Sunday, September 28, 2008

Day 26 - Sintra to London

For some reason the full circle of life has to also apply to holidays, and good things too, have to come to an end.

After an early morning cab ride to the airport, we boarded a very full plane to London Luton airport and had an uneventful flight. After waiting for what felt like forever for our checked in luggage to arrive we left Luton for London, Marble Arch where we sat for a few hours having another sandwich lunch before making our way for the last time as a foursome to Hyde Park Corner tube station. Edu and Simryn took the westbound train to Heathrow for their onward journey to Dubai, while Martin and I took the northbound train to Cockfosters to our friend Brendan's house where we ended up spending the night.

Exhausted from not only a day's travel, but also a very busy 26 days we had dinner and went to sleep.

I think it will take a few weeks for the past three and a half to really sink in, and I think we'll have many days to come where we'll have flashbacks and thoughts about the whirlwind that was our European holiday.

Of course, the best way to mourn the passing of a great vacation is to plan another, and Martin and I are already beavering away on plans for the next, so keep your RSS feed active or check in from time to time, cause we're not packing those backpacks too far away!

Day 25 - Sintra

Sintra. Well... it is like stepping off a train and in to a fairy tale, really. Like most of Europe there is Sintra, then there is Old Sintra. We, of course, were interested in Old Sintra. A World Heritage Site whose name means "Mountain of the Moon", Sintra was made famous by the English poet Lord Byron who referred to it as a "glorious Eden".

Built on hills and their valleys, there are quite a few castles, palaces and stately homes in Sintra as this used to be the summer home of Portugal's royalty. From the 8th Century Moorish Castle, to the magical and mysterious Quinta Da Regaleira (a manor house built by a very crazy mind, with caves, tunnels and more) and the Disney-like Pena Palace, there is more to explore in Sintra than we had time for, especially with me hobbling up hill and down hill.

Edu and Simryn tried to squeeze as much in to the day as they could, but we decided to take it easy and make it one of the very first destinations for our next holiday, so we walked from the hotel Pensao Residencial (http://www.residencialsintra.blogspot.com/) to the Liberdade park, where we walked around looking for one of the famous fountains, which we only found, in the end, on our way back, but we had a great walk through the gardens. We found our way very indirectly to the National Palace which had at its origin an Arab palace, but today is a museum where concerts and exhibitions are regularly held.

We spent some time walking around the shopping area of the 'Old Town' admiring the ceramics which are produced on site. We looked at and photographed such structures as the Clock Tower, and St Martin's church, and then took the 434 bus to Pena Palace. On arrival we decided that we would walk directly up to the palace and then take the scenic route down. With all the stairs I wasn't really up for going inside with my sore foot. The walk down was fantastic. The palace was started as a monastery in the 1400's but after it was damaged by lightning in 17 something and then almost destroyed in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 it lay in ruins until it was built in to an amazing cake frosting looking castle in 1838. The grounds still have two chapels and a herb garden on it, as well as various other weird and wonderful structures, like a Turkish Bath looking fountain, a Water Wheel which would make an awesome wedding chapel, a 'Valley of Lakes' which literally is a valley down the mountain with landscaped lakes and duck shelters on two of the lakes that look like mini palaces. We took about an hour and a half to walk the intricate network of paths towards the exit.

In the evening the four of us went for dinner at a wonderful restaurant that had a fantastic Portuguese flair where we ate delicious duck, steak, sea bass and cod, and Simryn and I had absolutely phenomenal deserts of Strawberry, Chocolate and Vanilla Ice cream (Simryn) and I had the best chocolate mouse I've ever experienced! Perhaps not the cheapest meal at E95 for the four of us, but certainly in the top three meals of the holiday.

I for one, cannot wait to go back to Sintra to really do it justice.

Day 24 - Spain to Portugal




We woke early this morning, had breakfast and walked outside to see that the beautiful sunshine of yesterday was hidden behind rain clouds. We cancelled our plans for a stroll to Columbus' castle as the rain began, quickly loaded up the car, went to the toilet and began the journey to our final destination, Sintra.

You might have wondered for a second why I felt it necessary to tell you that we went to the toilet, right? Well, about half an hour away from Benalmadena, having out driven the rain and for no particular reason I suddenly realised that I no longer had my camera with me. We searched the car before turning around and driving back in to the rain to hopefully find it again. By the time we got back, now just on an hour after we left, the roads were flooded under about 20 cm of water, water was gushing like fountains out of cracks in the road, storm drains spurted like cartoon fountains with their lids hovering above the road, and rain pounded the earth with the force of hailstones. Martin and I ran back up to the reception desk, and from the desk to the flat where I recovered my camera (gratefully) and then back to return the key. By the time we got back to the car we were both soaked to the point that we could wring out our clothes and probably fill a litre bottle! It is interesting how things sometimes only become valid in retrospect. This is the same rain we had two days ago, but as yesterday was so beautiful it didn't seem to matter, but now we feel exceedingly blessed with the weather yesterday!

Fortunately, even though we stayed wet for some time, we did out drive the rain again, and enjoyed a beautifully scenic drive through some really remote parts of Spain for the next few hours. We drove past some stunning villages, as quintessentially Spain as you could imagine, before the invasion by the tourists and a landscape dotted with ancient castles and ruins.

We eventually arrived in Badajos where we left the car and took a coach across the border to Lisbon in Portugal. From there we took a (very very cheap!) train to Sintra but by the time it arrived it was dark. We checked in to our hotel, which we've all agreed was the most beautiful of the trip. It is an old villa in the hills of Sintra with 20-odd rooms, large landscaped gardens, a swimming pool and lovely breakfast room. The rooms themselves were spacious, gorgeously decorated and extremely luxurious, and room service is a definite added bonus!

Day 23 - Ronda
















With yesterday being as much of a non day as it was, partly due to our exhaustion and partly due to the weather (I forget, did I mention the weather yesterday? The mist was so thick we weren't aware of the gardens across the road from our apartment till this morning!) we were very happy to find that today's weather forcast was wrong and not only did it not rain all day but it was in fact rather hot!

After breakfast we drove away from tourist riddled Benalmadena (near Malaga) and the coast line and made our way inland to the town of Ronda. We took the scenic route there and scenic it was. Inland Spain certainly 'feels' a lot more Spanish! Beautiful, dry landscapes, mountains, rundown villas, ruins, rock formations, stunning modern villas, olive groves and terraced fields kept us entertained on the +- 100 km drive.

Ronda is divided in to two parts, Old and New and the two are separated by a huge bridge called Puente Nuevo over an equally huge gorge. We walked across the bridge and along the edge of the cliff stunned at such a fantasic view in the middle of 'town'. We then went in to the Bullfighting ring which was the first to have fighters fight without being on horseback (i.e modern bullfighting) Unfortunately for us, although not for the bulls, fights only happen once a year now, in early September, which we missed. We walked around the grounds, seats and museum within the ring, and the stables etc outside.


A few days ago, I somehow hurt my foot and sprained my big toe, so when Edu, Simryn and Martin decided to climb down the gorge to take pictures of the bridge from the bottom, I went to Ronda's wine museum instead. It was a really exciting experience, actually, with the little bits they translated in to English and the even smaller bits of Spanish I could piece together.

At the end of my walk through the twelve informative rooms, I went in to the courtyard for my tasters. The lady gave me five 100 ml wines: A local red wine produced in their cellars, very dry but good, a local sherry that tasted a little too much like Aquadent ( otherwise known as Portuguese Fire Water, a totally different story!) for my liking, and three delicious desert wines, one sweeter than the other. I chatted to a German couple about South African wines at the time and was really pleased I had stopped in there.

We took the highway back towards Benalmadena, a quick dip in the ocean and a kilogram of calamari for dinner.

As much as we loved Ronda, and I'm sure we'll go back, I have to admit that the Costa Del Sol itself is too packed with holiday flats and tourists for me, and I think we're all agreed, this is one of those places you go once to see what the fuss was about then leave as fast as you can to somewhere beautiful and intruiging, like Ronda.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Day 21 and Day 22 - Obertraun, Munich and Malaga











I suppose that no backpacking holiday would be complete without someone sleeping on the floor of a train station. But that is way ahead in the story.

Let me start at dawn, day 21.

We had an early departure from Obertraun this morning, wanting to get the car back to Salzburg on time for us to catch a train to Munich. Everything went well and there was a spectacular view all the way.

We arrived in Munich with plenty time for some walking around before going to Theriesenwiese for the Oktoberfest. Martin had some left over freelance work to finish so he went to the internet café for what turned in to a bit of a technical saga while Edu and Simryn went for a walk around Marienplatz and surrounds and I did some shopping for closed shoes and long sleeves as it was very cold!

We eventually made it to the festival where we walked around the grounds eating pretzels and looking at the overpriced rides, souvenirs and curios. We had not made any reservations so we walked from tent to tent till we found a seat outside the Lowenbrau tent where we sat down and ordered four steins. It must be mentioned that Simryn and I are not beer drinkers, but we definitely gave it a fair shot!

On route to our second tent Martin and I were tempted by one of the rides. It is a straight pole structure with chairs attached to the bottom. Without warning you're shot in to the air, bounced around at the top for a bit before being plummeted to the ground again. It is exciting and provides great views!

We found another tent and managed to find somewhere to sit, although not much sitting was done! By this time of the night, everyone is dancing and singing with the oompa band and every rendition of 'Ein Prosit' is heartily agreed and cheersed and clinked. The atmosphere is great, everyone is happy and friendly and everyone is everyone's friend. (I wondered to myself what would happen if the UN summit in New York was moved to a table at Oktoberfest)

At 23:00 the music dies and the security guards come around encouraging you to leave immediately, so everyone pours out into the grounds making there way back to wherever they go. We found some stekkelfisch, fish which is skewered and slow roasted over open coals and is totally delicious.

We walked back to the train station with plenty time to spare for the 00:58 train to the airport where we were planning to find a place to snooze while we waited for our 05:30 flight. Unfortunately the scheduled final train to the airport decided not to go there but in fact to stop 3 stations short, so there we sat, 1 something am at a train stop in the middle of nowhere with not a thing to do in the area, freezing cold, all our luggage with us and two hours to wait for a train! We did all try to sleep a bit, especially Martin who I neglected to mention has a stinking cold! Curled up on the station floor covered in towels, scarves and jerseys and using my swimming costume and sarong as a pillow (it's only use so far this holiday!) and the rest of us in similar states of being, those were two very long hours. The train finally arrived and we thawed out en route to the airport.

By now exhausted and desperately thirsty we thought we'd check in and then try for some sleep, but Condor Air had different ideas! We arrived at the check-in counter to find about 300 people waiting to check in! There were 6 open desks, but that airline had three flights leaving for different Spanish destinations within 30 mins of each other, and no indication of which desk t use for which destination! It was not only utter chaos, but incredibly slow too taking us over an hour to check in!

We passed through security, where as it happened both my and Simryn's bags were checked! We finally got on the plane and I don't know about the others but I was asleep before take off. Later today they were discussing the worrying take off, extreme turbulence and shaky landing and I was very surprised! I missed it all!

We seem to be catching the tail end of all of Europe's bad weather at the moment because we landed in Malaga in torrential rain and driving to our hotel saw storm drains overflowing, water bubbling up through manholes and rushing in torrents down the road! We stopped for some groceries and very soon after, Martin and I went to sleep while Edu and Simryn went for a walk!

Waking up remotely refreshed Martin made a delicious chicken and proscuitto with mozzarella salad and now I think we'll finish the dishes and go back to bed!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Day 20 - Grundlesee




We woke up early this morning to another bitterly cold and very overcast day. After a hearty breakfast of bacon, sausages, eggs and toast, and making cold meat, cheese and lettuce king's cross buns for lunch we braved the cold for Grundlesee. The idea was that we would get there and take the three lakes tour which takes you on three different boats around Grundlesee, Toplitz See and Kammer See. Unfortunately, when they said nothing is open on Sunday, they meant nothing is open on Sunday, including boat trips! It was utterly disappointing to me, but there was nothing for it, so we decided to drive to the three lakes instead.

We got to the top of the beautiful Grundlesee, and followed the signs for, only to find that we couldn't actually drive there. The waterfall and lakes are only accessible by boat or foot, so we decided to walk the 2km to the waterfall, at least. We parked and paid for a few hours of parking, stopped by the public toilet and went on our way, when not 100 m down the road it started raining, accompanied by a blistering wind!

We turned back and hopped in the car with the heating right up! We drove around the lake as far as we could, before turning around again and driving back towards Obertraun. It is just such a beautiful country side that we couldn't really get enough of it! We stopped in a little town called Bad Aussie at the one open place, a cafe. Edu and Simryn had Apfel Strudel and Heidelbier Strudel, while Martin and Kirschtorte and I had Biskotten Torte. Four hot chocolates (between us) and our delicious cakes, later, we felt less frozen and drove back to Obertraun.

Unfortunately the weather was not conducive to any of the things one would do on the lake, such as cycling (around it) or canoeing, so Edu and Simryn went for a walk, and Martin and I curled up in bed for a two hour snooze.

When we woke up it was time for dinner, so Simryn and I went through the fridge and created a dinner our home ec, if we'd had them, teachers would have been proud of. Chicken stock turned in to a chicken and potato soup, with the help of the leftover potatoes from last night, flour and left over eggs from breakfast turned in to pancakes and the chicken was shredded for chicken stuffed pancakes. Now at the end of dinner, blog written, tummies full and eyes heavy, we will quickly clean and pack, and then sleep in preparation of a full and fantastic final week.

Day 19 - Verditz to Obertraun



There are some days where words just seem so (and now a list of words are running through my head, futile, pointless, unnecessary, unfulfilling... but none of them fit the bill!)

I woke up very early this morning, looked out the window at the mist surrounding the Blue Mountain Inn and promptly went back to sleep. I woke up a little later, looked out the window at the gray, grim mist, moved my now freezing arm back under the blanket and, yes, went back to sleep.

My alarm went off fifteen minutes later and I woke up to see beautiful sunshine flooding our side of the mountain, filling the room with light and the mountain with refracted reflections.

We went for a walk in the crisp (read very cold) morning air climbing the mountain to the end of the road. Although the altitude is probably not the highest the air is very thin and clean and fresh Not something our city lungs are used to! We walked far enough to give us time to get back to the warm bread our hostess promised us for nine o'clock, and met Edu and Simryn in the breakfast room when they came back from their walk.

After a delicious breakfast of muesli and yoghurt, fruit, cold meats, cheese and lovely fresh kings cross buns. (Apparently some king liked having a cross pattern on his bread rolls, so they were made that way for him, and have been made that way ever since!

Although not winter, the ski lifts works on good weathered Saturdays, so we paid the E8 to get from ski lift 3 to the top of the mountain. It was such a gorgeous experience. Going up we just had the mountain in front of us, and beautiful as it was, it wasn't spectacular except for a few parts where we could see lakes and villages over the tops and between the branches of trees. Once we dismounted, gracefully of course (!), we spent about an hour walking around the top of the mountain, first to the Swartsee, a black lake nestled in a dip right at the top, then in the opposite direction to a plateau near the edge. The plateau had strange and beautiful rocks, shining with silver scale like layers that clumped together made the rocks. It's hard to explain, but yet another thing I'll be looking up when I'm back in the land of freely available internet. The rocks shone stunningly against the sun and we guessed would do the same under a full moon. We admired the vista for a while, looking up at the blue mountains higher up and further away, and dreaming about the kinds of houses we would build for ourselves high up away from the rest of the world.

The journey back down the mountain was nothing short of spectacular. The view was astounding, crisp and clear and beautiful. We could see for miles up and down mountains and valleys, lakes near and far, villages dotted far as we could see, and some closer ones with their church steeples standing out stark and white against an amazing green backdrop. We reached the bottom of ski lift three (gracefully again, of course) and agreed our exceedingly well spent time.

Back in the car, we drove for Grundlesee.

When we were planning the holiday, we each chose destinations that we wanted included in the holiday. These became known as our non-negotiables. For Simryn it was Lake Como and Florence, Edu's was Andalucia, Martin's was the Bernina Express and Oktoberfest and mine were Sintra and Grundlesee, so I was very excited.
The drive through Austria is constantly stunning. There is nothing ugly, nothing dull and any and every conversation can be and was interrupted with jubilant or awestruck cries of 'look there' or "wow"! Waterfalls, snow capped mountains, beautiful houses, castles or other structures, valleys, clouds anything you can think of when you imagine Austria.

We arrived in Obertraun around 15:00 and went immediately to the nearest shopping centre, about half an hour away as we were told that everything closes at 18:00 and doesn't open on Sunday. As we are staying in a self catering place, that would have been a problem! We went to the Spar and ended up spending E55 on 5 meals for 4 people! Not too bad!

We arrived back in Obertraun, the only place close to Grundlesee that we could afford, basically, to a lovely two bedroom apartment with gorgeous mountain views in a quaint and picturesque village. It was raining, the clouds were hanging very low and it was very very cold, so upon discovering a dvd player in our lounge and the owner's dvd collection, we decided that that would be a good way to spend our Saturday evening: a bottle of wine, a dvd and some popcorn. I cooked a goulash type stew with baked potatoes and we spent our evening watching Charlie Bartlett and The Bucket List before another very quiet, peaceful and thankfully warm night's sleep!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Day 18 - Venice to Verditz






We spent this morning in and around Venice. Martin and I went to Burano, the fishing village beyond Murano where women (apparently, we were too early to see it) sew lace all day while the men are out fishing. The houses are all painted different colours: bright pinks, blues and greens, a perfect fishing village. It is absolutely beautiful!

We left quite early as we had to get back to Venice to check out of the hotel, which was quite unfortunate. We spent the rest of the morning around Venice wandering streets we'd not walked before and seeing buildings and churches not listed under the attractions but beautiful in a more unadulterated ways.

Something that really struck me about Venice was how many churches there are in the squares all around the city. It is amazing. They seem to open them every morning and evening so that the people who live in those squares can pop in for morning and evening prayers, which we did this morning too. There is something so beautiful about a church that is ornate and used as a church, not an attraction. It's a beauty that can't be photographed.

Meanwhile, Simryn and Edu went to Murano where they were fortunate enough to be able to see one of the masters create a beautiful glass horse and sign it. They were smarter than us and managed to escape without spending their fortunes!

We took a train from Venice that afternoon to Villach in Austria, where we picked up a rental car and went in search of our accommodation for the evening. The directions were a bit bad from where we were but we eventually found our way there. And "there" was pretty amazing! The Blue Mountain Inn is one of the highest lodges on a beautiful Alp in the Verditz Ski Resort. The apartment had one double room and one four bunk bed room which we were upgraded to from just a normal four bunk room as we were the only guests in the hotel, so Edu and Simryn got the double bed this time round.

The owner, Michelle Lively (who owns it with her husband Tug who was off with a tour group) cooked us a stunning dinner of goulash soup, chicken schnitzel and a delicious fruit compote in the middle of a donut thing with ice cream. Absolutely delicious!

By the time we'd finished eating and chatting to the Australian Michelle with her twin daughters, it was very late and time for a very quiet, peaceful, thin aired night's sleep.

As always, pictures to follow!

Day 17 - Venice






Venice really took me by surprise. Last time Martin and I were here, we had a relatively dismal time, but I am so pleased we decided to give it a second chance!

It was a bit of a strange day too since we were staying in a hotel and went down for breakfast at different times we ended up not even seeing Edu and Simryn all day!

Our first stop was St.Mark's square and the Doge's palace but the square looked like it was covered in ants there were so many people! That didn't suit us so we walked to the other side of the island from where we caught a river boat to the island of Isola S.Giorgio Maggiore where there is pretty much nothing but a really large church. From there we went to the island of Murano

Murano is famous for the glass they produce. There are large factories with their own furnaces, apprentices and masters as well as their own shops which sell their products. We walked in to one showroom and I'm not sure if the guy thought we were rich dressed down or something, but he took a special interest in us. He took us in to the private showroom where they keep their one of a kind or new items where he showed us pieces by one of their Masters (they have to work for 15 - 20 years before they become masters) Valentina, and explained the perks of purchasing from that selection: You get photographs of the signed item in production, a folder with the biography of the artist and a photo of the artist with the item. Also, you can get up to 55% off the price. also told us some of the history of Murano. Back when they started making the glass they did it on the island of Venice until one of the furnaces exploded destroying a large part of the island. The doge at the time decided to move the furnaces to Murano, which is where the name now comes from. Back then, masters and there apprentices were basically held prisoner on the island, unable to leave because the secrets of blowing the glass were too important to risk it being leaked!

The glass is amazing... They use minerals such as selenium, cobalt, gold and silver to melt in with the glass to colour it. They then melt the rods in to the glass for the different colours. It is pretty amazing. The glass is then melted again in to different things, vases (starting from about E300), bowls and plates (starting from about E300 each) and anything else you could imagine (including the E9800 fish I really wanted to buy!) The gold and silver in the glass have to be pure, otherwise the heat in the furnaces burn the impure gold or silver and make them come out black. It was really an interesting afternoon! We did walk out with a very expensive (but cheaper than the average as it was end of range) vase, which we'll be treasuring for many years to come!

Leaving the factory shop we walked the wrong way and ended up called back from the 'wrong way' and were shown in to a furnaced area where we could watch three different groups of people blowing, heating, knocking and shaping glass. It was really amazing to watch, because it is impossible to imagine these big burly men making things so beautiful and so delicate.

We were very fortunate to find a Spar on the way back to the boat where we found the cheapest food, chocolates and wines on all of the Venetian waters! We bought a lovely bottle of Lemoncella, a local lemon flavoured liquer which we absolutely love for about E7 and a bottle of 12 year old Balsamic vinegar which cost us under E3!

At the boating station there was a market stall where the lady was selling a few of the things we really liked for less than they were in the shops, so we also bought a beautiful wine bottle stopper.

By the time we got back from Murano we were so tired that we stopped in at a cafe on the way back to the hotel for a rather dismal calzone with tinned mushrooms and cold sandwich ham before going back to the hotel, and soon after, to bed.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Day 16 - Rome to Venice



Well! So much for good rest! Our room is on the corner and has two windows on two walls. As it had been very warm all day, it didn't occur to any of us to close at least one set of windows. It also didn't occur to any of us during the night to do so! When we awoke slightly blue around the edges we bemoaned our stupidity loudly before setting off at speed (partly to warm up, partly because we were later than planned!) to the Vatican City and the Vatican museum.

By the time we arrived there we already tourbuses full of people cueing up for entry to St. Peter's, so we decided to chance going to the museum (wherein lies the Cistene Chapel) first. This turned out to be a very good move, as there was no cue and the crowds inside were light.

Having been there before, Martin and I first went to the 'side' exhibitions of statues, paintings, friezes etc before going through all all the passages laid out with different themes that lead eventually to the Chapel. There are passages with Romantic wall hangings, Cartographic (old maps) wall hangings, statues, woodwork, jewellery and much more, but they all have highly ornately done ceilings, many painted by master painters. It truly is an amazing experience, but beware! The price of truly appreciating these great works is a very stiff neck!

Just before we entered the Chapel, there were various galleries with more modern art. Three Dali paintings depicting Jesus were among those in the gallery. I did take photos of them,
but as flash photography is prohibited and that specific gallery had its own guard, they're not great pictures!

We met up with Edu and Simryn and went in to in the Chapel where we promptly lost them again, misunderstanding which exit we'd be taking. We communicated by sms (txt) and realised that we had left the building and they had not!

We walked back to the entrance and as Martin says "sometimes it is best to let a frantic looking woman ask". As it turns out you can only enter once and that's final! Sending in me with my 'we've lost our friends' helped and the friendly, Italian guard let us in. As it turned out, our fast walk back towards the Chapel revealed a whole section we had missed, so we went through there before going in to St. Peter's Basilica.

This is another place Martin and I have been before, so we went in to the crypts rather than the Basilica which provides an amazing view down on to the inside of the church and also the roof which has magnificent views of the square and the Vatican gardens.

The crypts contained many year's worth of deceased Popes including John Paul II. People were kneeling at and praying at his tomb, which I found a little eerie, but I'm sure it meant a lot to them.

From the crypts we climbed some stairs to the main building. As a work of art, St. Peter's is an amazing structure, tall, beautifully decorated with angels, crosses, saints and Jesus, ornate and rich in presentation, but it does lack in feeling like a church with people walking around talking, taking photographs and tour guides one speaking louder than the other. It is a magnificent structure though!

We left the Vatican and with it Rome, boarding a plane to Venice. We arrived quite late and after dark so after checking in we went for a quick stroll around to familiarise ourselves with the area and for some dinner. Tomorrow will be a busy day with an early rise so early to bed for us!

PICTURES TO FOLLOW

Day 15 - Rome

Rome, the Eternal City, might well be the most exhausting city of any on a European journey. Not helped by an extremely poor night's sleep on the overnight train between Milan and Rome, we were exhausted on arrival and went straight to our hostel, Hotel Lido, to get rid of our bags. The staff and owners of the hostel were amazing! They sat down with us and tried to find out what we wanted to see and gave us detailed information on how to get there and their advice for best routes. It was really amazing personal service, combined with free internet, a lovely garden, cheap rates and good enough rooms, it is certainly worth going back to again!

Since Martin and I have been to Rome a few times we had other things we wanted to do today. We set off for the old city gates together from where we split up and Edu and Simryn went to the major attractions such as the Coliseum and the Pantheon. Martin and I spent some time wandering the 'back streets' and went in to various marked and unmarked churches. We did return to Trevi Fountain to throw our coins in to make sure we return one day and then went for a long walk through Rome passing the Pantheon, various beautiful squares laden with fountains with drinking water which is still carried on the old aqueducts, apparently.

We walked all the way the Via Appia again to try to find the spot we sat watching the world go by last time, but it was covered by construction boards. How disappointing!

Having spent most of the day walking, we decided to go back to our hotel and freshen up before deciding wat to do wth the evening.

As it turned out, we were so tired tat we stayed in sorting out photos, catching up on a few emails and adding pictures to the blog.

Edu and Simryn arrived later and did some of the same, but we all had to repack our bags ready for flying which we did.

Now for a good night's sleep so we can be well rested for another busy day.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Day 14 - Lake Como

Varenna, where we stayed at Eremo Gaudio, is on Lake Como in Lombardy, Italy. The lake is massive and is fed by melting glaciers, rain and springs from the mountains that surround it.

There are also some famous towns all around the Lake such as Bellagio and Menaggio, among other beautiful, lesser known and less touristy places such as Bellano or Tremezzo. There is a fantastic ferry service between the towns and E10 buys an all day hop on hop off ticket, which we used to maximum effect!

Our first stop was Bellagio (used in filming for Star Wars Episode 2 and Casino Royale) which was very pretty, but seriously over priced! It is not unusual apparently to see a celebrity around there, which is also why everything is so much more expensive!

Next we went to Villa Carlotta, an absolutely stunning Villa near the town of Tremezzo which we later walked to. Villa Carlotta and the gardens are beautiful but at the entry fee required, would need more time than we had to give so we walked on. There was an amazingly beautiful hotel called Grand Hotel Tremezzo, where a small coke cost E5 and a cheese burger E23! We didn't bother trying to find out room prices!

Martin and I paid a little extra for an additional ticket to take us to Bellano, which is off the major tourist track. We walked to the Orrido, a ravine carved through the mountain over centuries where normally a calm river of aquamarine water flows through town in to Lake Como.

Due to all the rain, however the water was thundering through its stone tracks, being fed in to from multiple sources, slamming against rock as it plummeted and swirled it's way towards the large opening that leads it quickly but finally peacefully in to the lake.

It was a perfect mixture of tranquality and ferocity that only nature can provide.

Exceedingly pleased that we had made the effort to go out of our way, we returned to the ferry and went on to Menaggio, another pretty town, but not as attractive as it's more famous sister. As most of town was, by now and by virtue of it being Monday, closed we just had a quick stroll through, discovered a beautiful church called St.Martha, plain on the outside but rich and ornate on the inside and shared a Tiramisu and Bacio gellato while waiting for the last ferry ride which took us back to Varenna.

Once there we enjoyed the sunset from the deck of our hotel, before going for a quick dinner at a fabulous restaurant Martin and I had discovered yesterday, and heading hurriedly for the train station. Our hurry was in vane though as our train was cancelled and we found ourselves hanging around Varenna station in the dark and cold for an hour before finally being able to go to Milan for our overnight train to Rome.

Day 13 - Varenna, Monza, Varenna

What a way to start a day, waking up to this view! Then coffee and pastries on a patio with more view before a quick train ride to Monza.

Monza as a really strange race track in that we had to walk for ages through a trim park, lined with trees and due to all the rain, covered in sludge before arriving at the stands where our seats were.

We had really nice seats towards the upper half of the grandstand at the first chicane with a brilliant view of the first corner. As the rain came down periodically during the race this provided much excitement as cars slipped, slid and glided through it. We had a few overtaking manoeuvres and even a rather decent spin! Even though we were rained on and had to pay E7 for a sandwich, it was a highly enjoyable race and one I'd highly recommend! (Of course, having a BMW driver on the podium only made it better for me!)

The usual post event exit madness was handled with incredible efficiently by the Italians and we were back in Varenna (an hour by train) a mere three and a half hours after the end of the race!

We spent the evening walking around Varenna taking pictures and just drinking in the magnificence that is Lake Como.

Day 12 - Zurich, Bernina, Varenna (Lake Como)




We arose from an absolutely awesome night's sleep, where for once we all slept like the dead. We had arranged for an early breakfast, so after raiding the buffet for enough food for breakfast and lunch, we boarded the train for Chur. There we changed trains to the Bernina Express. The trains used for this roughly four hour journey have large panoramic windows and is the only train that crosses the Alps above ground.

I sometimes wish that I had paid more attention to my ancient Greek class at University because Greek and even Hebrew have so many more words descriptive words and are so much richer in their explanations than English is. To say the views were beautiful, awesome or even spectacular would be selling the whole experience short. My grasp of vocabulary is sadly too small to give you a fair retelling of today. Look at the pictures, Google it or look on Youtube, and if ever at all possible, make the trip yourself. If this is only Earth, what could Eden have looked like, or how will Heaven?

As it was overcast and rained a bit Martin and I abandoned our seats early on to stand in the baggage area which had two small openable windows we could lean out of slack jawed and lost for words. When the train stopped to change engine for the steeper climbs, the conductor came to fetch us and took us to an old style carriage less luxurious but with large opening panoramic windows which we had all to ourselves! We bounced around that carriage like children on Christmas running from side to side taking pictures, video and simply staring awestruck and thrilled at this blessing!

We crossed the border into Italy and soon after changed trains again, this time in the direction of Varenna on the shores of Lake Como. The beautiful mists and ambient clouds in the mountains were of course torrential rain on the flatter surfaces below, so much so that we had to get a taxi to collect us from the station and take us to our hotel. The Erebo Gaudio sits on the side of a mountain with an amazing view of the lake. The restaurant can be reached by taking two separate vernaculars up the mountain, the result being the most astonishing and breathtaking sunset views, which with the ending of the rain we were finally able to enjoy.


Day 11 - Prague to Zurich



After the Berlin to Prague fiasco, we were ready to leave Prague at 6 am today in anticipation of the 5 hour drive actually being many more. As it turned out, it did take 5 hours to get to Friedrichshafen in Germany, where we left the car and took the ferry over Lake Constance to Romanshorn in Switzerland. We spent an hour in a beautiful harbour front park before taking the one hour train to Zurich.

We spent the evening walking around and were all really surprised by the beauty of Zurich, something none of us had expected as it was only ever meant as a stop off, not a destination. The buildings are all clean and fresh looking and seem to more or less range from the same era.

The only reason that we could see for Zurich not being a major tourist destination was the fact that it is unbelievably expensive! Even travelling on Pounds we had to breathe deep and just pay up. For all its expensiveness though, the bars and restaurants remained busy and poured out on to the streets till late.

Having seen the Grossmunster Church and the riverside path leading to Zurich See it is really unfortunate that we don't have more time to explore.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Day 10 - Prague




Prague is known as the city of a thousand spires, and for good reason. Just a simple glance around highlights a pointed landscape, crafted in black, gold, stone, tan and hundreds of other colours. It dawned on us that between us we actually had very little knowledge about Prague or what there was to do. Our first stop was the tourist information center to buy a decent map, which was a very good move as it revealed a wealth of sites to visit.

The first stop of the day was Kurlov Most, or Charles Bridge, a large gothic bridge opened during the reign of Charles IV who rerouted a victory parade to incorporate use of the bridge. Today it is lined with statues by various sculptures and rubbing one is said to bring good luck! During the day the bridge is lined with musicians and artists all selling their wares and making a living off the tourists that flock to the bridge. The heat was unbelievable, so we crossed as quickly as we could, getting in to a cafe to cool down again. One of the oddities of Prague is that a beer is usually more than half the price of a coke or water, rather unfortunate for those of us that don't drink beer! We paid Kc27 (about 80p) for a half litre beer, when the same in a coke was Kc55 (£1.50) and water Kc90(£2.80)! Fortunately their beers are also different to the usual and I had one which was more of a mead than a beer, tasting like a thinner form of honey, which was bearable and remarkably refreshing.

Having long lost the others, Martin and I climbed the hill to the Gothic church Tynsky Chram at the top of the mountain and agreed with Edu and Simryn who later stated that it looked like a smaller replica of the Parisian Notre Dame. It was part of a beautiful square however, where I could just imagine centuries worth of military parades and other official occasions. It also provided a beautiful view of the river and both old and 'new' Prague.

Martin and I went to the toy museum, not feeling much in the mood for art galeries, and really enjoyed seeing toys and models throughout the centuries. They had cars, trains, soldiers, porcelain dolls and teddy bears as well as more archaic wooden toys. There was also an entire floor, odd as this might sound, of Barbie dolls! Luxury dolls with real diamonds for earings, avant garde dolls that were never released for mass sale, famous dolls such as Marilyn Monroe, Brittney Spears, Vanilla Ice, and Michael Jackson (I'm guessing sales of that one dropped quickly!) as well as the Coca-Cola and Disney collection of Barbies and Kens. There were also themed sets, like Holiday Barbies over the years, Sweet 16 Barbie, 40th Anniversary Barbie and Royalty Barbies from different nations. It was an oddly enjoyable experience!

We walked down the mountain again, and caught the metro to the Old Town Square, an absolutely beautiful square surrounded by stunning buildings and a famous clock tower. The tower has an astronomical clock built in 1410 and every hour stately, professorial little cuckoo clock men peer out a 'window' above the clock face while a skeleton below the clock bobs its head until the bell stops tolling. It's rather bizarre, but draws a crowd every hour!

There is also a statue on the square dedicated to a man who was burned at the stake there, but we've not yet found out what for!

On route home to meet Edu & Simryn for dinner, we met an American mother & daughter couple also trying to make head or tail of the Prague map and spent about 45 minutes comparing notes with them on Prague and the rest of Europe. They were telling us of excellent day trips out of Prague for a less touristy, more cultural experience of the country, something we think we should certainly return for!

After discovering that Tesco (a supermarket chain in the UK) also exists here, we went there to buy ingredients for a cheap dinner alternative, and returned home to make and eat it, before we returned to Charles Bridge for some night time pictures of it, Tynsky Chram and the Vltava river.

Day 9 - Berlin to Prague



The idea for today was to wake up, rent a bike and cycle along the old Berlin wall, then make the four hour journey to Prague in time to find our apartment, take a stroll and then go to the opera. When we woke, it was raining and as everything we had planned for the day was outdoors, we decided to skip it and spend more time in Prague.

We left Berlin at 09:30 and drove through light traffic most of the way. The timings were slightly out, however: we only arrived in Prague around 16:30! So much for a four hour trip!

Anyway, Prague has the strangest road signs, and many many one way streets, so that with a rather sketchy map, it was almost impossible to find the way. Upon arrival at the 'Our Office' sign (according to the map) we found that our flat was nowhere near the office, but at least they gave us better directions!

We got to the flat, off loaded and then Martin went to drop the car off at the garage which was a further ten minute tram ride from the accommodation!

While he was away the rest of us showered and prepared for the evening's opera, Rigoletto. Martin had been away for some time when at 18:10 I received an sms (txt) from him, saying that the opera started at 19:00, not 20:00 as he originally thought! The problem of just arriving in a new country and being late is manyfold: Firstly, the map doesnt have the opera house on it, so we have to get online to get the address. The street names are really difficult to understand, because we don't speak the language and they are very different. The map the accommodation gave us was as useful as it had been in finding the accommodation (!) We can't book a taxi because not only do we not have a number for a taxi service, but we also wouldn't be able to tell them where we were or where we were going! (There seems to be a very small number of people in the Czech Republic that either speak English, or are willing to admit that they do so!) So the only alternative we had was to set off on foot, which we did. We must have been a sight, two guys suited and booted running up a long hill in the general direction of the opera house, and two girls in heels and fancy dresses and done up hair trundling along behind them with sweat beginning to drip from our foreheads. The guys ran on ahead and Simryn and I received curious and pitying glances, although we did manage to stop traffic by weaving through it to the other side of the road!

We finally arrived at the opera house just after 19:10 quite sure that we were not going to be allowed in to the theatre as not only did we not actually have our tickets and the box office was closed, but we were also late. I think the fact that we arrived first Martin, then Edu and then two bedraggled girls, all out of breath and sweat dripping made the old lady at the door take pity on us and they took us to a semi empty box on the first floor where we had an obstructed view, but a view at least, of the stage!

By the end of the first scene we had regained our breath, cooled our body temperature and calmed our nerves, and were able to move to our booked seats. Martin had really managed to arrange fantastic seats. Centre balcony, second row with a perfect view of the stage. It was stunning!

Rigoletto is a tragic story though, ending in unrequited love, mixed messages, confusion and mistaken identity and eventually murder. It's a good thing that there was a display board above the stage with English and Czech translations of the Italian performance, otherwise we'd not have known any of that!

Despite the absolutely manic start, the evening turned out really well. The opera was fantastic, the opera house stunning and the slow walk back to the apartment allowed us to actually see some of Prague!

By this point we were obviously starving having had nothing but snacks on route all day, so we stopped in to a bar/restaurant near our hotel and had delicious snitchels, potato cakes, goullash and other very Czech food before returning to the hotel for a well deserved sleep.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Day 8 - Florence, Pisa, Berlin






Waking up early for a bright start to the day, we arrived at the train station in time to catch the delayed earlier train to Pisa. This was incredibly fortunate as it gave us an hour in Pisa before we had to get to the airport, which gave us just enough time to march through town, luggage in tow in the sweltering heat in search of the leaning tower.

People have always tld us nopt t bother much with Pisa as there's nothing of interest. I'll agree tat it lacks the ornate nature of Florence or the amplitude of activities in Rome, but to say there is nothing there I would say is a little harsh! Beautiful buildings around old town squares alone make the trip worth it, but the area the tower is in is itself exquisite with a large fountain, beautiful church all in stark white gleaming in the sunny day and old city walls cordoning it off. The tower was smaller than I expected, but in much better condition and well worth the sweat of getting there with just enough time for a few pics before rushing back to the trainstation for the connection to the airport.

An easy check in and comfortable flight later, we arrived in Berlin where we had booked a car and Martin had to quickly learn how to drive on the "other" side of the road, which so far he has handled spectacularly well.

A few months ago I discovered a very interesting looking hotel online. It is called Propellor Island City Lodge (www.propellor-island.de) and is basically an art gallery with rooms you can sleep in! Each room is differently decorated, with some totally wacky, like the upside down room or the mirror room, some bizarre, like the coffins for beds or the beds in cages (!) and other less adventurous, like the floating bed or the kids castle room. Edu and Simryn's room has a sligtly nautical feel as it is all done up in shades of blue, with steel reflective "sails" while our room, the Temple room has the bed on a raised stepped foundation, like the old Inca temples with a bathroom built like a maze!

Even the hallways are awsomely decorated, and everything is uniquely styled. I can't wait for the next trip to Berlin so we can enjoy a different room!

And after a brief stroll around the area and a bratwurst and currywurst in a gorgeous garden stall we returned to our beautiful rooms to do just that.

Day 7 - Florence


























Florence is just such a magical city. A place of art and beauty and sunsets and romance. Even Paris doesn't quite match it in simple, rustic splendour.

Home of Michaelangelo's David, the historic city centre is filled with statues and ornaments, ancient shrines to Mary and the saints painted on walls and covered by glass, and murals decorating the outsides of houses. Ornate window bars and trellises, window boxes with flowers and painted walls abound, leaving the observant traveller with a stiff neck and bruised, stubbed toes.

That's not even taking in to consideration Florentine landmarks like the Ponte Vecchio (the bridge I told you about yesterday) or the Duomo, the beautiful church in the centre of town.

We took the day very easily, stopping off to do some shopping in the markets where two beautiful scarves cost me a mere €5, and an endless array of jewelry made me regret agreeing to a daily budget. We walked around the indoor market taste testing and admiring olive oils and balsamic vinegars of 2, 10, 15, 30 and even 100 years old. Edu and Simryn went shopping for a leather jacket while Martin and I had an impromptu lesson on cooking with balsamic vinegar from a woman named Paula, whose house I'd love to have dinner at any tme!

In the afternoon we went to the Duomo together. The building is absolutely beautiful on the outside, but we did find the inside slightly disappointing as it was really just a tourist spot rather than a functioning church.

A few weeks ago I came across the blog of a girl who lives in Florence. On her site she was discussing the best gellateria in Florence for ice cream. In her opinion it was Gellateria Dei Neri, so we went there for a visit.

Well... With over 60 flavours to choose from narrowing it down to only two seemed almost cruel but we managed and let me tell you this: The chilli chocolate flavour was delicious, yes, but the sicilian cannoli was out of this world amazing. As I tried to explain to the others "It's like dying and discovering you made it to heaven in each bite!" Gellateria Dei Neri is a must if you're ever in Florence!

In the evening we walked about 1 or so km up the river away from the tourist area until we found a park. We sat down and Martin began preparing a dinner of fresh breads, basil, tomatoes, mozzerella and prusciotto and presaola all purchased at the market, along with a delicious bottle of red wine. We ate like kings for under £10 in the shade of massive trees in a park on the banks of the River Arno. What a life!

We ended the evening by chasing the setting sun to the Ponte Vecchio for some more sunset pictures while Edu whisked Simryn away for a surprise of their own, but I'll leave them to tell THAT story!

Monday, September 08, 2008

Day 6 - Barcelona to Florence

This was a really rough day.

Starting at 04.30 we left promptly on time for the metro, caught the shuttle bus to the airport had a relatively simple check in, and landed in Rome 20 mins ahead of schedule. We caught the airport shuttle to Rome central train station, but on route te airconditioning broke and tere were no windows to open. The bus became hothouse like, and the journey hellish. Had it been any longer, we would have had more than being soaked through, dehydrated and the associated nausea, dizzyness and headaches to deal with!

From Rome we took a train to Florence, which was fortunately airconditioned and we slowly began t cool down, but it had really taken is toll!

Upon a 45 min delayed arrival in Florence we made a beeline for our hotel and showers, only to find that there are two similarly named hotels in Florence and we were at the wrong one!

Saddling up our backpacks and suitcases again, we finally found our hotel, and I'm pleased to say it was worth the wait! Huge double beds, cool rooms and private bathrooms are a real treat in this part of the world (in our price ranges anyway).

The evening turned out a whole lot better than the day had started. We found a beautiful gellateria with about 40 flavours of ice cream, and beautiful ice cream bonbons. Two half scoops each later we made our way in to the town centre and towards the setting sun over the Ponte Vecchio and all the day's troubles were quickly forgotten.

Apparently there are only three bridges in the world that have shops/houses on both sides, and this is one of them. (The others being in Venice and Bath, UK)

Posing on and around the Ponte Vecchio for many photos built up quite an appetite, so we went in different directions in search of our ideal dinner. Martin and I had a delicious calzone and pasta in one of Florence's lovely squares before returning to the hotel for much deserved rest.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Day 5 - Barcelona

It surprises me that Barcelona isn't mentioned in literature, song and folklore in the same way that Rome, Florence or Paris are. It is a beautiful city full of the magic, culture and character one has come to expect from European major cities.

We visited the home of a client of the architect Gaudi (1852 - 1926), famous for the architectural style he employed in some buildings in the city. Palau Guell, or Guell's Palace was the only of his projects that Gaudi actually finished and it has been left to other artists to complete his commissions.

Repeating the bus tour today, we hopped on and off at the places that inspired us to brave the heat. As we have different interests we split up for the day, Edu and Simryn heading in one direction, us in another. Our first stop was the Arc del Triomf, which was smaller than its Parisian counterpart but headed a lovely pedestrian park area. We then ignored the bus route and walked the 16 blocks towards the next stop on the back streets discovering stunning buildings and cheaper foods!

Arriving at one of the Gaudi houses, we saw our travel companions pass us on a bus and didn't see them again till the end of the day. Gaudi had some strange and experimental ideas about design and his houses are hard to sum up in words, but I recommend that you look him up!

Our next stop was the Sagrada Familia, an astounding Gothic/Fantasy cathedral which Gaudi began, but never completed. Currently the spires in the image on the right of the cathedral picture are the only ones that exist and by the completion of construction in 2025 (image on left) they will be the shorter spires. This thing is going to be massive! The beauty of it though is in the detail. Carved into the stone are scenes from the life of Jesus. The journey to Bethlehem, the wise men, the angels, the murder of the infants, teaching in the temple, and of course, his crucifixion are all among them.

Gaudi was massively inspired by nature and this is visible, specifically in the daisy - like flowers that make up the ceiling inside the cathedral.

I'm coming back in 2025 to see the completed structure!

Our final stop was the Palace with fantastic views over the city. Here we met up with Edu and Simryn again as they continued on to the castle while we returned to the hostel for much needed showers!

As the English football team was playing Andora less than an hour from Barcelona, we returned to find the streets teaming with England supporters and a similar response in Police, we decided that we would lay low and stay off the main tourist areas.

We returned to a corner cafe for tapas and were surprised to find ourselves the only non-Spaniards there. But then, with no menus, no sangria and few English words between the staff, and ordering by pointing at the items on display, it's little wonder. We pointed at calamari, meatballs, mozzarella salad, pasta salad, fritata style omlet, and a large plate of cured ham and received two plates of bread and additional bruschettas with it. The guys had 6 beers and Simryn and I had 3 bottled waters between us and all told, the bill came to €41.40! If the people down the street in Bar London or the Queen Vic knew what we were paying for the quality and hospitality we were receiving, the place would have been swamped.

Upon arrival we were looked at slightly suspiciously, but we left amid cheerful and friendly goodbyes with gracias's and buenos noches's abounding.

With a 4.45 wake up call pending we returned to the hostel just after 11 and got ready for bed while those around us were preparing for the nights festivities and we bid a fond farewell to an awe inspiring Barcelona that deserves so much more of our time.

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Friday, September 05, 2008

Day 4 - Barcelona

After a night on a bunk bed on a train in a cabin that resembled something from 5th Element, we agreed that although not an ideal night's sleep, we were more or less ready to face the day.

The moment the train doors opened we knew that we were no longer in England or France! The humidity and heat at 8.24 were enough to burn holes in tar, and the day would only get hotter.

Once we had checked in to our hostel and bought the overpriced and less beneficial in terms of discounts and offers open top bus tour tickets, (lesson for the future: don't assume the hostel is partnered with the cheaper aternatives!) we went spent about half an hour on the bus. The sun was so blistering we decided to stay inside, but there it was so hot that the first sign of ice cream had us peeling off the bus in very hot persuit. As it turned out, this was quite good as the area was quite removed from the hub of the tourists and we discovered a café that had an airconditioned upstairs area. It was a most random area, failling, I'm sure, every food health code in the book, but it was good, it was cool and the sangria was refreshing.

After a stint back at the hostel to have a cooling shower and reapplication of sun block we went on the 2.5 hour bus tour around Barcelona.

This city has blown me away! The architecture is phenomenal, the houses each have their own style and character and they are beautiful. And that's not even the touristy bits, just the every day stuff. We saw some pretty amazing sights, but we'll revisit them on foot tomorrow, so more about that then!

This evening we stopped by various cafe's for a serving of tapas each which we shared around the table. -squid, meatballs, bread and sangria, tomato mozzerella salad etc all went down exceedingly well!

Later we went to see a flamenco performance which was stunning! The power and passion they display is astounding and it is well worth the entry fee. That and another glass of sangria turned it in to a perfect evening!

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Thursday, September 04, 2008

Day 3 - Paris to Barcelona

Today started rather slowly: a leisurely wake up as the building site next to our hostel came to life, a quick stint on the internet to add the London photos and some breakfast before we took the metro to Notre Dame.

This beautiful church on the bank of the Seine provides some amazing opportunities for photographs (to follow) and was once during one of the wars declared too beautiful to blow up. It's gothic arches and gargoyles stand out sharply against a bright blue sky and summer remains visible in the roses that adorn the grounds.

We continued on to the Arc de Triomph where Edu and Simryn climbed to the top with views over the Champs Elysees and all twelve roads that lead in to the circle around the arch. Apparently this is the only circle in Europe where no insurance will cover you for driving! Martin and I sat by the side of the road for a while watching, and we now understand why! No traffic lights (robots), no lanes and 12 streams of traffic! Sheer madness!

In the afternoon, we took a stroll to Sacre Coer, a fantastic white church building on the higest point in Paris wth more spectacular views of the city. On the way up, we stopped by an artist market where probably over a hundred artists were congregated each selling and even painting on the spot their own style of portrait or landscape. It would not be hard to blow the entire holiday budget on wares from that market!

Sacre Coer itself was a different type of stunning. A functioning church, respect is commanded from those within. Nuns sit at prayer while tourists walk round and although it has all the trappings of a tourists attraction, the feeling of awe and majesty the architecture and wall decorations inspire, remains real. Photos and videos are not allowed - a rule which I strictly enforced.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the less touristy parts of Paris, sipping coffees in cafes, eating crepes filled with chocolate sauce and walking past interesting sites such as Moulin Rouge where dinner and a show costs between E175 and E200+.

We ended today by boarding an overnight train with four chairs that convert in to bunk beds. The train is so much quieter than I would have thought possible, and the thin fold down matresses more comfy than last night's bed!

Sitting on a train between Paris and Barcelona drinking a most delicious chocolaty South African Diemersfontein Pinotage we bought in London, we clink our plastic travel cups to another successful and unforgetable day.

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Day 2 - London to Paris

Today started very early, although not so bright. After not much sleep, we left for Kings Cross where we were blessed with very little queuing and after a quick bite to eat boarded the Eurostar.

The new Eurostar which leaves from St.Pancras instead of Waterloo takes only 2h26 mins to reach Paris. Time enough for a decent snooze!

Arriving in Paris at 11, we made our way briefly to the hostel before heading to the Musee du Louvre, or the Louvre. Home to the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Di Vinci ceilings and literally thousands of other artifacts, the Louvre deserves a full day, if not two and if possible, take your own golf cart! We spent two hours looking for the highlights before exhausted and dehidrated, we met back in the lobby.

A walk and a train ride later, we were at the foot of the Eiffel tower. Intended as a six month fair ground centerpiece, the Eiffel Tower has been around for over a hundred years, and still attracts millions of visitors every year. Fortunately for us, not too many of them were there today, and we progressed quickly through the line. Edu surveyed the grounds around the base of the tower, Martin climbed the stairs to the 2nd level then took the lift to the top (as is mandatory), but Simryn and I took the lift all the way, as 500 odd steps would easily get the best of us.

Now off for a quick dinner in the Latin Quarter, then an early night as tomorrow promises to be as busy and eventful a day.

It really doesn't feel like we only left London this morning!

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