Minor Mishap # 12

They lost our luggage... again. Both the backpacks stayed in LAX on our way home, while we continued on to Brisbane. Of course it really did have to happen. The last flight of our entire world trip needed to be marked by something special.

Moral of the story: ALWAYS pick up your luggage and re-check when transferring through USA especially when traveling either to or from Canada.

l
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and Judy

Checking out the Vancouver Scene

We had planned to spend some downtime in Vancouver before going home, so took it easy just doing one touristy thing a day.

Our first day was spent exploring the streets down to Canada Place (near the harbour), where we discovered a tourist information booth. After asking many questions we were thoroughly prepared for our sightseeing. We continued along, stopping for coffee at Starbucks and finally seeing the movie "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

The second day was a full day visit to The University of British Columbia (UBC). Here, we checked out the Chemistry building, which was the nicest one I've seen - heritage style and made of grey sandstone. After lunch we viewed the Museum of Earth and Ocean Sciences - which had a fantastic display of minerals, crystals and fossils, and a very interesting account of earthquakes and the way tsunamis are formed. Vancouver Island is moving towards the mainland as fast as fingernails grow! We moved on to walk down 390 steps to the beach, only stumbling upon a couple of nudists... In the evening we visited the Museum of Anthropology, where we had a tour and learned a bit about First Nations people. The totem (or rather "story") poles were exceptional.

The next day we took it fairly easy, visiting more of the harbour area around Canada Place and the Convention Centre. In the afternoon we decided to catch Kung Fu Panda - very worthwhile.

View to Stanley Park from the harbourfront

On the fourth day we took the seabus across to Lonsdale Quay/North Vancouver and then the bus (normal road-type) up to Lynn Canyon Park. We walked across the suspension bridge (48 m) and then explored the park. We spent some lazy-afternoon-time at the Twin Falls, letting the evaporating water cool us down from the 34 deg C day. Fortunately we didn't see any bears.

The next day was another easy one, spent reading and using the internet (free for anyone!) in the Public Library. The building was nicely Colosseum-esque.

Our final full day was spent roaming around Stanley Park - the park northwest of the city. It seemed to be a very popular place. There were beaches, a water park, an aquarium, tennis courts, artists corner and various picnic spots. It was fun, and a bit nerve-wracking, watching seaplanes take off in the harbour. We also saw some traditionally painted totem poles near Brockton Point. It was a lovely place to complete our Vancouver visit.

Brockton Point Lighthouse in Stanley Park

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and Judy

New York - Old Favourite

We dropped off the car at JFK and took the train in to Penn Station. We could only afford to stay in a budget hotel, but were pleasantly surprised by the view - the best view in NY to date. We settled our luggage, then walked the one block required to get to Times Square. Decided to catch a show - and went to the box office to get tickets to Mary Poppins. It was produced by Disney, so set and costumes were absolutely fantastic.

The following day we walked through Central Park up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and spent the whole day frolicking in there. We had lunch/dinner in the usual lower floor cafeteria as a mid-excursion break. As usual we couldn't fit in the entire exhibition.

The next morning, after speaking to the Concierge at our hotel about directions for Balthazar and receiving "Oh, you'll never get in there. They have a 3 week waiting list." comments, we hopped on the Subway down to SoHo. It turned out there was only a 30 minute wait for walk-ins. We left our names and crossed the street to look in the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) shop to pass the time. We sat down to a delicious brunch of eggs benedict and hazelnut waffles with berry compote. More browsing of the MoMA shop followed lunch (there are just too many funky things in there!). We then made our way to 34th street to do a bit of window-shopping at Macy's. A quick rest back at our hotel had us ready for the Marriott Marquis - a rotating cocktail lounge with views over Times Square and the city.

Our last day was spent at Bloomingdales in order to go to the Forty Carrots Restaurant. The decor in the cafe had changed to a hip and slightly disturbing bright-white and neon-green, but they still made the same awesome vegetable soup and frozen yoghurt. We spent the last moments of our time in a previously unexplored part of Central Park, as rain gently drizzled on the nearby lake.

l
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and Judy

Maryland Madness

Disclaimer: We can neither confirm nor deny that we went crazy in Maryland. We shirk all culpability in the events that transpired.

We picked the rental car up from JFK Airport and hopped on the New Jersey Turnpike and traveled down to the I95 to get to Glen Burnie, a little suburb south of Baltimore. The trip took 6 hours (we finally found a good radio station to sing along to in Baltimore County). We were very excited about re-visiting all the areas we frequented when Mum and Dad lived in Annapolis.

The first day we performed some reconnaissance at Arundel Mills (outlet shopping) in order to determine the path of least resistance (for later in the week). We also saw The Dark Knight at the Egyptian Temple-esque theatre.

The following day we caught up with long-time friend Helen Mary, at Columbia Mall. The Apple Store here was not as nice as the one in Toronto.

The third day we went to the Baltimore Harbour and took a water taxi out to Fells Point. We also visited the Maryland Science Museum to see Body Worlds 2 - a display of plasticised bodies and organs showing various anatomy. At some points I felt a great need to intently read the posters (as opposed to looking at the displays). Mum was having a great time - which was suprising seeing as she doesn't like horror movies.

Annapolis Harbour was a must the next day in order to go to the best sushi place in the world. I am not understating it. We spent a good hour indulging at Yin Yankee. Everything was just as delicious as we remembered. Then off to Westfield Annapolis - which has doubled in size in the last 3 years! After a brief bout of shopping at the mall we stopped off at Best Buy - the only place to get electrical equipment (found a good replacement for my pink-photo taking camera). We finished off the day having a lovely home cooked meal with Helen Mary (baked chicken and fresh vegies yum!) followed by brownies (grahlaglagl).

Woohoo!

The final day before we left was the epitomy of mall madness. We spent 6 hours shopping at Arundel Mills. We refueled in the middle with half an hour for lunch. The day was completed by seeing Hancock at the cinemas. We climbed into bed sated and euphoric.

Mwhuhahahaha!

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and Judy

Toronto

The first couple of days were a bit of a headache trying to get over the cold while trying to get someone at American Airlines to find Mum's bag (see Minor Mishap #11).

We however cheered up by doing some shopping at the Eaton centre - the largest indoor shopping centre in the world- two blocks and close to 300 shops. The Apple store is just incredible. I want to live there.

We also ventured up to Casa Loma - a castle built by a local millionaire, but never completed due to financial difficulties (caused by government intervention). Now, it has been completed for tourists and the gardens have been restored. The same day we took the subway down to the CN Tower and after some contemplation decided to have dinner at the top (free ride up). The food and view were phenomenal and after a brief walk down to the other floors after dinner we were happy with our decision - we definitely had the best and most relaxed view of Toronto.

View from CN Tower

We took a full day tour out to Niagra Falls - which was totally different to what we had both expected. Much smaller and more commercial, but still enjoyable. We took the Maid of the Mist (ferry ride) right up to the foot of the falls. We were saved from being drenched by our sexy raincoats.

On the Maid of the Mist

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and Judy

Minor Mishap #11

We had flown in from Lima to Toronto via Miami and were starting to feel the effects of the cold Dad had left us with. As a little bit of history, the last time Mum flew with Amercan Airlines, to Montreal... they lost her bags for 4 days. Thus, when we arrived at Miami we checked with 3 attendants that our bags had made it on to the plane to Toronto. We were thoroughly assured they had (I'm sure you can tell where this is going).

On arrival at Toronto airport (11.50pm), we waited in trepidation at the turnstile while Mum's bag failed to show up. Apparently, the wayward bag had decided that San Jose in Costa Rica was a much more acceptable destination. It convinced a whole pallet of bags to jump planes in Miami. We went to the hotel with my sensible bag to wait for Mum's bag.

It took 5 days for them to get Mum's bag to us. At least they got it to us before we left the next day... (I won't bore you with the found-not found saga.)

Moral of the story: Don't fly to Canada with American Airlines. Perhaps the Canadian government has a conspiracy with AA to make you spend money in Canada?!

l
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and Judy

P.S. Do you know the way to San Jose?... apparently Mum's bag does!

Lima

The first thing we noticed about Lima was the smog. The emissions from road vehicles was phenomenally high, which made going for a nice walk actually rather unpleasant. As large cities go, Lima was somewhat underwhelming. They have tried to pretty the place up with a green strip in the middle, but the leaves have been covered with brown dust from the smog.

We went for a walk down to the harbour area on our sightseeing day and walked along some nearby craft markets. The air was a bit clearer near the ocean and the paragliders put on a nailbiting show. While at the hostel, we met a guy from America - Rodney - who was going to teach English in Arequipa. He was preparing himself for the culture shock.

Dad was happy about the Hagendaaz Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream we found at the local supermarket.

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and Judy
+ the Δ

The Inca Trail

The altitude map of the Inca Trail.

Day One: Alex our tour leader picked us up from the hostel before sunrise at 5am. This wake up time was to become a regular occurrence on the trek. We were allowed a 7kg duffel bag (to be given to the porters) and a daypack. And so, the naive little bunnies set off. The morning bus trip with our seven co-walkers took 2 hours to reach the first checkpoint - the 82nd km of the Inca Trail. Our group consisted of five Aussies and five Canadians (two of whom were getting married at Macchu Picchu). All the Canadians had been sick with the flu and two were still actively hacking. Goody.

At km 82 of the Inca Trail - the beginning of the trek.

We handed our duffel bags to our 16 porters (the Red Army) who had bags 10 times the size of our daypacks, and headed off. The trekking was actually fairly decent. A bit like walking through the bush in Australia. It was quite dry, dusty and the insects were hell at first - but the vistas were a nice compensation. Alex stopped several times to discuss the bush and various Incan ruins. He seemed to judge our pace very well. Lunchtime was a huge surprise. Our porters had jogged past us on the path and set up a lunch tent with water bowls for each person to wash their hands. They clapped us in on our arrival - a morale boost also to become a regular occurence. We had a 3 course lunch with strawberry juice. This is camping?

We realised quickly that it was all to lull us into a happy state. The last half of the day was beginning to get difficult, with nearly all climbing. We arrived at a camp already set up by our porters and dinner (3 course again) already underway.

Total distance walked today: 14 km (580 m up).

Day Two: On the way up to Dead Woman's Pass (4200 m), we started wondering why on earth we decided to come this way when there was another 2 day trek that doesn't go over any high passes. Oh yes. Because the Inca Trail is supposedly the Incan ceremonial route. The higher we climbed, the harder it got, as our bodies struggled to process diminishing oxygen. Even though we had half the distance to go, it was twice as hard. Every step seemed to take forever, 10 breaths, one step, 10 breaths, one step, wash-rinse-repeat. Near the end the only strategy that worked was thirty seconds of walking followed by thirty seconds of rest. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to make it over another pass - I had used all my resources to get up the first one. However, once you are over that first pass, there is essentially no turning back. You are committed.

Dad flew down the other side, bounding from Inca stone to Inca stone, and made it to the lunch camp 50 minutes before the next group member. At the bottom of the hill (why were we going down when we had spent so much energy going up? Waste, what a waste!) the porters plied us with orange cordial, and another three course lunch. All too soon we had to do it all again - well not quite, the 2nd pass was only 4000 metres. It was a snap, actually our willpower was what snapped. The remainder of the afternoon was rather a blur, mainly involving looking at one's own feet. I would say I was focusing on placing one in front of the other... but it was more a shuffle. At least there was popcorn waiting for us at camp.

Total distance walked today: 16 km (900 m up
- 620 m down - 420 m up - 400 m down).

Day Three: It was so worth it! The beginning of the Amazon jungle gave me goosebumps. The Incan ruins along the way were just incredible. We saw a Sun temple - still with running drinking fountains, a few Incan tunnels and a spiral staircase. Also, the fact we were now travelling down and hence getting more oxygen was positive. 2 day trek? Pft, for weaklings!

The final campsite was beautiful with a hidden Incan city at the end of it. This was a spectacular semicircular terraced ruin which may have been an ancient research centre for testing plants at different altitudes and temperatures. There were hot showers in the camp. And a masseuse of which Mum took advantage. This site was positively balmy - almost no need for a sleeping bag since we were at about 2700m and in the jungle.

Total distance walked today: 10 km (920 m down).

Day Four: The final day started very early with a high speed march towards the Sun gate of Machu Picchu. It was still dark, so we were required to use our torches on the trail. There were bottle necks because the trail was very narrow with a cliff fall on one side. Unfortunately, Mum had a small disagreement with a tree by running at full speed into an overhanging limb. The tree won, but luckily no broken nose. I had my trusty medical kit handy to prevent infection. We made it to the Sun Gate about an hour after starting for our first glimpse of Machu Picchu.

Alex took us around Machu Picchu for 2 hours explaining various parts. The site was spectacular - but contained a few too many tourists to be enjoyed as much as the research centre. The water fountains were also still working. Some highlights were the quarry, the Sun Temple built according to the winter/summer solstice and the stone (also related to solstice) at the top of the pyramid.

We made it to Machu Picchu!

Total distance walked today: 5 km (280 m down).

Our Inca Trail trek ended with a lazy train ride and bus trip back to Cusco and civilisation.

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and Judy

+ the Δ

Cusco

After a final breathless evening in Puno, we caught an early morning flight to Cusco. Here we all felt a lot better - after all, we were now at 3300 metres, so had oodles more oxygen. We could almost run up the stairs.

We made it to our hostel El Andariego, which was placed off the road in a lovely quiet courtyard. Upon arrival at the hostel we were greeted with a pot of the wonderous coca tea. At one point I decided to look up coca leaf tea on Wikipedia. This was perhaps a mistake because I found out that it is the precursor to cocaine... so essentially Mum and I had been hopped up. I may have preferred to stay blissfully unaware. I quickly decided that one cup a day was plenty (as opposed to the 4 cups I had been considering). It did help with the altitude though... I have a feeling it would help with anything. The discovery brought up thoughts about future issues, for example filling out forms (say, for customs) and going for interviews:

Q: Have you ever used alkaloid steroids? ... erm... um... define used?

Anyhow, with this internal monologue running, the first day was spent taking it easy, just a few steps around the corner to the local supermarket to get some supplies (excellent breadrolls) and then a retreat to our hostel.

In the hostel courtyard

The second day was spent looking a little bit further afield - but not too much lest we exhaust ourselves. We walked to the convent built on the ruins of the temple of the sun. The Incan walls were so strong that the Spanish simply built on top of them. We could still see wall remnants of the Incan temple which had been restored to their original quality. We also made it up to the Plaza de Armas - the popular place to hang in Cusco. We found an excellent craft market nearby, which we returned to several times.

Looking toward the convent

On our last day in Cusco we wandered up towards the White Christo (you know, the one that is on top of every tall hill in South America) and about halfway there still felt pretty good ... so in an attempt to maintain that joyous feling we turned back. We spent the afternoon sunning ourselves in the hostel courtyard while watching an emerald hummingbird meticulously scour the flowers. We wondered where he had all that energy.

l
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and Judy
+ the Δ

P.S. Unfortunately, one of us (and he shall remain nameless) had not managed to dodge the bullets shot by the hacking coughers and was consequently falling ill. The perfect cure? Take 2 aspirin and hit the Inca Trail for 4 days.

Puno - The First Altitude Experience

We wanted to visit the city of Puno because it is on the banks of Lake Titicaca - the highest navigable lake. Once we were there though, we were unsure whether we would make it down to the shore. It turns out that flying from sea level to 3800 metres is not as good an idea as it sounds. For the first day, all three of us were suffering from altitude sickness. For me, it felt a little like my eyes were too big for my head and thus were trying to pop out of my skull. Dad suffered quite a bit more... very unpleasant business, which left said one of us completely susceptible to any bugs that were floating around.

The second day Mum and I were well enough to venture downstairs for a cup of tea (of the coca kind). The climb back up though had us panting after the first flight like little puppies. We went back to bed and considered our predicament. Dad could still barely lift his head. We managed to force some dry toast into him. At least there was cable TV.

Our third and final day a Puno we all felt well enough to go for a short boat ride out to the floating islands on the lake. It was such an exhiliration to actually be able to sit up for more than an hour, and so exciting to actually be on the lake. Dad even had some of the fresh popcorn. We disembarked on an island where the cheif of the island, Marco, greeted us and told us how the islands were made - by roping together 2m of reed roots then placing a further 1m of cut reeds on top. We bought a couple of souveniers (excellent paintings by a local 13 year old boy) and had dinner back at Puno in an Andean restaurant.

Finally on the shore of Lake Titicaca

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and Judy
+ the Δ

Minor Mishap # 10

We had flown from Lima to Juliaca, with a stop in Arequipa. In order to get to Puno, it was necessary to take a bus. So we threw our bags on top of the minivan and sardined ourselves into seats in the overpacked vehicle.

First stop for the driver was at a station to fill up the tyres. We didn't think much of that event until halfway to Puno (about 30 mins) he stopped to check the tyres... hmm. The next station he stopped at didn't have any air. So the driver decided to try and change the tyre - with us still packed inside.

The light was fading, cold was coming in and we were all starting to feel the altitude. While wondering if we would ever make it to Puno, the driver gave up on the tyre and rang for another bus - bigger and better yay!

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and Judy
+ the Δ

Rapa Nui

After our Russian flight rigmarole (see Minor Mishap #9) we met Dad in Santiago (yay!) before heading to Rapa Nui (translated as: Big Race i.e. Easter Island). The flight got a little turbulent near the end but apparently that is quite normal. Goody. Something to look forward to on the return flight. The runway took up the entire width of one end of the island - which made landing exciting. Our hotel Iorana (¨Welcome¨ in Rapa Nui-an) was right on the coast and had a spectacular view of rugged coastline, which we named Hell's Precipice. The rest of the day was free to explore town - the one main street. Horses and dogs were our "security escorts" while roaming many of the streets. We were so exhausted we fell in to bed early.

The view from our hotel room

Our second day on the island consisted of two half-day tours. The morning was exploring the museum, top knot quarry, and Ahu Akivi - the only statues (Moai) facing towards the ocean. At lunch time we enjoyed fresh fish on the coast and then walked back to Iorana Hotel along the coastline. The afternoon tour took us to the volcano Rana Kao, where there was an ¨Olympic Village¨ (Orongo). This was the location of the 400 year old Birdman contest to become the King's right hand man. The crater of the volcano contained a spectacular lake, filled with reeds apparently genetically identical to those at Lake Titikaka in Peru. Final destination for the day was an Ahu that was constructed in a very similar way to an imperial Incan wall. (This led Thor Heyerdal to mistakenly speculate that Rapa Nui was populated by Incan descendants.)

The next day was a full day tour, where we got to see remains of a village, followed by Ahu Tongariki (which was our first view of Moai with topknots), and then the Moai quarry (in another volcano - Rana Roratka). After frollicking amongst the unfinished Moai, we walked into the crater, also lake filled with an extra helping of Dengue fever, before heading down to a packed lunch. We traveled next to the navel of the world, before our last stop at the only beach of the island. This was where the original settlers had landed and the oldest Moai were found.

Ahu Tongariki

Our last day we made up our own tour of the Moai along the coast towards the museum - consisting of the only one retaining coral eyes. We spent some time in the museum library reading about the undeciphered Rapa Nui script, Rongo Rongo. We wandered around trying to find an unusual home Dad had seen and obsessively wanted to photograph... at any cost. Mum and I gave up while Dad went back to run around in circles. We stumbled across it at the next corner. Once dad had finally caught up with us, we went back to the hotel for some final pictures at Hell's Precipice.

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and Judy
+ the Δ

Minor Mishap #9

On the Saturday before we left St Petersburg, Mum was looking through the trip notes and noticed that our flight in to Moscow arrived at a different Airport than where we were supposed to fly out (to South America). We didn't panic, because our travel agent hadn't pointed it out to us, so we thought it likely that they were just two names for international and domestic terminals.

That afternoon I showed Katya, our tour leader, and asked what was the best way to travel between the terminals... and her face dropped. Apparently the Airports were on opposite sides of the city. We thus started to panic.

For those of you who have not been to Russia before here are the locations of the two airports:

Straight line distance between these is 60 km.

Katya suggested a taxi would be the best way, but would be expensive, and luckily we were travelling on a Sunday, since during the week it could take up to 6 hours crossing the city. We went to bed feeling a little nervous.

As it happened, our flight from St Petersburg arrived an hour early in Sheremetyevo and I immediately went to the transfer desk to ask about the best way to get to Domodedovo. The two attendants exchanged disbelieving looks, which further plummeted my confidence. However, they gave me comprehensive information on catching a bus, metro then train.

Luckily passport control was unattended, so we saved another hour there. Outside I asked about the cost of a taxi - 5000 Rubels (about $250!). This pretty much made our decision to take the public transport. All up we had 3 hours to get to Domodedovo.

It took an hour on the bus to the metro because traffic was bad due to rain. The nausea started to rise. The metro took 30 minutes and the express train to the airport took a further hour. So we ended up making it with 30 minutes to spare. Easy... right? Total cost - 500 Rubels ($25).

After checking in, our nausea had lifted and we even had time to get something to eat.

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and Judy

St Petersburg - The City of Palaces

Following a rather bumpy (but safe) bus ride to St Petersburg, we went to the Nikaloveski Theatre to enjoy a Cossack music and dance show. We were met in the foyer by wigged Victorian courtiers who handed us a glass of champagne. After the first half we had another glass of champagne together with caviar. The second half opened with glorious singing from a male quartet and continued with more of the traditional dancing. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, Mum and I forwent the boat cruise to look around St Isaacs cathedral.

Some of the Palaces.

The next day was the group's city tour. We started with Smolny Cathedral - painted as blue as the sky and which was never used as a place of worship. We continued on to the Church of our Saviour on Spilt Blood (built on the site where Alexander I was assasinated). At 12 noon we viewed the Peter and Paul fortress from across the River Neva. Katya had failed to mention that the cannon goes off at 12 and the fountain in the middle of the river starts up, accompanied by classical music. Rather a nice surprise. Lunch was at a Russian restaurant a bit like Sizzler, only you pay for the time you are in there. The afternoon was spent at the Hermitage Museum which is made up of 5 buildings including the Winter Palace. The opulence was like too much candy for the eyes.

Alexander column near the Winter Palace.

The last day Mum and I went in to explore Nevsky prospect - the main street of St Petersburg. The evening was spent having goodbye drinks with our lovely group.

l
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and Judy

A Day in Pskov

It turned out that not much sleep was had on the train ride due to open carriages and lack of ventilation. Arriving in Pskov, we only had time to freshen up before our bus tour. We saw the city Kremlin from across the river at the cathedral of the Three Sacraments - where Elizabeth had seen three rays of light when the area was just a forest and subsequently ordered a cathedral built with a surrounding town.

View of Pskov Kremlin

We then made our way up to the border with Estonia to visit Pechory Monastery, stopping at roadside stalls for some delicious strawberries. We donned scarves and skirts to enter the monastery and were even allowed to enter the burial caves (not all tourists are allowed inside them to ensure the temperature is kept at 5 deg C). We only had a thin candle to light the way which made the whole experience very Indiana Jones-esque. We were careful not to lose the group leader!

After the Monastery we headed to a local retreat in order to take part in a Banya.
How to perform a Banya:
1. Season with a shot of vodka
2. Heat at 70 deg C until sweating
3. Tenderise by thrashing with birch twigs soaked in water
4. Quench with cold water
5. Run in to lake (sqealing optional)

After these exertions, we filled ourselves full of traditional Russian cuisine - chicken kebab-ish pieces, pickles, cabbage salad, salmon, potatoes and spiced biscuit/cakes. We then went back to our hotel fully sated to nap (ahh sleep, finally). We woke up for the group dinner... not that we needed it, and then had a lovely sunset walk along the river before heading back to bed.

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and Judy

Россуя - Москва (Russia - Moscow in Cyrillic)

We got to Russia by travelling through Paris, London and Moscow all in 36 hours. It's a hard life...

We met our tour guide Katya on the first day who was gorgeously Russian with a lovely long plait. That night we met with our group and found out all 15 of us were Aussies! It was a little weird not being home for so long and then having a buffer zone of Australia on tour.

The tour started the next day, with Katya taking us via the Moscow metro to the Red square - first stop: Lenin's Mausoleum. After waiting in line for half an hour we had a very quick and eerie 3 minute walk through the highly guarded mausoleum. Lenin looked like he was about to take a breath. Afterwards we toured around the Red Square (the word for red in Russian also means beautiful). We walked throught the GUM shopping center - previously only for Russian-made apparel, but now exclusive boutiques. St Basil's Cathedral at the end of the square was stunning as expected. We decided to look inside the Cathedral and were surprised at the several small chambers as opposed to a large worship hall (to conserve heat in the -20 deg C winters). We walked to an underground restaurant for lunch then past a un-namable building before walking to the Church of Our Saviour. The president happened to be inside where a service was being held, so we couldn't go in to the main part, but we donned scarves to attend the service in a subsiduary cathedral. Very ceremonial. We finished off the day having a tour of three of the best metro stations - complete with chandeliers, marble and mosaics.

In the Red Square

The second day was back to Red square for a tour of the Kremlin. Actually, Kremlin just means fort - every Russian city has a Kremlin... the Moscow one is just famous. Inside the Kremlin was different to what I expected. It was just a conglomeration of buildings, some old, some modern and some still used by today's parliament. We saw the biggest cannon that hasn't been fired and the biggest bell never rung as well as a slew of cannon's captured from Napoleon as spoils of war. People (tourists) were kept in line by guards using their whistles with gusto. We also saw the main church area that contained about four churches. One for coronation, one for everyday use and one for funerals. After the Kremlin , Mum and I split off from the group with a few other people and walked up to the main coffee area for lunch at Starbucks and a visit to Hard Rock Cafe. In the afternoon we walked back to the Alexandrian gardens around the Kremlin and were in time for the very precise, but short, changing of the guard.

The next day, Katya took some of our group to a park in front of the University overlooking the Moscow skyline. It was then back to the hotel and off to catch the train to Pskov.

Overlooking the Moscow skyline

l
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and Judy

Europe in a Nutshell

By ferry, train and automobile... and foot!

Click on image and all that sort of thing.

l
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and Judy

Switzerland

We arrived in Lausanne late afternoon and walked to the nearby guesthouse - and were pleasantly surprised.

View from our hostel room window.

The next day we explored the city. We traversed a suggested walking path - which had appeared flatter on a piece of paper. After scaling the streets (in the 34 deg C day), we visited the Cathedral and Chateaux and enjoyed the atmosphere of various streets. After replenishing with Starbucks, we took the tram-bus to the foreshore of Lake Geneva to have our late picnic lunch. We sat and watched the Volleyball fanatics run around in the sun, and then visited the nearby Roman Ruins before heading back to the hostel. During the night we experienced our first sleepless hour (at 11 pm) of continuous car horn honking after whoever won the latest match of Euro 08 football.

Exploring the streets of Lausanne

Our last day involved a day trip to Montreaux - half an hour away from Lausanne by train. It was a glorious day and we walked along the banks of Lake Geneva to the Chateaux Chillon. We decided to have a look around inside and spent 3 hours wandering around - it was extremely interesting and very well restored. We dipped our tired feet in the lake on the way back to the train station. Also, we observed youth dipping more than their feet - i.e. taking a rolling jump into the lake on scooters. We left them to it...

The horn honking occurred again this night and from various yeling we assume Spain won the match. This of course left us with only 4 hours of sleep for our train the next morning. Thus we ended our europe section in true traditional backpacker style of lack of sleep and 10 minute border train changes.

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and Judy

A Taste of Germany

The travel to München was done in another luxury train. We were woken up twice for passport checks, but I didn't mind so much because it meant I got stamps, yay!

We walked and walked to the hostel and then couldn't get into our room until 1pm, so we did washing and other administration stuff while we waited. After finally settling ourselves we went for a walk in to the city centre - Marienplatz - to view the Glockenspiel at 5 pm. It was an über hot day so we walked slowly through the town making our way past the various cathedrals towards the Residenz (palace). The building was closed so we walked through the palace gardens and came across an Australian swing band playing in a gazebo while swing dancers swung away. After enjoying the entertainment for a while we continued wandering up to the Englishe Garden where we marveled at the surfers in the 10 m wide river. We tried to avert our eyes while passing the nudist sunbaking area.

Surfing - München style... I'm not sure it is all that safe

The second day was spent exploring the Deutsches Museum for 5 hours. So much to see so little time!!! It is the most awesome science museum - every exibit has hands on components which makes it really fun. For example, the chemistry section had many chemical reactions set up so that you can press a button and it mixes several compoents for you. We had a quick refuel at the museum restaurant - traditional German fare of schnitzel, sauerkraut and knödel. After we had worn ourselves out, it was then back to Starbucks for a coffee (finally a semi-decent coffee in Europe) then back to relax in the hostel.

We left on the third day, but not before tasting some of the gastronomical delights at the Bahnhof (and taking some with us for on the train).

l
R
x
and Judy

Croatia in Four Days

From Santorini we took a Ferry, slept in Pireus, then metro to Athens, train to Kiato, train to Patras, overnight ferry I to Ancona and overnight ferry II to Spalato (Split). Phew! We made it to Croatia in one piece 36 hours later.

In our sleep deprived state, we let ourselves be kidnapped by a local and taken to their house for accommodation in Split. A brief nap had us up and exploring the city with gelati in hand, taking in the gorgeous waterfront area where the old Palace walls are juxtaposed with the hip & modern cafe's and promenade. We had a look through the substructure of the palace wall and then at the cathedral. I climbed to the top of the bell tower to have a great view of the city. We found a fantastic local place to have dinner - Buffet Fife.

Split Waterfront

Got up at 7... or so we thought, the alarm was still on Greek time so we actually awoke at 6. We climbed to the top of the mountain to view back to the harbour and found a quaint church. We then walked around the harbour to the archaeological museum and waited for it to open at 9.30. However, they were doing renovations which meant it was free... but there wasn't much to see. Still interesting. We took it easy and wandered through the harbour markets then found a nice park to daydream in and watch the youths carry on waterfights. Fifes called our stomaches back for a late lunch where we got chatting to a local Croatian. He told us stories about how tourists were destroying the lovely boredom that the locals used to have and that Croatians delight in telling you they don´t like you (if the case may be so).

We took a great overnight train to Zagreb - the best train we have been on in our travels. Lots of free presents. Arriving in Zagreb we took the tram to the hostel - which was right next door to a chocolate factory (yes that did have influence over our decision to stay there). We went in to the city late afternoon to avoid the hottest part of the 31 deg C day. We walked around exploring the parks, enjoyed a free traditional music concert, dodged Croatian football fans and explored the botanical gardens, before heading back to the hostel for risotto.

Near Zagreb Train Station

On our second day in Zagreb we went to the archaeological museum, had lunch in the nearby park while listening to another free traditional concert then walked around the upper town area, before heading home in order to pack and rest for our next journey.

Conclusion: Want to return to Croatia!

l
R
x
and Judy

Athens and Santorini

After finally boarding the 16 hour ferry to Patras, Greece we organised ourselves in our "Airline" seats and ended up sleeping on the floor instead - our camping mats came in handy. Arriving in Patras felt a lot like Brisbane with the humidity and sunshine. We had no trouble finding the train station, and even had time to enjoy a relaxing lunch. Upon boarding the train, we were informed that we would have to change trains twice, as opposed to the once we were expecting, due to changes in service. Thrice turned into four times as we had to change on to the Metro as well. Arriving at the hotel I caught up on sleep while mum booked our further travel and accommodation.

All of the next day was spent exploring Athens: The Acropolis and Ancient Agora in the morning and Archaeological Museum in the afternoon. We then had time to do a quick grocery shop before heading for our Ferry to Santorini (another sleep on the floor gig).

With a temple in the Ancient Agora

At the Santorini Port, in the harbour created by the volcanic crater, George from Pension Livarodos picked us up and drove us back to Karterados. His hotel had a lovely homely feel - like you were staying with family. We both napped until the afternoon (ahh the rigours of being on holiday) then went to a local restaurant for Mousaka, chicken Souvlaki and Greek Salad. We then had a nice long sunset walk down to the black sandy Karterados beach and back.

The next morning saw us hiring a 4-wheeler or dune buggy and hooning around the island. We visited Kamari and goggled at the people supposedly tanning their already lobsterified skin. We took a wrong turn on our way to Perissa and prayed to the dune-buggy gods that we would make it up the moutainside of Profitis Ilias (max speed uphill = 16k/h full throttle). The trip was worth the great views. We then drove through Megalachori to Perissa, and had dinner at nearby Perivolos beach. After our dinner overlooking deep blue ocean we were back to our hotel for an relaxing evening swim. Wish we could have stayed longer.

Let´s go!

l
R
x
and Judy

P.S. It is so awesome how everyhting in Greece is spelled with the Greek alphabet (duh). All those letters I learnt in Maths actually make sense e.g. "Oh, it's a phi... and an ipsillon a rho and an alpha... so ph-i-r-a ooooh Fira!"

Minor Mishap #8

We spent the morning running around Naples trying to find a post office. The first one we found only acted as a bank - naturally. We continued our search (with directions) and after 2 hours we found another post office which had 1 teller for postage, and 8 for banking. The automatic doors were not working, so we had to queue in the hot sun until security manually let people through. Upon reaching the counter we posted 4 postcards.

After this excursion we managed to have a 20 minute lunch before quickly collecting our luggage and briskly walking to the station. We were very pleased with ourselves that we had made the train to Bari after our dilemma filled morning.

Arriving at Caserta, the departure board showed our connecting train to Bari was 30 minutes late. We were not too concerned because we still had 1 .5 hours at the other end to make our way to the dock... 30 minutes later the delay had increased to 50 minutes... this increased our nervousness a little but the conclusion was not yet forgone...

Finally we left an hour late and lost another hour in the journey to Bari. Thus, we missed the boat by 5 minutes. The only boat to Greece.

This forced us to have an unplanned but lovely day in Bari, checking out the old city, city wall and castle.

A side street in Old City, Bari.

l
R
x
and Judy

Naples for Pompeii

We headed to Naples via train and arrived not to worse for wear, 5 hours later. We settled ourselves in a hotel close by the station, in Garibaldi Piazza, and went early to bed.

The following day saw us negotiating the streets of Pompeii. We had bought a guidebook, with a view of undertaking the illustrated 3-hour tour. However, 7 hours later we were still exploring (we had to be sure to get a view of some ancient graffiti).

A pedestrian crossing

The preservations were amazing. The quality of the artwork in some of the frescoes was as good as if done today. There were also clear indications of a "modern" city, with pedestrian crossings, plumbing and drainage systems in place. It was easy to imagine the daily life of people in this ancient city.

l
R
x
and Judy

Downtime in Tuscany

Our Tuscan interlude began with a side trip to Pisa - really only to see the leaning tower - and a day spent in Siena. Siena is perched on the top of a hill and the old town roads are restricted for cars. The result is a beautifully peaceful town with lots of picturesque nooks.

We then hired a car - right hand manual drive eek! - and headed to our Tuscan villa. We timed our stay with an Italian public holiday, so had to do our grocery shopping the Saturday night we got to Buonconvento.

The entire stay was filled with relaxing. To our delight there were books available, and seeing as there were a few rainy days, we took that as a sign that the Universe wanted us to read and do absolutely nothing. We did just that.

Our Villa

Intermingled with the nothing, there were a few walks intermingled, as well as pilates, cooking and eating, hot chocolates, movies dubbed in Italian, opening our personal beauty salon, and commenting on Italian gardeners in the rain.

The result left us feeling very decadent and ready to take on the next part of our trip.

l
R
x
and Judy

Minor Mishap #7

This one came in the superstitious multiples of 3... each!

7a. Really a major misunderstanding. We arrived at the Colosseum late on the first day and asked at the counter whether we could buy a ticket for the next day. We were led to believe that the ticket worked for 2 days and we could go on through with the little time we had left and come back the next day for the guided tour. Not so, to Mum's surprise when she tried to use her ticket. A little bit of diplomatic conversation concluded in Mum being let through without having to buy an extra ticket. We really did appreciate it. (see 7d for my ticket fiasco)

7b. A souvenir stand outside the Colosseum was aiming to decapitate Mum during a huge gust of wind. The flimsy umbrella Mum was holding snapped, but may have slowed the inertia of the mini-Colosseums and postcards, thereby saving Mum's life. May it rest in peace.

7c. An unknown and unseen bug decided to bite Mum on the ankle twice. We were starting to get worried about necrosis... but thankfully it abated.

7d. After making sure I had my "2day pass" in my pocket with my camera I decided to take some pics on the way to the Colosseum. Somewhere in this process I lost my ticket and consequently was rather displeased with myself when I had to buy another one.

7e. I hooked my mobile phone up to be charged and got the message: "Unable to Charge". My Response: *blank look... panic* WHAT?! I solved the problem by taking some advice from the internet - taking out the battery, replacing and charging the phone on "off".

7f. I thought I had lost my Swiss Army knife. How was I ever supposed to be prepared for all situations without that? Luckily, it was a false alarm, I found it hiding in the bottom of my backpack in Tuscany. Definitely needed the break!

l
R
x
and Judy

Roaming Roma

Our choice of travel to Rome was a train ride... through hell. We thought a sleeper would be a good idea. It wasn't. Especially when we shared with 4 other people (actually very lovely young couples from Hong Kong). The beds were short, narrow and very hard. Not conducive to sleep.

Upon arrival we were greeted by a local who offered cheap accommodation close by, which in our sleep deprived state we gladly accepted. It was close to everything we had planned to see, and after a morning nap we went for a walk to the Font di Trevi. Here we had breakfast/lunch and enjoyed the fountain with a serving of gelati... when in Rome...

Inside the Colosseum

Our next stop on our walking trip was the Colosseum, where we had arrived too late for the guided tour. After sitting down to recover from the heat of the day (and refreshing ourselves with ice tea, which we were soon to become addicted to) we went to the entrance with the view to buy a ticket for the next day. As it turned out, we had a look around the Colosseum that afternoon before heading back to our hotel. Traditional Italian pizza was for dinner -yum!

We awoke to a rainy day. The first point on our agenda was to return to the Colosseum, where Minor Mishap #7 occurred. We then moved on to the Roman Forum and Palatino where we bumped into our train buddies from Hong Kong. After we chatted and commented on the improbability of seeing them again, we parted ways and headed for the Pantheon followed by Navino Square and finally back to the hotel via Font di Trevi again.

Inside the Roman Forum

l
R
x
and Judy

Love From Paris

After staring at the keyboard for half an hour and relearning the keys, we are finally starting our France entry.

"How on earth were we to get to Paris?" was the predominant thought in our head the day before our departure. We had conveniently timed our trip to coincide with a bank holiday in Britain, and consequently airfares and the direct train had upped their prices... way beyond what we could afford.

We ended up spending 14 hours traveling- London tube, train to Dover, ferry to Calais, train to Paris. Arriving without a clue where we were staying, we traipsed around with our backpacks and found a great hotel near the Sacre Coeur. Once we had a base we got a metro ticket and spent 3 days exploring the city of luuurve.

Our first sight-seeing experience was to the Louvre, where we spent 4 hours viewing all the wonderful exhibits (including Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo of course). From the Louvre we walked (and walked and walked) up L'Avenue des Champs-Elysees and finally reaching the Arc de Triomphe. We went back to the hotel to feast on baguette and cheese (to become a staple).

The Louvre courtyard entrance

Notre Dame was fairly easy to get in to see the chapel section. However, it took an hour waiting in line to be able to climb to the top. We consoled ourselves, while waiting, with ice creams. The view and gargoyles were spectacular. Next stop was the Eiffel Tower. Here, the weather decided to drench us with rain, but that didn't stop me going up. Afterwards we caught the bus to enjoy more street views.

The morning of our last day we got up early and made a quick trip up to the Sacre Coeur, being so close we thought we really had to make the effort for the 10 minute walk. We then dropped our bags at the station and headed to Versailles. The Palace of Versailles was stunning, even though it was raining (still). The magnificence makes your jaw drop and you can't help thinking that maybe it is a little 'over the top' (and perhaps the rioting mobs had a point). We toured some of the inside apartments viewing numerous gilt and embroidered furnishings, sculptures, crystal chandeliers and artworks - everywhere. A walk around some of the grounds finished off our day and we were soon back on the train headed for Rome.

While we did have a couple of run-ins with the stereotypical arrogant, impatient, rude frenchman, we generally found people to be very friendly. A characteristic that we noticed about Paris was that most of the buildings, especially in the older section, are all low lying. It gives the city a less crowded feel than if there were a million skyscrapers. And still, everything is very, very French.

l
R
x
and Judy

Our Roadtrip in a Nutshell

Click on picture for a larger view.

Flags denote some of our overnight stays (we ran out of stickers).

South Wales and London #2

Our arrival in Fishguard Port was unspectacular. The ferry experience was the same as the trip over to Ireland, so nothing new...(how fickle we are). We searched a while for a Hertz counter, which proved fruitless as there was none. A local told us that a representative would be waiting for us, and he was right. So after eventually finding our hire car we began the last leg of our road trip.

Carew Castle was our first stop which also had a Mill nearby on the lake. Immediately, I noticed that Wales has what I expected castles to be, as opposed to Ireland where the ones we saw were really only tall stone towers. We spent quite a lot of time exploring the grounds and imagining what life would have been like.

Carew

We then went in search of the Coast and found it near Tenby and started along the coast drive... which was a single country lane edged by high hedges. So, we decided to forgo the "coast" and head straight to Cardiff.

We investigated Cardiff Castle and then drove to the border with a brief stop at Tintern Abbey (also near the first place brass was made). We just had time for one more castle (Chepstow) before heading to London.

Chepstow

In London, we met up with Hannah, who we had met in Africa, and had a dim sum (yum cha) lunch. There, she suggested a couple of places we hadn't been to and we spent the afternoon visiting Covent Garden markets and Harrods.

l
R
x
and Judy

Grand Ireland

We started off with 2 days in Dublin, checking out Trinity College (University of Dublin), the Liffey river, Millenium needle and St Stevens garden. We got a tour around the University from a local Arts student (can't hold that against him) which was very informative. We learnt about teacher/student shoot outs, the superstitions of the bell tower, special exam privelages such as a glass of claret and various disasters. At the end of the tour we were able to see the book of Kells - absolutely stunning.

Liffey River, Dublin

Following Dublin, we hired a car and drove down through the Limerick and Tipperary Counties to Killarney (narrowly avoiding being squished on a bridge by a truck). We spent another two days there, discovering the town and surrounds. A day was spent driving around the ring of Kerry plus an offshoot Ring of Skellig, to view the lovely coastal scenery such as Dingle Bay; and various ruins.

We saw Ross Castle before making our way to Cork - the second largest city in Ireland. Walking around Cork, we enjoyed the St Fin Barre Cathedral, the Roman fort, rivers and a chocolate cafe. Lots of constuction was going on to improve the centre and there were lots of people milling around. On our way out after staying one night, we detoured to Blarney Castle, which I kissed with the help of a technician to hold my legs (to make sure I didn't fall as you have to bend over backwards over a drop to kiss it properly).

Around Cork

Contiunuing on to Waterford, we stayed nearby at Dunmore East at a B&B overlooking the bay. We walked along the 'beach'... at least it did have sand. The next morning we traveled back into Waterford town to go to the crystal factory. An hour tour of the factory was quite interesting and there were so many lovely things in the showroom, but too heavy to take backpacking (the reason we used to console ourselves after we realised we couldn't afford anything).

Dunmore East Bay

We then traveled straight to Rosslare and had a long evening walk around the sleepy town's cliffs. Not being content with only walking along the cliff, we decided to pioneer our own path down the cliff face to the sandy beach below (Australians and their beaches - sheesh).

l

R

x

and Judy

The HSS 'Take me to Ireland!'

Because the ferry deserves a post all of its own.

We woke up early to return our hire car and catch the fast ferry to Ireland. Stepping on to the boat Mum noted it was unlike the English Channel ferry she had been on before. This was more like a cruise liner than a ferry. Think airline terminal... in a boat. Plus weird monstrous slot machines for those people wishing to waste their money.

Mum and I settled in on one of the comfy chairs in the lounge at the front of the boat and once we got going I purchased a couple of lattes.

The movement of the boat was hard to anticipate, which meant that I was becoming a little dizzy. It was a bit like when you're in a car as a passenger and are expecting to turn left, but the driver continues straight. We decided to lay down in the lounge area and I read while Mum snoozed.

We embarked at 8.40am and arrived at Dun Laoghaire (said Dun Leary) at 11.40am. That's fast!

l
R
x
and Judy

Minor Mishap #6

Frolicking in an adjoining sheep paddock to the ruins of a Roman fort in Hadrian's Wall. Later, I was moving the car into the shade for a litte afternoon kip... when I could smell something rather un-car-like. I thought I had driven through something.

But no. Somehow, I had been so engrossed in the ruins that I had not noticed myself sinking up to my armpits in the sheep paddock. Half an hour and several baby-wipes later, my shoes and jean bottoms were semi-decent, to the point where there was no longer an overpowering stench (as long as the windows remained open).

I had to throw out my jeans and socks. I mean, how does a sheep smell that bad? They only eat grass!!!

l
R
x
and Judy

Lake District and Holyhead

Exiting Scotland we headed into the Lake District of England. We had enjoyed beautiful weather all through Scotland. About 1 hour after crossing the border, it started to rain.

We stopped at Hadrian's Wall - a Roman wall that was built across the country to keep the "barbarians" out. We drove for some time in the countryside before realising we were actually driving on the wall. So much for our "Where is it? We must be close" comments.

We saw more peaks in the Lake District than the Peak District... I think there is some sort of conspiracy there. We stopped at a lovely town called Keswick and stayed at a Youth Hostel on the banks of a river. In the evening we had a walk around the town and through the flower gardens in the local park on our way to the lake. It is great how the sun doesn't set until 9pm - lots of time to explore. The next morning we strolled some more around the town and down to the lake, then visited the nearby stone circle.

We drove all the way to Holyhead, only stopping at Windemere to have lunch on the banks of another lake. The local airforce decided to entertain us with F1-11 fly bys. Very exciting.

Holyhead was a small town out on the edge of an island peninsula. We found the remote Youth Hostel after asking directions. This was close to a bay overlooking the Irish Sea, which we walked down to - complete with real sand!

Bay in Holyhead

l
R
x
and Judy

Minor Mishap #5

My friend Kelly lives with 3 other people and most of the furniture belongs to Andrew - a lovely guy from Aberdeen. The first morning we were at Kelly's, Mum was using the computer and I wanted to sit next to her to view what she was doing. I spied a lovely 3-legged chair made of wood where the three legs had been carved out of one piece of wood, but made to lock together in a plaited/celtic type fashion. I began to sit down.

Before I could sit down completely I heard a loud craaaaack!... and I fell to the floor in total shock.

Mum proceeded to point and laugh and ask why I had sat on a table.

I was so terrified that I had just destroyed a family heirloom, and didn't have a chance to tell Andrew until the evening, so was boiling in my guilt and fear all day. I was quite vividly envisioning the wrath of a Scottish temper.

However, Andrew showed no sign of concern, and pointed out that the table should be able to be fixed with glue quite easily, and apparently it was a cheap table and fell apart all the time.

Sorry Andrew!

l
R
x
(and Judy)

Bonnie Scotland

We drove up to Melrose with Kelly and stayed for 3 days. Kelly skived off work one afternoon (with permission from her boss) and we all visited Traquair house - the oldest inhabited house in Scotland - complete with peafowl. The weather was perfect and Kelly and I went for a walk up two of the hills near her house - of which there are four - called the Eildons. We started with the hardest one first so the second one seemed like nothing in comparison.

We spent a day in Edinburgh visiting the castle before travelling to Pitlochry, a suprisingly beautiful little town where we spent the night. We then drove all the way up to Culloden Moor, the site of the 1746 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' final battle. They had just opened a new visitor centre on April 16th, 2008.

View to Edinburgh Castle

We then drove through Inverness and along Loch Ness. We stayed at a Youth Hostel right on the banks of the Loch. On our way to dinner (in the only restaurant for miles) we saw our first Heilan' Coo. The next morning we explored the ruins of Urquhart castle and then drove via Glen Coe (gorgeous scenery) to Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the UK). We climbed the mountain... well a little of it. We rode the gondola chair lift to 2150ft and walked around the area for 90 minutes. We spent our last night in Scotland at a converted castle overlooking the bonnie banks of Loch Lommond.

On the banks of Loch Lommond

l
R
x
and Judy

P.S. This is as close as I could get to the Loch Ness Monster???