Mark_Murphy Meanderings

Barcelona to Venice

jaynem — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 20:29:00 GMT

We fly to Venice this afternoon at 3.10pm. So we got up early and packed our bags and got the 9.15am shuttle into the city. We wanted to go and see the Sagrida Familia, the famous cathedral designed and built by Gaudi. We caught the train and 20 minutes later we were there. As we walked out of the station it was behind us. The crowds were everywhere. We didn’t buy tickets on line after our last experience so we just looked around the outside. Gerard took some photos and we have a book that shows much of the inside. We didn’t have a lot of time anyway as the only suitably timed shuttle back to the hotel is at 11.30am. The entry fee was 15 euro which meant you would want to spend quite a bit of time there. We caught the train back to the port and had a cuppa and croissants before heading back to the Hotel on the shuttle.

We could have stayed in Barcelona for a week and still not seen it all. It is a lovely, bright city, full of energy, easy to get around and welcoming to all tourists. This is definitely a comeback to place and stay a while, we love it.

Back at the Hotel we packed our bags and caught the shuttle to the airport, we were a little concerned because we couldn’t check in on line last night, so we arrived early and checked in and everything was cool! I had rung webjet the night before and so I knew everything was going to be ok, but you just like to have extra time up your sleeve. The airport at Barcelona is great too, so spending time here is not really a chore.

We got to the airport and you would never guess, even though we had British Airways tickets the flight was actually with Vueling. Yes, Vueling, the never fly with them company! Anyway we had no choice and things were looking pretty good until we sat in the plane on the tarmac for ages. It turned out, of course, we were about 40 minutes late into Venice. We crossed the Mediterranean and then we flew right across Italy. The views were just great, and we probably flew over where the earthquake hit or maybe North of it. We didn’t feel a thing here.

We caught the public water bus from the airport to here, which stopped at Murano and Lido and a few other places on the way here. It took about 1 hr 30 minutes to get to the Hotel, which is just two bridges down from Saint Marks Square at the San Zaccharia wharf. We stepped off the bus onto the footpath and straight in the front door of the Hotel. Our room is fantastic, it is large, marble has a dressing room, huge bathroom a couch and a table and chairs as well as a book case and chiffonier. It feels like we are living in Franco Cozzo’s showroom in Footiscray! Everything is gold and white and wood!

After settling into our room we walked out the front of the Hotel and had a scrumptious dinner of steak. Gerard had steak with green pepper sauce and I had the steak with tomato and balsamic. It was just like steak bruschetta.

We went for a stroll to Saint Mark’s square and listened to some music and then back to the Hotel.

Barcelona 2

jaynem — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 20:28:00 GMT

Back into the city and our plan today is to ride the Funicular and then the chairlift up to Parc de Montjuic. First we went to the shopping centre at the port and had a coffee and tea and Gerard had a pastry, then we wandered off to find our way around. We stopped off and booked a 1.5 hour sail on a catamaran along the foreshore of Barcelona for 3.30pm.

We got a little lost on the way to the funicular, but a lovely old lady sitting on a bench helped us out in French. She was 87 years old and managed to direct us to the funicular station. She was so lovely. We rode the funicular up the hill and then the chairlift to the top of Montjuic.

On top of the Mount is a massive castle/fort that was built in the 1300s and then restored in the 1700s. It is an amazingly fortified area with beautiful gardens and buildings. The design was made to maximise the opportunity to stop your enemies entering by having zigzag walls where you had a clear shot each way to get them and there was also a great big moat, lots of cannons etc. So interesting and great views of Barcelona.

We left Montjuic and travelled back down the funicular in time to have a roll for lunch at a nice café and be at our boat in time for departure. It was a lovely big catamaran that motored out of the harbour and then raised it sails, so we could sail peacefully along with a saxophonist playing on board to entertain us and the other 20 people, approx. on board. What a lovely, peaceful way to spend and afternoon. A glass of sangria and a most enjoyable time. So sad it had to end and we had to depart.

We wandered off and had a cool drink at the café where we had had lunch and then wandered down the street through the market and stalls. We stopped and had 3 tapas and paella for 9.50 euro and then caught the 7.30pm shuttle back to the hotel. This trip took 30 minutes as the driver missed the turn off to the airport.

Another lovely day exploring Barcelona.

Barcelona

jaynem — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 20:27:00 GMT

Barcelona and we caught the shuttle bus from the Hotel to the city, only took about 12 minutes and we are in the centre of town. The Hotel is really nice and very quiet, away from all the hustle and bustle of the city, it costs 6 euro each way for the shuttle. We could take public transport from the airport but that would involve a shuttle to the airport and then a train and it would take us about an hour and a half to get there, and about the same cost.

We walk around the port area of Barcelona for a while, taking in the sights and we decide that we need to go to Park Guell where there is a museum about Gaudi and his works. I had reserved tickets on line for 3.30pm. We caught the train out to the suburb of Valcarca and then walk for about 30 minutes uphill in the heat to get there. Once we got there, they had no record of our reservation and would not allow us entry to the park. Not happy Jan! So Gerard told them their customer service was terrible and to jam their park where it fits, and we left. He actually did it with restraint and reasonably politely. We walked down the hill and caught a bus that took us all around the suburbs and gave us some great views of Barcelona.

Back in the city we got off the bus at the Main centre called De Gracia and checked out the fountain and the area around there. We then walked down towards the Port so we could catch the Teleferic, a gondola ride to the park on the side of the hill. We queued for about an hour and a half and finally had our return tickets and it was already 5.30pm. The last gondola was at 7.30pm, so by the time we queued some more and rode across, we got to queue again and ride back on the 7.30pm gondola. It was fantastic for seeing the Port and the sights of Barcelona.

We stopped on the way back for some beautiful paella, a seafood one and a meat one, which were great, probably the best we have had. We walked along the water’s edge past restaurants and stalls to catch the 10.30pm shuttle back to the hotel. We had really enjoyed our day.

Seville to Barcelona

jaynem — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:23:00 GMT

Tonight we fly to Barcelona at 9.40pm, so we have the day to explore more of Seville. We caught the bus into town and queued to see the palace. The queue is in shade in the morning, good work! The palace was of Moroccan and Muslim style with lots of mosaics and interesting turrets, walkways and pools and water features. The King and Queen of Spain live in part of the building today. Apart from the building there is the most amazing gardens. Acres and acres of beautiful manicured hedges, lawns, orchards, trees and water features. Absolutely amazing. You could easily get lost in there. We stopped for a drink and a roll at the café and were joined by a couple of peacocks and the stray cat, of course.

We decided not to go to the cathedral as the reviews were not that good and a couple from Melbourne who were in the queue behind us had been there early this morning and said it wasn’t really worth the effort and they had seen much more impressive cathedrals elsewhere. Given that we have seen quite a lot and some amazing ones, we decided to give it a miss.

We wandered through the shops and spent a couple of hours in the cool in the cafeteria of the big department store. Whilst there were more things to see and do in Seville we had seen the main ones and we didn’t have time to do some of the things further out of town. We headed back to the Hotel and headed out to the airport in the taxi about an hour earlier than we had planned to. Plenty of time but the airport would be cooler than the non-air conditioned hotel lounge we were sitting in.

At the airport we had a drink and sat in the cafeteria until we could check our luggage in and head through security to the gate lounges. Without a boarding pass you cannot get through security even for a domestic flight. We had a snack and headed for the gate. Of course, the plane was delayed by 30 minutes then it took forever to board as the first passengers filled all the overhead lockers and then a lot of bags had to go underneath but eventually we got on board. Such a slow process. By now our 9.40pm flight was the 11pm flight and we finally got to our Barcelona Airport Hotel at about 1am. Fantastic!!! Do not fly Vueling airlines, it is the Jetstar/tiger of Iberia airlines.

More of Seville

jaynem — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:22:00 GMT

Today we explore more of Seville. We caught the bus to what we thought was the Palace and discovered it was in fact the University, we wandered around and admired their statues and then left. We found the real palace around the corner, but it is still the Military Office and no we couldn’t go in. Bugger! The challenge with hop on hop off buses is that sometimes the commentary is out of sync with where you are or left and right are reversed if the bus goes the other way. So we found a café for tea and toast and had some breakfast. Gerard loves the Jambon here, it is like prosciutto and quite delicious. So he had some of that on his toast, I had jam.

After our breakfast we headed down to the river and went on a river cruise. The river meanders through the city and gives more of an insight into the history and the development of Seville. Seville held the World Expo in 1996 and for that event is build a lot of infrastructure and cultural buildings in one area of town and this is partly the reason they have good fast rail network and airport.

On return from the cruise we walked across the bridge and explored Triana which is an area of Seville known for poets, potters and artists as well as riverside restaurants. We had some lunch at Maccas as everyone else was having a siesta and then walked through town to the church of Jacinta and caught the hop on hop off bus back to the city centre. Once back in the city we checked out the Cathedral and the Palace. Yes, we had found the one you can visit and it is supposed to be very good, but it wasn’t part of our plan to stand in the sun for an hour or two in the queue to get in. We decided to head back to the Hotel for a while and then do the night hop on hop off tour.

After a couple of hours rest and refreshing we caught the bus back into the city and found out that the night tour started at 9.15pm. We had time to go and eat first. We found another nice tapas bar and had jambon and bread, and chicken curry with cous cous. The waiter was an English lass having a study year for her Spanish language studies. She was great to chat to. Of course it was yum! We have not had a bad meal yet. We walked back to the river and boarded the hop on hop off bus for the night tour. Some of it was the same as the day tour, but some was different. Buildings do look different when they are lit up at night. We caught the bus home, what a great day exploring the amazing Seville.

Seville

jaynem — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:21:00 GMT

So today we get to explore Seville. We worked out where the hop on hop off bus has a stop near us – still a 20 minute walk away, and we bought tickets for the bus for 18 euro each and they cover two days, two different day tours and a night tour, as well as two free walking tours. Given the other hop on hop off experiences we have had this was very good value for money. Off we go on the bus and we enjoy looking at all the important things and try to get an idea of what to do while we are here. After a while we get hungry and the bus stops in the centre of town and we hop off.

Spain is a very strange place, the people are nice, but they don’t speak as much English as the other places we have been and even if you try Spanish it will be the wrong one and get you nowhere. Hola and gracias work reasonably well. So after a rather strange conversation with the waiter and much grunting and pointing we ordered coffee and tea and two croissants with ham and cheese. Simple enough hey! No, even pointing and indicating with two fingers we still only got one croissant. Not sure what happened there, but it was fairly large so we had half each. The waiter was pretty rude, anyway.

We wandered around the streets and shops for a while and found it was a great shopping area. The streets are narrow to keep it shady and cool, good idea because this is the hottest we have been 38-40 each day. We wandered off the see the Metropolis Parasol. This amazing structure is very modern and a bit weird, but you can walk under it and you can take the lift to the top of it and walk around the top getting great views of Seville in the burning heat and part of the entrance is a drink at the café on the top level. You need it after walking around on top in the sun. I can’t describe it very well, except it is kind of like a bee honeycomb curvy, wormy umbrella. You will have to google it.

Under the Metropolis Parasol is a museum that is an archaeological dig from 300 – 400AD. It showed an area where they salted fish and the walls of various buildings and rooms, as well as artefacts. Some of the mosaic floors were amazing and told the story of their lives. There was even sewerage and drainage channels and brick pipes. Quite amazing. We spent a couple of hours wandering around reading the interactive computer screens and learning about early Seville.

We went to the Tourist Information booth at the main department store and found out that there was a bus we could catch that would go past near our hotel from basically anywhere on the circuit around the city. Yay! We could reduce some of the walking in the heat. We went for a walk through the shopping area and found a lovely cool hotel dining area where we shared some tapas. It was beautiful! We caught the hop on hop off bus back to the Plaza De Spania which was built in the 1930s and houses the government offices and is just an amazing curved building decorated with wonderful mosaics, staircases, wooden and mosaic ceilings. It had water features that you could row a boat on, a central fountain and a massive plaza. You should look this up on google too, it’s quite amazing.

We wandered through some gardens and had a sit for a while, and then yay! We caught the bus back to the Hotel. Tonight for dinner we went to a local Italian Restaurant and had pasta. It was yummy!

Malaga to Seville

jaynem — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:20:00 GMT

We decided that because of the Fair and our inability to move freely around the town that we would head to the station and catch the train to Seville rather than wait until later in the day. So we headed to the station and caught the 10.40am train to Seville. It would arrive about 12.50pm in Seville. The train stations at Madrid and Malaga are beautiful and clean and no one is allowed on the platform until the train is there and ready to board, so everyone sits in a seating area until their train is called for boarding. This creates a bit of mayhem in the boarding process as everyone is looking for their carriage and their seat, but it means people are not hanging around on platforms and it seems to work well. We also had ticket and baggage checks on entry to the station, so only passengers are in there. A bit like International travel at airports. Spain Is so safe and there are no pesky gypsy’s or pick pockets to worry about.

The train trip was quite pleasant and only about 30 minutes longer than the fast train. During the trip we passed olive groves, citrus orchards and desert country. The remote houses are just like you see in the movies. White haciendas surrounded by cacti. Passing through Alora we saw the massive canyon Caminito del Rey in the Elchorro Gorge with a walking track attached to the side of the mountain about 100 metres above the river below. It has only been recently re-opened after safety upgrades due to the number of fatalities that had occurred. It was like a narrow boardwalk attached to the mountain. We could see people walking along it and stopping to take photos. Apparently the walk is 5km long and was originally built for workers to walk between two hydroelectric stations.

The trip continued passing through lovely countryside and we arrived in Seville on time. The station was beautiful and clean and just like Malaga and Madrid. We went to the tourist information booth to get a map and the girl charged me 1 euro for a map! This is the first time we have had to pay for a map! We worked out where the Hotel was and headed off to walk to the Hotel. We only had to walk for about 15minutes and we were there, but it was very hot as by now it was about 1pm. We followed the map and went down this side street, no Hotel! Of course not, it was straight ahead with a big sign on the wall.

So the mystery four star Hotel in the centre of the city turned out to be the mystery 2 star hotel on the outskirts of the city in the dodgy part of town. The room was old but clean, the bathroom was nice, fairly new and very clean but the décor was from the 1970s and it was in need of a serious renovation and the corridor outside smelt like mouldy old socks. The reception area was ok but not air conditioned and the bar and restaurant were closed and we decided not to have breakfast there, and I am not sure if we could have if we wanted to. The TV was the large box type, not a flat screen and every now and then you would lose the sound for a few seconds. Apart from that it was ok.

We needed to do some laundry, so we found the nearest laundromat and headed off to do the washing. It was a long walk in the heat, about 30 minutes, but we got there and found a great Speed Queen laundromat, lovely and clean and right next door to a grocery shop where we could buy croissants, grapes and beer. We had a snack while our washing and drying was done and then walked back to the Hotel.

We went out to a local restaurant that got a good review on the internet and had some tapas of calamari and pork. They were delicious!

Gibraltar

jaynem — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:19:00 GMT

We were up early and waiting at the bus stop at 6.45am. Well done! Having the alarm set for 5.30am on holidays is not a plan I had! Last night we met a couple from Tasmania in the lift at the Hotel. They live at George Town north of Launceston and have been travelling around Europe for 4 weeks. They were waiting for the bus, too. The lady’s reaction was a bit weird when I went over and started talking to them, but it turned out she had no recollection of our meeting in the lift as she had been participating in the Fair celebrations. Not sure how she didn’t have a hangover!

The bus came on time and we climbed aboard. It stopped a few times to pick up people along the way, but we didn’t end up with a full bus. There were quite a few empty seats. We had to take our passports with us as Gibraltar is a British Colony and we have to cross the border. Going into Gibraltar was easy as the police from Spain walked through the bus and checked our passports, then we drove a few yards and the police from Gibraltar walked through the bus and checked our passports and we were in! Not a drama at all. It could be different on the way back as depending on the mindset of the Spanish police you can be held up for quite some time. The Spanish still hate the British because they won’t give Gibraltar back to the Spanish there have even been referendums held in the 1990s and 2000s for the people to vote on and the people have voted to stay with the British, so the Spaniards do not like the people either.

Gibraltar is all duty free, so a lot of people go there to shop. We didn’t find the prices cheap, except for the liquor, but we didn’t buy anything. The perfume and cosmetics were all dearer than I can buy them for in Australia. We had free time for a couple of hours and then we headed back to the parking area. We had booked a tour of Gibraltar and the caves and monkeys. By the way, it is a Very Big Rock!!! The Tasmanian couple were back for the tour and we asked them what they had done in their free time. It turns out they had been to a wedding. A young Australian couple were holidaying in Gibraltar and had decided to get married. They needed a couple of Australian witnesses, so the groom was out on the street looking for Aussies when he spied our Tasmanian friend in his Collingwood T-Shirt, and approached him, checking he was an Aussie, and he and his wife became witnesses at the wedding. Strange things can happen. Lol!!

So the tour took us through the streets of Gibraltar explaining the history of the colony, the fact that it used to be 50% military and 50% civilian population = 30,000. Now it is all civilian. It is an important port in the shipping routes and only 14km from Morocco. We toured through all the Port, the shipping yards and the military buildings and headed up the rock to the lookout point. The views down to the town were great but you couldn’t see anything on the horizon for the heat haze. Have I mentioned it is hot over here? We have been experiencing days between 29 and 39 since we left the cruise!

We then went to the caves where we were warned not to touch the monkeys, not to feed the monkeys and not to get close to the monkeys because they steel things and to watch our belongings as they are very quick. Your obvious, rascal monkeys just like the ones at the temples in Kuala Lumpur. We went into the cave passing a couple of monkeys on the way, the look cute but looks can be deceiving! The caves were very good, typical stalactites and stalagmites but difficult to photograph because of the lighting. We got a few good shots, though.

Outside waiting for the bus we saw some more monkeys and watched one go into the souvenir shop and steal a toy monkey and race off into the trees with it. A mother and baby were in the trees and a couple of teenagers were drinking from a bucket and monkeying around! Funny little characters!

Back on the bus and back to the city we had some free time to have something to eat before our departure at 3.30pm. We were due back in Malaga at 6pm. We found a nice Italian Restaurant and had some meatballs in tomato sauce and a focaccia with cherry tomatoes. It was quite nice to be in an English speaking country again, although, in the morning when we had breakfast of scones and tea, my pronunciation of scones was not very British and the lady told me they were “scones” as in the pronunciation of “stones.” Oh dear!

So, back on the bus we go and head for the customs check point. There are restrictions on how much duty free you can take back into Spain, 1 litre of liquor per person, 300ml of ladies eau de parfum and 500ml of gent’s aftershave. To get in and out of Gibraltar the bus has to cross the runway of the airport. It’s really weird to drive across a runway that goes out into the sea. They have traffic lights and boom gates, in case you are wondering what happens when a plane is landing.

At customs the British aren’t interested, after all you are leaving. The Spanish on the other hand made us get off the bus with all our bags , walk through passport control, showing our passports to the policeman behind the glass, who just nodded at each of us, and then we had to wait while they searched the bus. Bus searched and we were back on it in about 15 minutes and away we went. The guide thought that was a lot quicker than usual as it can take an hour to do the same other days. Thank you happy Spanish policemen!

We got back to Malaga about 6.20pm and walked back to our Hotel. We were happy but tired after our long day. Of course the disco was on above our room in the bar and we had Flamenco dancing on our ceiling until late. Gerard was not happy and let the management know that he wanted them to stop dancing on our ceiling so he could sleep, it was only 9.30pm! Lol! But the dancing did quieten down a fair bit and we slept well.

Malaga

jaynem — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 05:40:00 GMT

We had a slow start today and wandered out to find breakfast. Fair goes from 12 noon until 6pm, but no-one actually knows this so there were already bands playing and people in the Streets by 11am. We walked down to the Tourist Information Centre and then went to the City Tour experts to book a day trip for tomorrow to Gibraltar. We found out that today is a bank holiday in Malaga. So that explains all the people being around. It will be interesting to see what it is like tomorrow.

We found a café for a breakfast of churros with chocolate, traditional Spanish breakfast food, and tea and coffee. We both wanted to see the Picasso Museum, so off we went to find it. It wasn’t too far away and we found it and went in. A Jackson Pollock exhibition was on too, so we got to see both. We really enjoyed learning all about Picasso and his paintings via the quiet vox’s. Jackson Pollock was interesting too, but that exhibition had other artist’s work such as Andy Warhol as well.

We found a nice little café for lunch and had rolls, croquettes and paella to share. It was yummy! I ordered a gin and tonic and Gerard a wine. In Spain Gin and Tonic means half a glass at least of gin and a dash of tonic. Phew! They nearly blow your head off. I have to add more of the tonic as soon as the waiter leaves.

After lunch we headed to the Carmen Thyssen Museum, which houses the paintings of the Spanish masters and enjoyed looking at them and a Pop Art exhibition as a huge contrast. It too, was very interesting and worth the visit.

We came home for some R & R and I booked accommodation in Seville and a flight from Seville to Barcelona. I got a really good deal for the accommodation at a 4 star Hotel in the middle of Seville for $56 per night. I checked and Seville Fair is in April. It is a shame the fair is on here as I think It is having an effect on what we feel we can do and where we can go.

We headed out for some food and ended up back where we had lunch for some more paella to share. They welcomed us back and even gave us bread and some Liqueur on the house. It was nice and had an aniseed flavour. Back to the Hotel for an early night as we need to be at the bus at 7am for our trip to Gibraltar and it will take is 20 mins to walk to the bus stop.

Madrid to Malaga

jaynem — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 05:38:00 GMT

We woke up to a beautiful morning in Madrid and took our time, not needing to be up early today. Once we were ready we left our bags at the hotel and headed out for the day. Our train to Malaga was booked for 4.30pm.

Just outside the hotel the hop on, hop off bus stopped and we jumped on and bought a ticket. We did tour 2 which took about an hour and we saw some of the sights. We finished tour 2 and went for some lunch in a cute café. We had rolls again, they are really nice, bigger than a dinner roll but not as big as our normal rolls. A nice size for a snack. Mine had freshly grilled chicken, tomato and bacon. It was delicious. We had a tea and coffee and my tea bag came in a cute little box. Gerard took a photo of it.

We got on the tour 1 bus and continued our exploration of Madrid. There are lots of things to see and do and it would have been nice to have longer there, but we had to move on. We got to the station and found out where we had to go, only to find I had booked the tickets for the wrong Sunday and we weren’t going until next week. Anyway, I bought new tickets for the 6.30pm train and got online and cancelled the ones I had booked and I will receive the refund to my card in the next couple of days. A bit inconvenient, but oh well it all turned out well.

We sat around the beautiful station until 6.00pm and boarded the train. The station was so clean and nice with a big garden in the centre. The train left on time and we travelled at 300kmh through the countryside for 2.5 hours. I know where all the olive trees for Spanish olive oil are, they are everywhere, millions of them, and little white square houses, small villages and windy country roads. There were some areas of crops as well and a mountain range, but it was interesting to see rural Spain.

We arrived in Malaga on time to another lovely, clean station and caught a taxi. We had spoken to the Hotel that morning and that had been their advice. They also said that the Street may be busy and to get the driver to drop us at the end of the Street and walk up the 100 metres to the Hotel. Well, we got there and it is Fair in Malaga for 8 days and it is like Festivale in Rio, people everywhere, music, noise, food, dancing etc. and we had to walk through the middle of it with our cases. What a crazy arrival, but we found our Hotel in the main street of the Fair area and we were told there are 7 days to go. Fortunately we can’t hear much from our room, but the Manager gave us a free drink card for gin and tonics and invited us to go to the rooftop bar after we had settled in.

In the feedback on the internet people had said how lovely and relaxing it was to have a drink on the rooftop bar and it was a great feature of the Hotel. Not this week! The bar was packed with people dancing, drinking and a DJ. You couldn’t move up there for gyrating bodies and drunks. We drank our G & Ts and went back to our room.

Nice to Madrid

jaynem — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 05:37:00 GMT

Today Lee and Michael and Nick and Liz are leaving to fly to Cyprus. It has been lovely spending time with them. Their flight leaves early and they have a stopover in Oslo. Work that one out! Anyway we got up early and said goodbye and then did a load of washing and had breakfast, croissants from the bakery around the corner, and got ready for the day.

We waited for the guy to come at 10am to get the keys for the apartment, but he didn’t arrive, so we rang the owner and he told us to leave our luggage in the apartment and take the keys, as no one would be in for a couple of days. A little while later the guy rang us and confirmed our airport pick up for 3.30pm.

We had decided to go to the village of Eze where they make the perfume, we went there last time and we were keen to go back. We walked to the tourist bureau and found the best way to go was to catch the tram to the bus terminal and then take the bus to Eze. Easy! We got to the bus terminal and we had just missed the bus to Eze, so we sat and waited for an hour.

The bus trip was only 20 minutes and basically straight through Nice and up the hills. The village of Eze is perched on the top of the mountain and very cute. We went to one perfumery and then decided we were hungry. We found a bar and had a meal deal of a glass of wine and the dish of the day. The dish of the day was a piece of a bird, don’t know what it was, tasted like chicken but much bigger, with a cream and sage sauce and mashed potato. It was delicious!

We went to the other perfume factory and bought some goodies and then we waited for the bus to Nice. This time we got off the bus earlier and caught the tram, the wrong way for one stop and then the right way to get to a bus stop that would take us to the apartment. Good plan, but the bus that went past the apartment didn’t stop at our stop and we had to go an extra stop and walk back. All good! We had made it back before 3.30pm.

Our driver arrived and drove us to the airport and we caught the plane to Madrid. While we were waiting I booked our train to Malaga and our Hotel in Barcelona for three nights prior to our flight to Venice. All our flights within Europe have been on fairly small planes that seat 40-80 people and park out on the tarmac and you have to catch a bus out to them and back to the terminal. We arrived in Madrid on time and caught a taxi to the Hotel. We had rung the Hotel and they had recommended getting a taxi, apparently they have a good reputation and don’t try to overcharge like Prague. Our taxi was fine, although the guys hand had an unhealthy relationship with his gear stick! He kept rubbing it all the way.

So we arrived in Madrid about 9.30pm and we had the most fantastic hotel, it was 5 star and beautiful. Lots of room and luxurious. I have done very well with all our bookings! We went out for dinner and spent a whole 6 euros 50 cents, for two beers, two rolls (not large but tasty) and a plate of fries with cheese and bacon.

Nice

jaynem — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 05:36:00 GMT

Today we caught the train to Monaco. We arrived at the station and bought our tickets and we were told to get to the platform quickly as the train was running 10 minutes late and we should be able to catch it. It was actually more than 10 minutes late and we had plenty of time. It is only about a 40 minute trip and we seemed to be there very quickly.

The station at Monaco is clean and all marble and very nice compared to the other stations we have been to. We walked out of the station past the Le Devote church and onto the main street. We wandered around looking for somewhere to have brunch but very little was open until down by the port we found a restaurant that was happy to open early for us but would only do a limited menu for us. (It was 10.50am and they opened at 11am for breakfast and lunch etc) so work that one out! Anyway, we had a lovely omelette, chips and bread with tea and coffee and we were ready to walk briskly up the hill to the palace in time for the changing of the guard. Phew! We made it, not easy on a full stomach! The changing of the guard was full of fanfare and a marching band and we could not see much for the crowd. We wandered around the streets and shops and had a nice time. We caught the tourist train and did the tour and then we bought tickets for the tour of the palace and the car museum.

The tour of the palace was very interesting and a good insight to the reception rooms and throne room that are used on important occasions as well as the bedrooms that were used for royal visitors. It was really nice. The other wings of the palace are the private rooms of Prince Albert and his family and the rooms for the guards and servants.

The car museum was the Prince’s personal collection and he had a lot of them in mint condition. Gerard, Michael and Nick were in their element. Their cameras did not stop clicking for an hour. I enjoyed it too. We left the car museum and caught the bus to the Casino. Well, once again the guys were in car heaven, spending all their time taking photos of the cars parked around the casino. They had a ball! We were going to have a wine there but the prices were ridiculous, 5 euro for water, 10 euro for a beer, 8 euro for a wine etc. So we decided to head back to the train station and go home, after all it was about 6pm by now and we had had a lovely day.

We caught the train back to Nice and walked home via the supermarket for wine, 3 euro per bottle, bread, 90 euro cents, and some ham and prosciutto. We had a lovely meal of bread, meats, cheeses, tomatoes, olives, pesto and caviar dip. We enjoyed Monaco again, the magnificent boats in the harbour, the gorgeous clean and safe shopping areas and the palace and car museum.

Cinque Terre to Nice

jaynem — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 04:00:00 GMT

We were up early to be packed and ready to go at 9am when Marco, our driver, picked us up. We trevelled for 3 and ½ hours from Monterosso to Nice through some beautiful country side and nice little villages. It was a great trip and we stopped at McDonalds about 15 minutes from our destination. They had a code for the toilets, but the nice man told us the code and let us use them.

Our arrival in Nice was to a pleasant hot day, a bit windy and quite rough seas. We settled into the apartment we are sharing and gave the washing machine a work out. We now have washing in the lounge with the balcony doors open. We are on the 7^th floor, which is the top floor overlooking the beach and it is a great location. We walked into town and had some lunch at a nice café and then walked through town towards the square and the markets. We had a lovely wander and then discovered the flower market had finished and the food market but we stopped for a drink at, what turned out to be a gay bar. Oh well, we hadn’t noticed until we looked around at the patrons and worked it out.

We walked back along the promenade to the apartment passing by the memorials to the people who were killed here recently in the attack by the man in the truck. Very, very sad. We went to the local supermarket and bought meat, pasta, onion, tomato, cheese, pesto, bread etc. to cook our own dinner and some wine, of course

Cinque Terre 3

jaynem — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 03:55:00 GMT

According to a guy at breakfast, he thought we were just enjoying ourselves and not too noisy and the guy was unreasonable. Anyway, we were tired and ready for bed so it really didn’t matter. Today our legs are much better, but the shins are a bit tight and the lift is much better than the stairs.

Today we had a slow start, late breakfast and Gerard and I sat around in the lounge catching up on news about home and writing this journal. About 11am we headed down to the beach front and had a cuppa and a pastry and then decided we would walk into town.

Once in town we went to the Ferry Office and booked four tickets for us and Nick and Liz to take the ferry to Riomaggiore and get a different view of the coast. Our tickets were for 2pm so we had a wnder around town and had a look in the Church and the Chapel. The church had been badly flooded in 2005 and they had a display of photos of the damage and restoration.

We wandered back to the Hotel to get organised for the afternoon and headed back to the ferry with Nick and Liz. Today was a cooler day and the sea was much rougher, so we enjoyed the swaying of the ferry and the magnificent views. We could see the path where we had walked the day before and it made us even more proud of our accomplishment. Brian and Liz from Echuca joined us on the ferry and were quite amazed at where we had walked the day before.

We got off the ferry at Riomaggiore and walked up more and more steps into the town. So, of course we found a bar to sit down and have some food and drink. The waiter had either failed waiting 101 or just didn’t understand Australians at all. I got my pannini when the drinks arrived, well some of them, then Gerard had to wait ages for his and we reminded the waiter about his pannini and Liz’s bruschetta several times. I had finished mine and it was delicious before Gerard got his pannini and finally we asked again about Liz’s bruschetta and it finally arrived. The waiter was pretty grumpy and so were we, but we had seen the chef come out the front and stand around and have a smoke. Must be working on Italian time.

After our late lunch we walked back to the train station and caught the train back to Monterosso, we had had a lovely afternoon. Tonight we had booked into a local restaurant and we had a beautiful meal. Gerard was hanging out for a steak and really enjoyed it. I had a grilled fish and it was delicious, the lady even boned it for me and some grilled vegetables. Yum! We finished off with a panna cotta, also yum!

What a nice, restful and enjoyable day.

Cinque Terre 2

jaynem — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 19:04:00 GMT

Up early today and we head off with our bathers, towels and water to walk the Cinque Terre. The track is closed from Corniglia to Manarola and from Manarola to Riomaggiore so we can only walk Monterosso to Venazza and Venazza to Corniglia.

So Hi Ho, Hi Ho its walking we will go. Magnificent views of the Mediterranean and the surrounding countryside. Just beautiful, nice and warm but shady and a cool breeze. The first walk from Monterosso to Venazza was very difficult at the start with 400 steps basically straight up the hill, then it evened out for a while and then it was down the steps into Venazza. This walk took about two hours and we arrived in Venazza about 10.30am. We were pretty hot and tired, so it was time for a drink and a swim. Mmm! We cooled down nicely.

We decided that as the next section to Corniglia was a shorter walk of 1-11/2 hours that we would do it as well and then have something to eat for lunch at Corniglia. Now it was definitely shorter and we did it in about 1 hour 40 minutes but no one told us it was 700 steps up at the beginning and 300 steps down at the end and lots of difficult rough walking in between. Yes, it was shorter but I think it was harder going. We got to Corniglia and our shins were crying out “no more steps please!” and my knees were rebelling and telling me that even though I had been careful and slow, they had had enough.

We stopped at the first café for a drink. A really gorgeous outdoor garden with a fantastic view. It was lovely and a great revival spot. We then walked into town and found the town square, look out and magnificent views. A café on the way back was on the side of the hill, with a great view and outdoor eating area so we went there. We had a magnificent parma ham (it is like prosciutto) with cantaloupe and lettuce salad. So refreshing and tasty, it was delicious.

So we have eaten and we are refreshed and it’s time to go back to Monterosso for a swim. Great idea! But would you believe it, 365 steps down to get to the station, my shins were going “Noooo!” and my knees were protesting too. But if you want to get back to the hotel and have a swim, you have got to do it. We made it! Onto the train, back to the hotel and change for a swim. Into the refreshing sea and we had a great refreshing experience.

Back to the garden after a shower, and nibbles and drinks again. Tonight we were joined by a couple from Echuca who knew a lot of people I knew and the folk from Cohuna so we had a nice old chit chat. We were also joined by a couple of Americans and were talking to them as well. Apparently by 11pm we were too noisy and some guy complained, so we had to pack up and go to bed.

Cinque Terre 1

jaynem — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 19:03:00 GMT

Today we decided to explore the area and we caught the train to the furthest town of Riomaggiore and wandered around the quaint little town checking out all the shops. We went down to the water and then up to the very top of the town to visit the church and to see if we could find a restaurant Lee was looking for. We couldn’t find it but we enjoyed looking around the village and ate beautiful mixed seafood in a paper cone. It was delicious – squid, sardines, anchovies, vegetables etc. all hot, crunchy and delicious.

We then caught the train back to Manorola and had a wander around there too. Another quaint little village, absolutely gorgeous with beautiful water and lovely views. After wandering around we found a restaurant and had a beautiful meal of bruschetta. As we had already eaten seafood we were not very hungry. Lee and Liz had a huge plate of mussels in white wine sauce, they were delicious too.

The weather is in the mid-thirties and after walking around quite a bit we headed back to Monterosso on the very crowded train, changing trains at Corniglia and then arriving back at Monterosso for a swim. Once again we sat outside in the garden with drinks and nibbles.

Milan to Monterosso

jaynem — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 19:02:00 GMT

Up early this morning to catch the 8.10am train to Monterosso. We got to the train station and you have to wait until 20 minutes prior to boarding to find out the platform number and then there is a mad scramble to get on the train. So we waited and we rushed and despite asking several people no one explained to us that we had an allocated carriage and allocated seats, so after we had pick a carriage and some seats and loaded our bags in, we had to move to the next carriage and find our correct seats. We did this amongst all the crowd and hustle and bustle of hundreds of people trying to go from carriage to carriage and get their seats and we finally got there and heaved our cases up onto the shelves above. Despite booking the tickets all together we ended up in different compartments. Some people helped Lee and Michael with getting their bags up, but we later discovered that they were gypsies and they had stolen money from Lee’s bag. About 165 euro. I am so glad my bag is lockable and I keep it locked all the time.

We had a very pleasant three hour train ride and arrived in Monterosso just after 11am. Nick and Liz were arriving at 3pm so we went to the Hotel and dropped off our luggage and then walked into town to find the Carabinieri (police) station to report the theft on the train. We wandered around the lovely little town and did some shopping. On the way back I bought a pair of bathers as it is very hot here and the sea is very inviting, beautiful blue and clear.

We had some lunch at a nice little pizza café and then went to the station to meet Nick and Liz. Once again there were people everywhere and it was crowded. We all checked into the hotel and then it was back to the café for Nick and Liz to have something to eat and then we went down to the beach for a swim. The water was beautiful and refreshing and it was most pleasant. Gerard enjoyed the water and found he could exercise his shoulder very well.

We came back to the hotel and sat outside and enjoyed the fresh air and some nibbles.

Milan 2

jaynem — Sun, 7 Aug 2016 06:07:00 GMT

We were up a bit earlier today and at breakfast by 9am. Gerard and I are going to Monza to see the race track and Lee and Michael are off to do the hop on, hop off bus.

We arrived at the station and bought a ticket to Monza with 10 minutes to departure and went upstairs to the platforms. We did not know the final town for the train so by the time we found someone who could tell us it was platform 8 we had to run for the train and just made it as the conductor was about to hit the switch to start the alarm for the doors to close.

We arrived in Monza 10 minutes later and walked through the town looking at the shops and looking for tourist information about how to get to the race track. We went to the Cathedral and the museum lady told us to go back to the station and catch the 221 bus, but buy the ticket at the tobacco stand. We still didn’t have a map or any idea if this was correct, so after we had a cool drink at a café Gerard asked a couple of local policeman who kindly took us to the tourist information centre and we got the same directions.

We walked to the bus stop and the tobacco stand was just nearby so we bought four tickets, two there and two back, and we waited for the bus. It was only a few minutes wait and the bus arrived. The driver told us where to get off, it was about 6km from Monza to a village called Biassono. An old man who spoke German pointed out the way to go and was very helpful. We walked down the street to the race track only to find the gate closed so we kept walking through the area called Monza Park. The race track is in the middle of a big park full of trees and tracks and paths. We could see the stands of the track and passed an area where you paid to use the swimming pools.

We walked on and came across a well-worn track and a big hole in the fence into the race track. Of course, Gerard went in and I had to follow protesting that we would be arrested and end up in an Italian jail. We wandered around and took photos of the track and in the stands and then went towards pit lane where we found other people. Phew! There must be an entrance somewhere for people to come in. We found a café and a tour place and organised a 10 euro drive around the track in a people mover with another family. We went on the ride around the track and stopped in poll position for photos. Gerard was very happy about it all. He had been to Monza Race Track.

We decided to head back but instead of going back to our hole in the fence we followed another road that we thought would take us back to Biassano. Oh no! it didn’t, of course. We were walking and walking and walking and we finally found a sign to an exit. It was a nice walk in the park through shade and trees, it was a hot day, about 28 and sunny. We kept walking and walking following the signs to the exit and despite a couple of fallen trees we finally came to an underpass that lead us to the outside of the race track but we forgot about the walls of the park. We followed the path and then, there in front of us was a huge, solid, metal gate with razor wire on top of it. Bugger!

We walked up to the gate and voila! It was not locked. We slid the bolt and the gate opened and we were in Lesmo, the next village. There was a guy on a bike the other side of the gate who was wanting to get in to the park so we got him to slide the bolt after he went in, so he was happy and so were we.

Lesmo had a train station, so we went there to catch the train back to Milan, but there was no one there, no train for over an hour and no way to buy a ticket so we decided to walk, yes walk, back to Biassano. This time we were walking in the sun and it was a lot hotter. We got to Biassano, bought a bottle of cold water each and found the bus stop.

Back in Monza we went to the station and bought a ticket back to Milan, but we had an hour until the train. We went to McDonalds and bought a beer and a chicken burger and chips. Yes we bought beer in McDonalds!

We caught the train back to Milan and were back at the Hotel about 5pm. What a weird day we had had and we had a good laugh about it along the way. Lee and Michael got back about 6pm and we decided to go to dinner at 7.30pm. We went back to the same restaurant as last night and had a yummy dinner again. Tomorrow we are catching the train to Monterosso at 8.10am.

Milan 1

jaynem — Sun, 7 Aug 2016 06:06:00 GMT

We woke for a late breakfast and decided that today was the today to shop Milan. We walked from the Hotel to Via Buena Vista, one of the main shopping areas and wandered through many of the shops. We talked to a shop assistant about the lack of formal wear shops in the area and she advised us to catch the subway into Duomo and try the shops around the cathedral.

We did this despite Lee getting a dodgy ticket and having to get through manually. Oh well, these things can happen. At Duomo Michael and Gerard decided to go on the tour to the roof of the cathedral and Lee and I ventured off to the shops. Well, we found them! Prada, Versacci, Gucci, Louis Vuitton etc. etc. Just like the top end of Collins Street. We went into Prada and got followed around by security, but it was nice to pretend we should be there. Of course, we looked like tourists.

We shopped and shopped and bought nothing, but had a nice time. The guys enjoyed their trip to the top of the cathedral. They actually walked around on the roof and took some great photos. Definitely a different way to look at a cathedral. We found the statue of Leonardo Da Vinci and a pesky gypsie who wouldn’t leave me alone until Gerard yelled at him. We decided to go to the Da Vinci museum as it was nearby and open until 10pm and it was only 5pm.

We had an amazing time in the museum, two hours was not enough, we could stayed a lot longer but our legs were tired. The exhibits were models and computer generated images and all were very interactive. We had a ball. We found out some really interesting facts about the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper and the Lady with the Ermine paintings His sketches of his inventions and his sketches as the basis for paintings and sculptures were amazing.

We got back to the Hotel and sought advice from the concierge regarding a good local restaurant. There was one just around the corner and the pasta with duck ragout was delicious and the house red really nice as well.

Stuttgart

jaynem — Sun, 7 Aug 2016 06:03:00 GMT

We arrived at our hotel about midnight last night and had a short but good sleep. Our flight was from Prague to Berlin with a one hour stop over then Berlin to Stuttgart. We are getting to know many airports and of course how to change terminals, which we had to do in Berlin.

This morning Michael and Gerard have headed off to catch the train to the Porsche Museum and the Mercedes Benz Museum. Lee and I decided to have a slower start but then about 10.30am we headed off to catch the train into town. Our Hotel is quite different it is a museum and display centre for the company that built buses. Gerard rang us to let us know which side of the platform to go to, apparently him and Michael had gone in the wrong direction. Anyone surprised?

Lee and I went into the city and bought tickets for the hop on, hop off bus. Stop 3 of the trip was a wine tasting opportunity, so we got off the bus and went into the winery. We could taste 3 wines and have biscuits and sausage for 19 euro. It sounded like a deal to us, so we sat and tried Riesling, Rose and Red with our biscuits and sausage under an umbrella in the outdoors. It was lovely overlooking the vineyard and the views of Stuttgart. We missed the next bus and went for a walk before catching the bus and heading back into the centre of town. We had time for a look around the shops before catching the train back to the hotel as our cab to the airport was booked for 4pm.

Gerard and Michael had a wonderful day at the museums and arrived back at the train station just in time for us to pick them up in the taxi and head to the airport. Our plane was delayed but we arrived in Milan about 10pm and caught the train for a 50 minute ride into town. We found our hotel just near the train station as we had planned it. Our hotels have all been really great, including especially the Wotif Mystery deals.