We spent about an hour and a half watching several takes of long boats landing and horses charging, camp fires, smoke bombs, helicopter camera shots,etc.. There would have been close to 300 actors and 100 horses in the scenes. On the Web Albums there are several movies and lots of pics. Rusty was a bit busy to talk to us, but I'm sure if time permitted he would have!! It was amazing to see the work behind the filming of a scene. Apparently the scene was about French soldiers arriving at Dover, they will use CGI to make the sand dune cliffs white.From Freshwater we went through Pembroke (another castle - I've been reliably informed that there 365 castles in Wales - one for each day of the year!) and then headed to St. David's. St. David's is the spiritual capital of Wales and also the smallest city in the UK (Wells is the smallest in England). It has city status because of St. David's Cathedral, but it is no more than a big village.
We headed home to Tenby and walked into town for dinner. In the town centre there was few Hen's nights going on and there were plenty of pissed people (8
pm) - I'm sure they had an early start watching the British Lions lose in rugby to Sth. Africa.On Sunday we went into Tenby again to catch a boat for a trip to Caldey Island, but the boats don't run on Sundays!! So we had lunch and packed up and headed back to Cardiff.
Cheers.
View Pembroke Peninsula in a larger map
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Latest Happenings!
Hi all, 
In the last few weeks we have been doing a lot of different things, besides the mundane work and school. Last Saturday, we all (incl. Lucy) went back to Avebury, Stonehenge, Bath and Bristol (photos posted). Lucy really enjoyed this, boys were a bit 'ho-hum' and Kristin and I saw more things that we didn't see the first time. As we got close to Cardiff we were caught in a big downpour (1 to 2 inches) and the only trouble was poor vision and going through a huge puddle on the motorway at 60 mph!
In the last few weeks we have been doing a lot of different things, besides the mundane work and school. Last Saturday, we all (incl. Lucy) went back to Avebury, Stonehenge, Bath and Bristol (photos posted). Lucy really enjoyed this, boys were a bit 'ho-hum' and Kristin and I saw more things that we didn't see the first time. As we got close to Cardiff we were caught in a big downpour (1 to 2 inches) and the only trouble was poor vision and going through a huge puddle on the motorway at 60 mph!
On Sunday, Billy and Andy went to the Welsh Golf Open, a part of the European tour. It was at 
the Celtic Manor, the location for the 2010 Ryder Cup. We followed Richard Green (Aussie) for most of the afternoon, he finished 5th. Lucy, Kristin and Declan went into Cardiff and spent the afternoon at the Cardiff Castle.
the Celtic Manor, the location for the 2010 Ryder Cup. We followed Richard Green (Aussie) for most of the afternoon, he finished 5th. Lucy, Kristin and Declan went into Cardiff and spent the afternoon at the Cardiff Castle.Lucy went to Dublin on Monday evening and stayed with Tina (Jason's sister) & Shay. Lucy enjoyed the visit, which included seeing Shay(Drummer) play in a gig in Temple Bar (main nightlife area of Dublin) and a day trip to Cork. Lucy has been home for a day and this morning (3 am) caught a bus to Heathrow and has gone to Northern Germany 
(Hamburg). Lucy is staying with one of the exchange students(Doerte) who was at Rosebud last year.
(Hamburg). Lucy is staying with one of the exchange students(Doerte) who was at Rosebud last year.Declan played in a cricket match this week for Michaelston, they played a catholic school, St. John's in a 20 - 20 match. The opposition set 90 to win, Declan got a couple of wickets, then made 32 before being retired -so more kids could get a go -anyhow at this stage they needed 15 from 5 overs and still managed to lose by 5 runs!!! 
Most of our free time this week has been planning and booking our holidays for the long break. We have almost finalised our plans. Here is a summary: Week 1 - apartment in Paris (culminating with the finish of the Tour De France) - then for the next week and a half we are spending 2 days in each of the following cities: Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest. We are using planes, trains, buses and finally from Vienna to Budapest a Hydrofoil along the Danube. We return to Cardiff for a day and then on August 6th we head to London to begin a 3 week coach tour around Western Europe - Amsterdam, West Germany, Switzerland, Venice, Rome, Pisa, Southern France, Barcelona, Madrid and then up to Paris. Exact details can be found here.
We are having a quiet weekend and will be in touch soon.
cheers, Go PIES!!
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