The End

We awoke to another glorious sunny day - it was nice not to have an alarm clock to wake us, but a 12 noon check out meant we could take our time. We headed up to the hotel’s roof top restaurant for breakfast. It was a bit posh, but what views! The bay went on for miles and it just added to the elegant ambience, so it was a wonderful start to our last day.



Santa Monica has a gorgeous tree-lined promenade where the shops are, so it was lovely to stroll and pick up a few bargains in the sunshine.

A street seller tried to get our attention by calling out ‘Hey, newlyweds!’ - that was a bit of a giggle!

LA customs was quick, although not intuitive! The big disappointment was no significant duty free shopping once we’d completed the formalities - I had planned for a final fling!

The flight was a whopping 13 hours 45 minutes, made longer by a 340 km per hour head wind, which made for a bumpy ride in parts. We were able to sleep a bit, although Allan has picked up a cold which made him a bit miserable.

Sad to think it is all over - the seven weeks went amazingly fast. It is interesting for us to look back on the early parts of the blog - England seems so long ago.

The three parts of our trip (London, UK and Europe) were each different to each other but all equally enjoyable - there were no down parts really, its been a wonderful experience, and I am ready to go back (as soon as this one’s paid for!)

Hollywood

An early start for our day at Universal Studios, via Beverley Hills and Hollywood. We were pleasantly surprised with the Studios. They’re very well organised, friendly, clean and not over hyped. Of course, you could buy plenty of souvenirs, but mostly we just had fun with the shows and rides. Passed on the roller coaster, but had a cool and wet Jurassic Park ‘log-flume’ ride with an 84ft vertical waterfall drop, and watched a brilliant ’Waterworld’ show, with pyrotechnics, water stunts and much splashing! A nice day out, although Allan has managed to pick up a cold unfortunately.

We survived Terminal Five!

Luckily, it was a bank holiday when we left London, so the traffic was really light. We had some trepidation after all the publicity we’d seen about delays and lost baggage at Terminal 5, but it was a piece of cake really. We had to use the check-in machines like we do at home, and were amazed to find that the default seats we were allocated were the last two together seats on the plane, even though we were early checking in. They were the middle two of the centre four, so we didn’t even have an aisle. We were on a British Airways flight, which was the only one of our trip that we weren’t able to pre-select our seats on.


The terminal is beautiful, and as I said to Allan, “this is what I call duty free shopping!” Miles and miles of shops selling all sorts - didn‘t buy much tho‘.

Security was extreme - we had to remove jackets, shoes (even my open sandals) and belts. Even so, there were only small queues.

The terminal has its own underground train to its other two buildings, so it is pretty vast. The flight was a long 11 hours, leaving at midday local time, and arriving at our hotel at 3 am on our body clocks - we didn’t sleep much either. I prefer to fly at night as we do on our homeward trip - more conducive to sleeping.

Security in LA was extreme as you’d expect, although again we were lucky with queues. We were finger printed and iris scanned, but there is no MAF type checking as we have at home, so the biggest delay was getting our luggage.

Took a shuttle to Santa Monica - our hotel is beautiful and the beach endless, and only a block away.

Homeward bound

After all our farewells, we headed for the Eurostar. Our booked carriage had an air-con malfunction, so they upgraded us to first class - that was pretty special.

Now in London getting organised for our little detour to Santa Monica (Los Angeles) on the way home - another early start tomorrow (Sunday) morning.

Paris, je t’aime

Last night (Thursday), we had our cabaret and dinner. It was a really good meal, but the show was the piece de resistance (are you impressed with my French?). It was the singing and dancing and the Can Can that you would expect, but it was the ‘support’ acts that blew us away. There was a trapeze artist who had us gasping, a hilarious comedian who had a guy from the audience join him on stage (our guys were cowering in case they got picked!), a juggling duo, whose routine was completely out of the ordinary, and an incredible mime/statue act. Everyone loved it and we laughed to the point of tears.

Today (Friday) we went to the Palace of Versailles and the Louvre (saw the Mona Lisa). Both visits were a little disappointing for various reasons, but they were on our ’to do’ list so it’s all good.








We had our final tour dinner tonight - snails for those brave enough (i.e. Allan, not me!).

Then we cruised the town by night looking at all the sights illuminated, and culminating at the Eiffel Tower They turn ‘twinkling’ lights on for 10 minutes on the hour so that was a highlight. Allan tried haggling with one of the hawkers selling souvenirs - he didn’t win! The guy told him ‘you must be crazy!’

Back on the bus, everyone was feeling a little nostalgic on our last night, so we ended up singing - a combination of Australian, American and Italian (for our driver) songs. The six kiwis didn’t include any singers, so we joined in the others’ songs, but didn’t offer any of our own! A lovely evening!

Both of us would love to spend more time in Paris on our next trip!

Lyon to Paris

Last night (Wednesday) after dinner, our tour director took us on a little walking tour of Lyon. It was the first time on the tour that we have been scheduled to arrive, have dinner, go to bed, and then leave without seeing the town, so it was an unscheduled bonus to see the old town.

Lyon has what are called a ‘Hill of Workers’ and a ‘Hill of Prayers’. One is full of churches and the other is where the silk factories were. The narrow cobbled streets are full of protected houses, which have little private corridors between then, which you are allowed to explore, as long as you do so in absolute silence - a challenge for some of our group! The town is very pretty with its two rivers, its statues and fountains, especially at dusk, as we saw it.




It was a fairly long trip up to Paris with only a couple of quick motorway stops. We had a booking for the Eiffel Tower at 2pm, so had to be on time. The area was teeming with people, but we were in the group queue which saved a bit of time. I wasn’t as impressed by its size as I thought I might be, but the views from where we were (halfway up) were spectacular. The town goes on for ever.

After that, we had a bus tour of the city highlights It was pretty mind blowing - you’d see a stunning building, and then another, and another, and another. It is very clean and everything is in really good condition. There is a lot of greenery and the Champs-Elysee is gorgeous. I think we’re going to like it here!

We’re booked to see the Louvre and The Palace of Versailles tomorrow with a dinner in the evening, but hopefully there will be time to wander.

We’re off to a cabaret and dinner tonight so it’s all go, go, go!

On the road again

Headed for Lyon today - a longish drive with a lengthy lunch stop in Avignon (from the song ‘Sur le Pont d’Avignon’). It was very pretty, and we had our first French Crepes for lunch. The little towns certainly have plenty of character and charm, although we did love Nice. Climbed another hill, saw some more ruins! It is beautiful, on these sunny days seeing the views (especially the rivers) from these vantage points.

Off to Paris in the morning - can’t believe we have been away for nearly 6 weeks. We have loved every minute of it so far, and I think we both think that we could get used to the lifestyle! The group continues to be friendly, and we are all able to sit down and chat with any of the others over a meal. I am sure that we will keep in touch with a lot of them.

A sleep in at last

Didn’t have to leave the hotel until 9.30am, so we were able to have a leisurely breakfast, before being taken to the markets, which were full of beautiful fruit and vegies, breads, cheeses, as well as craft items. It was beautifully clean and very vibrant. Then we were free for the rest of the day.

We took off on a jaunt up a hill, where the view over the Mediterranean stretched out for miles in both directions - it was gorgeous. There is certainly plenty of money here if the yachts we saw are anything to go by. There are a lot of ruins here also, dating back to the 15th century - some were at the top of our hill, and there was a lovely waterfall. It was very restful and peaceful as we ambled around, chatting with another couple from our tour party.

It was a luxury to be able to go back to the hotel for a battery recharge, and then hit the shops again. Everything is very expensive, as it has been all over Europe, but I did manage to negotiate buying some shampoo in French!

Our evening meal was in Monte Carlo, where they were setting up for the Grand Prix next week. The roads are treacherously narrow and windy when you are in an enormous coach (we’re not allowed to call it a bus!), but our driver is absolutely amazing. Thought of Toby (and Michael!) as we saw all the seating set up for the race - not many cars around yet, but certainly plenty of evidence that the race is coming. I can see that when we get home and watch TV, we’ll be saying ‘been there’ whenever we see something we recognise.

Then we were off to the casino. Not our cup of tea, but interesting to see how the other half lives. The grandness and elegance of the buildings there was amazing - again, eye-opening to see how much money is invested to encourage others to part with theirs!

Nous sommes en France!

We finally have the chance to practise our French. We’re in Nice, with only a park between us and the sea, and shops and restaurants directly behind us. It is the best location we have had - many of our hotels have been out of the city centre. We’re here for two nights with more free time than usual, so had dinner on our own for the first time in Europe. Our waiter spoke English and had us on a bit when we tried out our French. We asked for the bill as our tour director had taught us - he said ’Non!’ and laughed at us. Also told Allan off for pinching my chips, so it was entertaining. I had my first steak since we came to Europe!

Earlier today (Monday), we went to the Leaning Tower at Pisa - it looked much more impressive in real life than in pictures we had seen.

We also had a tour through a perfume factory and the opportunity to buy, of course. The men were noticeably reticent on this part of the tour!

We drove around 450 kms today, and in 2 ½ hours driving along the coast of northern Italy, we went through 176 tunnels. They block out the views, but do give you long straight roads. We have found all through Europe that wherever there are hills and valleys, they build tunnel and bridges - a bit different to home. Many of them have other tunnels veering off them as well. The longest tunnel in Europe is 17km, although the longest we’ve done was 14, I think. The coastline that we did see in Italy, Monte Carlo and the south of France (the Riviera) is amazing - steep hills down to the water, absolutely covered with houses just clinging to the rocks. A lot of it is pretty ritzy, but access must be a nightmare. The views are magnificent though.

Their graves can’t be below ground because of the rocks. Instead they have them stacked into concrete walls.

It was a little grey today, but yesterday was the first day that we have had rain - it hosed down in Florence for 15 minutes, and also when we were driving, but then the sun came out again. In Europe, we have not had our warm clothes out at all, whereas in the UK, our summer gear stayed in the suitcase, so I feel vindicated with the amount of luggage I packed!

A Spot of Indulgence!

We headed for Florence today - and another walking tour. Saw Michelangelo’s David, and a had brief look at the town, before hitting the shops. We had special previews at a gold shop, and a leather shop - lovely jackets of the softest leather. Both of us indulged in the leather shop. More details when we get home!

We are now at Montecatini, about 40 minutes further north. Off to France tomorrow.

17,000 steps

They had us out the door by 7am on Saturday morning to join the queues at Vatican City. Tours are let in earlier than the public opening times, but we were still in a long line. We saw the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. Although it was all pretty amazing, we found it a little shocking to see such money and effort invested in decoration. I found the Chapel a bit too much - every square inch is painted, but you couldn’t move for people. The Basilica was pretty special - it is even bigger than St Paul’s which we saw in London, but a completely different style.



After a very short break, we were off on another walking tour, this time to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. These places were built 2000 years ago and there is a surprising amount remaining intact.

After a couple of hours off, we were off on our third walking tour. The highlight of this was the Pantheon - stunning! The top of its dome is open to the air - a hole of several metres. It is now a church and when it rains, the rain spirals down to the floor in quite a spectacular way. We finished with really Italian pizza in a vibrant little restaurant in a narrow lane. A quintessential Italian experience to end our time in Rome.

It was a shattering day in terms of distances walked, over largely cobbled uneven streets, and time spent standing in queues, or moving at a snail’s pace in the crowds, but we both loved the history and charm of Rome, and I’d come back just to watch the traffic!

Ferraris in Ferrara

At this stage in our trip, we are doing big distances each day - up to 600km. I guess that’s why we’ve got three two-nighters in a row.

We’ve arrived in Rome (outskirts only so far). We had a lovely stop in a smallish town called Ferrara - we all agreed that it gave us what we had hoped for in Venice - much cleaner and in a better state of repair.

As we drove in we saw dozens of classic sports cars - Ferraris, Triumphs, etc. The boys were all grieved to find that they had gone by the time we came back to photograph them. There were some markets in the town too, with good bargains to be had, so there was a bit of a division of the sexes.




Our Italian coach driver has gone on a couple of days mandatory rest so we have a substitute, also Italian. The new one is a little more hair raising, so people have been honking at us a bit on the road today!

Party night tonight! We went to an Italian Restaurant in Rome - another one where entertainment is part of the package. We had five courses to our meal, including an excellent macaroni, and a lasagne (both before the main course!) The entertainment was in the form of a very flirtatious waiter, who delivered meals with a kiss on the cheek to some of the ladies, and a rose and two kisses to all of us at the end, plus a fabulous flute player, and a singing guitarist. It was a lot of fun.

After that, we had a bus tour of Rome by night. We saw many of the monuments, beautifully lit, and visited the Trevi Fountain The crowds were phenomenal, even at that time of night.

Even more spectacular was the traffic - they pay no heed to the rules. The most bizarre event was when we were in one of the tunnels in a traffic jam. The two lanes were chokka with buses and cars, so several cars from further back decided they would commandeer the lane belonging to the oncoming traffic - who just had to wait! Italian drivers have no fear and no patience! The pedestrians are the same really and we were told to be pushy and not let any one pass us. Very hard to keep our group together in such crowds.

Boats and more boats

We were taken on a bit of a harbour cruise this morning (Thursday), and delivered to the Moreno glass factory. Here, they make exquisite, world famous Venetian Glass by hand, so we watched a demo and then had the sales pitch. The piece I liked cost 2700 euros (double that for NZ$s), so I resisted, you‘ll be pleased to know!


This was followed by another walking tour through a palace and a basilica. There was a strict dress code for the basilica which meant no shorts, mini skirts, or bare shoulders, so we were all back to jeans, even though it was really hot.

Our last official appointment for the day was a gondola ride, accompanied by an accordionist and a singer. We went through narrow little canals, seeing the ‘backyards’ of a lot of homes. It was a lovely way to pass an afternoon.






It has been good to come to Venice - it is so different, with its canals and its city built on wooden piles, but the water is fairly putrid, the town a bit grubby, the building walls are disintegrating and the people quite aggressive - we got growled at for eating our lunch on some steps leading up to a small statue. Don’t think this city would be in my top 10 - Lucerne is still my number one for Europe.

Viva Italia!

Well, after a very long day driving, we are finally (Wednesday) in Italy. We were warned that it would be vastly different to the previous countries we have visited. The Germanic countries are very structured and organised…Italy is not!

We saw evidence of this on the outskirts of town, when we hit the traffic. Chaos reigned and there was much ooh and aahing as little cars cut in front of us, and trucks did the same to little cars.

We had a quick turn around at the hotel before going out to an Italian Restaurant for dinner. Service appears to be a haphazard thing in this city, but the meal was nice enough. We’ve been told that tourists flock to Venice in such numbers that there is no need for the locals to go out of their way to please anyone but themselves, so they don’t.

After dinner, we took a stroll around St Mark’s Square, which was very pretty with the lights coming on and little orchestras playing along the sides.

A drop of Culture

An early start for a palace tour - vast and with beautiful gardens, and then on for a walking tour of Vienna. It is quite a pretty place with wonderful architecture. We sampled Sachertorte which is a traditional Austrian chocolate cake served with lashings of cream. We’ve tried to eat local specialty foods as we’ve travelled around - a good excuse to have chocolate cake only for lunch!



Our evening excursion was a real highlight. We went to a top class local restaurant for a four course dinner, which was the best meal we have had, and definitely the best ambience. The men’s toilets had to be seen to be believed - there was neon pink scented water coming out of the taps! All of the women in the party had to inspect them too!

Vienna is all about music and we were taken to front row seats at a performance by a string orchestra (plus clarinet and flute) as well as a soprano, baritone and ballet dancers, playing the music of Mozart and Strauss. It was quite short but a lovely end to the day. There was even a comedy spot with one of our party being invited on stage to accompany them with a triangle. Luckily, neither Allan nor I were the nominated victim this time!

Oh for a cuppa…

We are (I am?) struggling to find a decent cup of tea in Europe. The Germanic hotels don’t provide it in the room, so if we’re lucky, we get one for breakfast. To buy one is around 5.20 euros ($11) which is more than we pay for a latte or cappuccino!

Today (Monday) we stopped for Movenpick ice creams - Allan had 2 scoops, I had one. The guy wrote 3x4.00 on our docket so we fronted up to the check-out expecting (and horrified) to be paying 12 euros ($25) for our ice creams. Fortunately, it was a code and they were only 4.20 euros, and we did enjoy them as it was very hot again.

We have seen two lovely cities today. We spent a few hours in Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart, and home to Mozart chocolates. The town allows no traffic within except horse -drawn carriages, and it was very quaint - teeming with people though. We tried an original Mozart chocolate - marzipan and pistachio centres. Lovely.




We’re now in Vienna for the next couple of nights. We’ve been out for a group dinner at a winery. Again, there was music provided - an accordion and a violin, who serenaded us with traditional Austrian music, as well as a range of sing-along stuff (including Waltzing Matilda!) They played quite a bit from the Sound of Music which was set (and partially filmed around) here. Edelweiss was spine tingling! We had to laugh when they passed around the plate for tips - they rejected coins and were only interested in notes!

Travelling was much quicker today as it is a public holiday, and trucks are not allowed on the road (unless they are refrigerated) at weekends and on holidays. We have been blown away by the huge numbers of trucks on the road, both here and in the UK. They are shocking tail-gaters too. We are doing between 400 and 600 km per day, so it’s no wonder we need to be on the road by 7.30 am each day!

Four countries in one day

Before lunch today, we had been in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany. Not a bad effort.

We covered a fair few kilometres today - with stops to look at the castle which the Disneyland Castle was based on, and at Oberammergau, where the Passion Play is performed once every ten years.

Everyone on the coach (including us!) was tired today, so it was quieter than normal. We arrived at Munich late afternoon, having a quick visit to the Olympic Village, which was fairly striking, and the BMW factory, the grandeur of which made it easy to understand why BMWs are so expensive!

We were taken to a German beer hall and given a litre glass of beer, which was almost too heavy to lift. Developing the biceps! They sold us giant pretzels - a hundred times bigger than the NZ ones! The place was beautifully decorated and had a oom-pah band performing to add to the atmosphere. I am not normally a beer drinker, but It was a great laugh.

Munich is an interesting town. It was largely wiped out in WW2, but they rebuilt it exactly as it was before, including reconstructing the things that weren’t right before, which seems a little strange.

Both of us have to say that we are really impressed with the tour company. The organisation is superb and they are not taking us to junky places. We have a pre-organised wake up call at 6 am every morning (aaagh!), baggage is taken care of and everything works like clockwork. A great way

Running out of superlatives!

Lucerne is so beautiful, with the lake in the foreground and the mountains soaring all around, a real contrast to the flatness of Holland and Germany.

We have had so much fun today! We’ve taken two of the optional excursions. The first to a Swiss lunch, three courses Including a fondue and bratwurst, and entertainment consisting of yodelling, the alp horn, spoon playing, and a band based around an accordion. It was fantastic - until I was one of the unlucky ones called up on stage for audience participation in the yodelling session! I had to yodel, accompanied by the accordion and the m.c. only. Horrific. After we had all done our bit, they made us come to the front again and skull a Swiss beer while they sang a song from each of our nationalities - I got Pokarekare Ana. I can hear my children laughing at me from here!!



After that, it was great to relax on a cruise around the lake. The weather is still wonderful, so we’ve been lucky.

The Black Forest

Well, it wasn’t black actually, didn’t even see that many trees, but we tried Black Forest Cake - it was divine! We pulled up this little shop not far from the Swiss border. The owner plied us all with cherry liqueur (before 10.00 am) and exhorted us to spend all our money with him. He made and sold cuckoo clocks, and sold many souvenirs. It was a fun experience.

We were then driven to some more exquisite scenery - this time, the Rhine falls, where we walked close to the water and soaked up the very green and peaceful atmosphere.

Our last stop for the day was to ride a cable car up a 7000 foot mountain (Lucerne, Switzerland) and frolic in the snow. The views were stunning, and I think some of our party had not seen snow before. We were to have taken a cog-wheel train up, but it was out of action due to an avalanche.

Off to our hotel in Lucerne for a two nighter.