dcbroady's latest blog entries

Home Sweet Home

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:08:56 EDT

Home at last after 7 fantastic weeks of travel. Sorry, sorry, sorry that we haven't updated our blog for a couple of weeks. We have tried on several occasions and expected to have a week of wireless internet access while in Provence, but experienced endless technical difficulties - some probably of our own doing. So even though we are home, we thought we would update you on what we experienced during the last stages of our trip and give a sample of some of the many photos that we took.

Firstly, more on Sorrento. The day after our trip to Pompei, we took a very exciting thrill-ride of a bus trip to Positano on the Amalfi Coast - many narrow roads and tight corners and much tooting of horns. Some Italian drivers seem to have a death wish. Positano is a charming sea-side village built into a steep hill. The "sand" is very dark and coarse - not a typical Aussie beach. The next day we visited two more Amalfi Coast towns - Amalfi itself and Ravello. Amalfi is another seaside village similar to Positano, while Ravello is high in the hills above Amalfi. The trip up to Ravello was the most nail-biting drives of all, but it was a very picturesque town with fantastic views of the coast and a lovely town square. Here we enjoyed Italian hospitality at its best when we were welcomed into a very posh hotel just to have coffee on their balcony with breathtaking views. For a change of pace, we enjoyed a ferry trip home from Amalfi to Sorrento, calling in at Positano, enabling us to appreciate the views of these towns and the surrounding coastal area from the sea.

From Sorrento we bid our charming and amusing host Pasquale a fond farewell and headed for the Cinque Terre via a one night stop-over in Orvieto. Orvieto is a hill-top Medieval town just north of Rome. We stayed here simply to break the long journey from Amalfi to Cinque, but found it to be a very worthwhile experience and we surprised ourselves with how much we were able to pack in to our short stay. We had a very interesting tour of a small sample of the numerous man-made caves dug out under the town since Etruscan times. The Duomo is very spectacular and huge for such a small town. It was ordered to be built by one of the Popes who was staying there when he was informed of a supposed miracle that occurred nearby.

The Cinque Terre (five towns) is an area made up of five small fishing villages bulit into small inlets on a very rugged coast. Originally they could only be accessed on foot or by boat. They are now linked by train but there is limited vehicular access. Most of the visitors to the area come to walk the path between the towns, which is now a national park. The path from the southern town of Riomaggiore is a very easy walk on a well paved path accessible for wheelchairs and prams. Further on it becomes much more rugged, steep and slippery when wet - as it was for us after a night of rain. After a cup of the best hot chocolate ever (liquid chocolate) at Riomaggiore, we set out on the walk - half of us made it to the other end (Monterosso, where we were staying) in about 6 hours. The next day we went by train back to some of the villages to explore them a little more thoroughly. Most have steep, narrow streets leading down to the waterfront with fishing boats lining many of the streets - it must be interesting to see them launched from some of the precarious positions we saw. Monterosso has a less rugged coastline with a beach area (course sand again) and we managed to have a swim in the Mediteranean. Our host Andreas, was another interesting character who certainly didn't believe in dressing up - he often looked like he was still in his pyjama shorts in the middle of the day - but he was full of helpful advice and seemed to know the train timetable off by heart. We enjoyed exploring the 'old town' part of Monterosso with its narrow streets and quaint restaurants and shops, many selling brightly painted ceramics and limoncello (a lemon liqueur) in bottles of many different shapes and often painted.

From Monterosso we headed back to France, with an overnight stay in Nice. We travelled by train, with a short break in Genova for a change of trains. The trip from Genova to Nice was one of our most picturesque train journeys, with the train following the coastline. In our original planning, we only chose Nice for an overnight stay to break the long journey from Cinque to Avignon. We were not particularly interested in spending much time on the Riviera with all its glitz and glamour. But we were pleasantly surprised with our brief look around Nice and wouldn't mind seeing more of it if the chance to do so ever came.

From Nice to Avignon - another very pleasant train trip with beautiful scenery. The TGV station in Avignon is very modern - looks more like an airport terminal. When we stepped out of the station we found it was very windy and rather cool - the infamous Avignon mistral winds of Autumn had arrived, but by the next day all was calm and mild. We picked up a car in Avignon and drove the 40 minute trip to Caromb, a small hill-top country town. Our accommodation for a week was a house in the middle of the town. It was quite old but had been extensively renovated inside with a modern kitchen and three comfortable bedrooms, even if we did have to climb two flights of steep, narrow stairs to the top bedroom which took up the entire top floor along with its bathroom. From the top windows there were great views out over the town to the surrounding countryside and mountains in the distance. Shopping in Caromb was interesting. There are two small 'super'markets with odd hours, a butcher's shop which was closed the entire time we were there, but there were several boulangeries (bakeries) with one almost out our front door, which was great for fresh bread, croissants and brioche for breakfasts. Strangely, there were also at least three hairdressers that we know of - Chris and Denise both had their hair cut. We spent much of the week exploring some of the other small towns in the area, similar to Caromb in some ways but each with its own special character. Somehow the women managed to organise it so that for the first three days there just happened to be a market on in each town we visited. Just as each town had its own character, so each market was different - one very large and crowded, another smaller with a real village atmosphere, and another was all fresh produce, mainly fruit and veg. An unexpected treat was Mount Ventoux. We could see it from our house and it has a cap of light coloured rock that makes it look like it is snowcapped at all times. It is well known amongst serious cyclists around the world for being part of the Tour de France some years. It is used by some to prepare for the Tour and we saw many cyclists struggling to the top and to record their achievement at a special post at the summit. The views from the summit were amazing in all directions.

On the Wednesday in Caromb, we woke to a very rainy morning. We had planned to go to see the sights of Avignon and we weren't going to let the rain deter us. Upon arrival we were able to park in a covered parking station. Then we did a tour of the Palace of the Popes, mostly indoors - great so far. Then it was outdoors to the Pont d'Avignon - that partly collapsed bridge you see in many travel brochures of France. Of course, this was the time for the heaviest rain to fall. Fortunately, we had wet weather gear with us, so only our shoes and legs of pants got soaked. On the whole we were very fortunate with the weather for our whole trip with very few rainy days over 7 weeks - hardly ever for whole days. The Palace of the Popes was very interesting. The Popes made Avignon their home for about a century when there political troubles in Rome. The Palace would have been very ornate in the past, but now looks very rough and plain due to vandalism and changing uses over the years (e.g. a military fort). The Pont D'Avignon (really Pont St Benezet) was also very interesting and we were fortunate to be able to see it on a sunny afternoon on our way home from another car trip for better views and the all important photos. Among other interesting sites we visited while in Provence was the Roman amphitheatre in Orange and the deserted village of Bories made up of very small dome-shaped huts.

On to Paris for our last night in Europe. The train trip from Avignon to Paris was very picturesque with green fields and those chateaux with pointy conical roofs. After settling in to our hotel, we took a bus to Sacre Coeur, a white cathedral on a hill overlooking Paris. When we arrived we found the area around the cathedral was very busy due to a food and wine festival. The cathedral was closed early so we didn't get to see inside. The next morning we caught a bus to the Pantheon, which we had seen outside on our earlier visit, but this time we went inside. It is an immense space with huge sculptures and paintings honouring the heroes of France. Downstairs is a huge crypt with many corridors where many famous men and women of France are buried (e.g. Victor Hugo and Marie Curie). We then caught another bus to the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed up the many steps inside to the top for great views of Paris, although it was rather hazy. We then wandered down the Champs Elysees, had lunch in a cafe on the way and ended up at the other end - Place de la Concorde - basically a huge round-about with an obelisque in the middle. The walk down the Champs Elysees was probably more crowded than usual due to a display of aircraft celebrating 100 years of flight in France. It is amazing how many times our stay in a city or town coincided with a special event - often a good thing, sometimes a bit of a nuisance. Flew out early that evening for Singapore.

Three nights in Singapore on our way home. We stayed in a very comfortable hotel with a pool, which we appreciated late every afternoon after a day out in very hot, very humid weather. Things we experienced during this short stay, in no particular order, were the Night Safari at the zoo, a 90 minute bus tour around the city, amphibious duck tour of the harbour and some other parts of the city, the Botanical Gardens looking mainly at the orchid gardens, cable car over to Sentosa Island (a resort island), a ride on the Singapore Flyer (like the London Eye only bigger), a look around St Andrews Church (the oldest Anglican church in Singapore), a look around Raffles (the famous hotel), eating Indian food from a banana leaf with our fingers, and other 'interesting' food experiences.

We flew home on the new A380 Airbus. Not much different inside to a 747 in cattle-class. The seats may be very slightly wider, but no more leg room. It is much quieter and smoother on take-off in particular. Now we are home after 7 fabulous weeks of great experiences. Hopefully the thousands of photos and hours of video will help us to relive them over and over again and our memories of them will not fade too quickly. We hope you have enjoyed following our adventure - and again our apologies for not being able to keep as up to date as we had hoped.

Bye from John, Denise, Chris and Doug.

Sorrento

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:52:30 EDT

We have arrived safely in Sorrento after travelling via Naples on two trains. Around Naples and on the train to Sorrento we saw the greatest concentration on graffiti we have ever seen. In Sorrento we are staying in a very nice B and B high above the town with fanastic views from our balconies. Today (Friday 26th) we went to Pompei and had a fantastic time wandering amongst the ruins. We were amazed at how well the buildings are preserved and how extensive they are.

Tomorrow we plan to travel to at least one town on the Amalfi Coast either by bus or ferry - probably Positano. The next day we might go to Amalfi. On Monday we move on, staying overnight in Orvieto, a small town just north of Rome, on our way to Cinque Terra.

We are now almost 4 weeks into our travels and our relationships are still surviving - even the husband/wife ones.

Rome

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:43:24 EDT

We arrived in Rome and found our accommodation easily, a short walk from the station- an apartment that is very comfortable and spacious with a modern kitchen and the boys say that they have been cooking up a storm! Now ask the girls?? On our first full day we found that we could walk to many of the ancient sites of Rome much more quickly and easily than we had thought when we looked at the maps. We saw Il Vittoria, Trevi Fountain, Repubblica, Pantheon and many churches ( and there is a lot) - mostly from the outside at this stage. Since then we have experienced the hop on hop off bus, enjoyed a guided tour of the vatican museums, Sistine chapel and St Peters and a special treat was a free tour of the Forum and wandered through Palatine Hill and the Circus Maximus. We visited the Pantheon several times and a special highlight was walking in on a free concert of English singers and musicians - absolutely beautiful and inspiring. Today was Coleseum Day - an overload of photos taken by all from every possible angle! We have found some great coffee spots here in Rome - much to John's delight. We also saw the slightly unusual crypt of the Cappucine Monks who are no longer with us and their bones decorate the walls and ceilings!

On the whole we have loved Rome and found it easy to get around BUT have experience a few interesting moments crossing the roads and riding the buses but we have lived to tell the story!

Mmmmmmm - photos! Spent over an hour last night attempting to upload but technology failed again. We will try again at our next stop, beautiful Sorrento.

Tuscany

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:00:38 EDT

We are now in Tuscany, staying in a small stone farm cottage near the hill-top, walled town of Cortona. From there we have visited the historic towns of Siena, Arezzo and Assisi over the last three days. Our cameras have been worked overtime as there are "Kodak moments" around every corner. A highlight yesterday was our personal guided tour of the Basillica of Saint Francis in Assisi by Friar Thomas, a yank from Buffalo. He gave us many insights into the life of St. Francis and the architecture and artworks of the basillica.

Since our last blog entry, have had three nights in Florence. The hotel was just adequate, but it was very convenient to many of the sites we wanted to see. We walked to and passed the Duomo several times. We made great use of the hop-on hop-off bus, travelling the full circuit about three times in one day, enabling us to see many of the sites further from the hotel. This allowed us to view the city from surrounding hills. We had heard we would probably have to queue for hours to see Michaelangelo's David, but we were able to walk straight in and even take photos. There were nice cafes near our accommodation and we found one favourite we went to two nights in a row. While at the Duomo, John and Denise viewed the Baptistry, an octagonal shaped building in front of the Duomo, while Chris and Doug climbed the bell tower. At this time, a heavy thunder storrm struck, stranding us inside for about half an hour.

Today we plan to look around the local area, particularly the historic sites of Cortona. Then we will have two days to look around other local towns. On Saturday we drive back to Florence to catch the train to Rome where we will spend five nights.

P.S. Have just tried to download more photos without success. We couldn't even view previous albums. We will give it a try at another internet cafe in the future.- maybe in Rome.

Venice

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:27:11 EDT

We have just had three fantastic nights in Venice where we have explored the maze of streets, canals and bridges on foot and by vaporetto ( water buses). We have also travelled to three of the smaller islands in the area- Murano, Burano and Torchello and on the way added to our group for one a lovely young lady from Dubai who added value to our experience and was helpful in finding our way around. We saw glass making and exhibits and MANY glass shops. If the salesman had had his way we would have been shipping home a $3,000 beautiful vase! We resisted- only just.

A favourite was Burano with its many coloured houses in which the residents take pride. All our cameras got a real workout! Our hotel is wonderful and the staff could not be more helpful. A particular highlight was that we arrived on the day of the world famous Venice Regatta and had a superb position from which to film the event and experience the spectacle of the gondola procession down the canals. We will download photos at the earliest opportunity.

Our funniest moment was when a vaporetto worker hacksawed the mooring rope which was stuck fast to the pontoon with protests from his workmates. Fortunately the ride was still safe.

On to beautiful Florence.