"sa Rap

HE SAID .........

A full four days at work is a gr8 way to start the week after 2 months on holiday and even so its been a long week. Exciting also as everyone you see wants to talk about the trip. Everyone asks, "what was your favourite part?". Its hard to separate so many good times but here goes.

Highlights would specifically include the following,
Seeing Noel and Brenda and meeting the rest of their family in Stokenchurch (just out of London...yeah right) was the best way to start our journey. Noel has been particularly helpful organising stuff there before we arrived, thankyou Noel
Seeing our grandaughter running towards her Nana at Wellington airport was worth coming home for. Lucky she didn't come for me i would have had to drop the duty free bags - sorry Karl.
And in between, having Pat and Margaret join us in Florence wasgreatly appreciated.

In between, where does one start. I hope not to be critical in anyway so if its sounds like it i'm not.
Paris was fantastic except for my bed. loved the metro there, the only way to travel thru the city, Eiffel tower at night was special but i really liked the little park we found accidently when walking. Filled with people, DOGS, and surrounded by art galleries. I recall we just lay on the grass and absorbed.

Barcelona was THE place for me. Reminded me why i like Wellington. Such an alive, vibrant place, just bigger. Figs stuffed with goats cheese...i can still taste it

South of France was where we had our first car, very scary but with good co-piloting we arrived everywhere we needed Our Avignon accommodation was last minute and one of the best.

Italy is such a beautiful country with so many things to see, many of them "bucket list" items but also very frustrating. Quite corrupt in many ways but the people are very friendly and helpful.
Out of Florence, Rome Milan Venice Lucca, Cinque Terra, Naples, Amalfi, Messina i think the highlight for me was Genoa. The B+B, our hosts and our trip down the coast was the bees knees for myself.
Also, the car ride from Lucca to Pisa
All the train rides
The apartment in Rome, biggest and cheapest
The bus trip to Amalfi coast
Venice, still the same and still special, great meal here.

Switzerland. This was the only place on the trip where i could walk around with my head in the air. Hard to find dog shit here especially with a sandal. The Glacier Express is iconic but i preferred the Bernina Express especially the free sewing machine giveaway. The bus section of the trip was most different and resulted in a standing ovation for the driver when we completed our journey. Ask me about it!

The boat cruise lived up to expectations and our room with a deck was quite special. There is potential for this type of travel to be very tiring but we managed the correct amount of onboard activity mixed with various daily cocktails at night to get us thru the hectic days off the boat. This was a great cruise visiting some fabulous places, good on us!

America was a little disappointing to me. Not once was i frisked and the cowbell was a non event passing thru customs. We just walked in. New York is a great place but one really needs at least a week to have a decent. I left there wanting more.

Regrets....... only 2. I wish we had a sat/nav gps unit and i would have loved another camera. Sorry 3, i wish i had got those shoes in NY.

Before i finish i must acknowledge my travelling companion. For most of the trip she was known as Janet.
Janet did most of the planning for our trip and for this she can be well pleased. Any hiccups were not of hers(our) making and all the hard work, research etc paid off, resulting in a fantastic holiday. We managed to see most of thing she associated with a trip to Europe, i hope , and many others. We had many "bonus" moments together. I had a great time with her and suffice to say, after 2 months in her company, day-in, day-out, 7 days a week etc, i wasn't ready to come home when we did.

Finally, a big thank you to our children for looking after "things" while we were away especially their sister Becks(who are you, i haven't missed you) Whalen.

So, i hope all who have read this blog have enjoyed it as much as we have writing it. Having effectively been around the world, now that we are back home, i can honestly say, we are very lucky to live here.

And..........................................................we are world champions!!!!!!


Venice




On board the Norwegian Jade

  

Visiting Amalfi





Times Square NY



On reflection ....

SHE SAID .....
Our remaining time in NY was fantastic, definately have to go back there. 
We saw another show 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' with Daniel Radcliffe.  Amazing singing and dancing and very, very funny.  The view from the Empire State has to be seen to be believed.  It did make me think when a plane went over though.  Macey's department store could take a day on it's own, loved the old wooden escalators. The lights and signage, day and night.  Our tour through Central Park was just the best - we never would have seen or learnt as much trying to do it on our own. 
NY - A very alive and exciting city, day and night.

The flight home was long, and the wait in Auckland frustrating, but a certain little girl running down and leaping in to my arms at the airport in Wellington, soon made you forget all about that. It was so nice to see all the family.  Have to say our greeting from Becks wasn't quite what we expected, we might as well have been at work for the day!!  How soon they forget.

I can't believe it's over!  After waiting so many years for my OE, I didn't really know what to expect.  I had the best time ever, better than I ever, ever imagined. 

Michael's directional radar was a god send, and saved us getting lost so many times. I got so involved with what we were looking at, I'd forget to take note of the basics. I surprised myself (being the organised control freak I am) by not getting stressed about things and going with the flow (regardless of what Michael says) and I think that made a huge difference. My travel companion was just the best.

We're now back home, back at work and I have to admit I've started thinking about what / where we could go next trip.

I've had lot's of people asking me what was my favourite place.  Lot's of favourites for different reasons, and then I  remember something and I change my mind!!  For now though....
Favourite for people ... Stokenchurch (of course), locals - hosts at Genoa and Barcelona, staff at Zermatt, Florence with Pat and Margaret (awesome friends), guide at Central Park and Vatican, staff on the ship 'washy washy' (catch phrase for hand santitiser everywhere)
Favourite for history and sites ... Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Eiffel Tower at night, Vatican Tour, little historic streets of El Born Barcelona, walled town of Lucca ......
Favourite for atmosphere ... Barcelona, Hong Kong, Lucca, Florence, Dubrovnik, just the two of us looking out at sea from our balcony and remembering how lucky we are.
Favourite for the unexpected / not plannned ... live paintings by actors to music in Florence,  square and park full of galleries in Paris, hill top town of Taormina, fresh water fountains all over Rome, top of the hill at Dubrovnik, watching the pilot get off and on the ship, wooden water tanks on all the buildings in NY ....... so many!

Favourite for weather ... South of France, Dubrovnik, Zermatt, evening sunsets and mornings on the ship
Favourite for food/meal ... a toughy .... Barcelona, Florence, or maybe all the seafood dishes in Italy!  A steak in Zermatt.

Favourite for history and sites ... Rome, Dubrovnik, Pompeii, Duoma Milan 
Favourite for scenery ...  Switzerland / North Italy, Croatia, Tuscany, St AgnesFrance
Favourite for scary / excitement ... driving on autostrada's South France, bus ride round the lakes North Italy, way, way, way down in the metro in Paris, packed metro ride peak hour in Rome
Favourite for need to go back to or see more of .... London, New York, Tuscany, Spain, Switzerland ... and everywhere I haven't been!
Favourite for reflection ....  Twin Towers site, Pompeii, mother and baby on train begging, lighting a candle in the little church at the top the mountain for family and friends in Switzerland, Pantheon, Sagrada Familia ...
We were so lucky .....
- a perfect mix of trains, cars, ships, boats and planes, and an awesome mix of B & Bs, hotels and apartments.
- only 2 days with rain over 2 months 
- no luggage lost or late
- no transport issues
- no muggings or robberies

- great health, just a cough for Michael early on and his sore (not DVT - we googled!) leg we nursed along.

Thanks again everyone for sharing our trip with us.  We've loved having you along!
St Christopher was definately with us on our travels.

New York - Birchall Style

DAY 2    HE SAID...
Fact: The Panama canal is under reconstruction to enlarge the facility so that larger ships can pass thru. This is a major passage for ships bound for New York which has a large and very important to the town container facility. Not wanting to risk losing the port and all the jobs etc that go with it the Local authority have decided to raise the Beyonne Bridge. This bridge will not accommodate the new size of ship expected to use the canal. The bridge will be 6 foot too low. So, at the extremely fair price of $2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.75cents the bridge will be lifted.
 .... and so it was that we met Graeme Birchall at about 9.30 am in our hotel Lobby for a tour of New York. He dropped us off that night at 7.39pm. Graeme came here for a couple of weeks about 30 years ago and I have no doubt that he knows more about NY than the locals. The whole day we walked, along with his friend Hong, everywhere except the places most would visit when coming here. All day, these little gems were passed on.


On one of the pontoons where Graeme's free kayaking sessions
take place. Jersey in the background where they both live.

 He had an opinion on most things and as the day wore on we found ourselves eager to hear more. Mid afternoon, we were taken to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Hong, who is married to an American, ordered all but one dish of our meal and we just ate. We didn't know what we were eating but it tasted bloody nice and would never have been something we would've ordered. eg we had some sort of red bean paste desert which was delicious. Bean paste for christs sake!!
Graeme has some very interesting things to say about 9/11 and the aftermath so bail me up and ask me when i get home.
After Graeme dropped us off, we retired to our room with a 6 pack of "BUD" and some pretzels and crashed about 8.30pm. We had done bloody well considering the day before we had been awake for 24hrs.

SHE SAID ... Day 3
(So many things I'd like to tell you about yesterday, just not enough time now.) 
Just like in the movies a very wet NY day ... taxi's everywhere, people jumping in and out, and two Kiwis in shorts, walking shoes, raincoats and cheap umbrella's hit the streets.
Another awesome day of walking around, visiting more places Graeme and Hong had suggested, and some of our own picks.  Cancelled the Empire State Building visit as it was in mist!  A big highlight was the Jersey Boys show last night  ... oh what a night.  Something we'd both been looking forward to since we started planning our trip, and definately lived up to it's hype.

New York

HE SAID ...... Monday, a new day, started as usual on our travel days. 99% well packed by Janet (and me if there are any customs people reading this) all ready to just add our flannellette PJs and go. Awake 3 minutes before alarm at 4.18am, taxi to Civi airport at 5am ready to leave at 8.15am for london.
One of my purchases during the trip has been a swiss cowbell/cow bell. logicaly i selected a large one which i now carry with me in our backpak. Italian customs, when they saw my bag vias Xray thought it amusing. Guiseppe, Antonio, Bob, come and look at this. No comment to me and we were waved thru.
London, an entirely different story. The Xray guy there was totally buggered. "Mohammed, Jonathon, Abdull, check this out", he said. Pull this guy out. A female custom officer gestured for me to "come around here, Sir, please take the object out of your bag.
I very carefully and dramatically removed the offending item from my bag (Actually the backpak belongs to Brid and i was already to say it was hers, just in case) The lady very carefully checked the cowbell, said nothing then rather embarrassed said i could place bag in the bag and go. So off we went into no-mans land, airport transit.
The next 7 hours, on the plane to New York, the poose slowly gathered under my seat as i wondered what the Yankee entry machine would make of my cowbell ?????????

SHE SAID ... We've made it to the big apple, and apart from an hours delay in London, and me getting a good pat down after repeated beeping and removing everything I could there, and a good trip.  After weeks of trepidation about our arrival here, our recent London experiences, and after hearing all the entry to USA stories, everything was a breeze and no checks at all on any hand luggage or persons!
...Just remembered when leaving Italy, we ended up with each others passports. I handed Michaels over, was given the nod and told to go through, Michael handed mine over and was told this wasn't the correct passport.  Amazing!!!

The lights of the cityscape were magic as we drove across to Manhatten - a scene we'll never forget. Hotel in a great spot just by Times Square and we have a back room, so very quiet last night. Out for a quick walk and got 'over excited' before bed!! 
Tomorrow we are meeting my cousin Graeme Birchall (a local NYer) and he's taking us out walking for the day.  We're really looking forward to catching up with him, and been taken on an outing that we haven't had to organise. We'll keep you posted.

Final day at sea .... back on dry land

SHE SAID ...Our penultimate night cocktails - gingerbeer and black rum and ......???  Very nice Mrs Dawson, I thought of you, this could be another of our favourites!
Our final day of the cruise was a full day organised trip to Amalfi and Pompeii by coach.  Woke up to a fine day, but that turned to custard half way through.  Only our second bit of rain in 7 weeks, so we can't complain!  Sorry you folks in Wellington!

The coach ride was an insight once again, we could see right down in to all the squatter camps stretching for a long way after leaving the port, and in to the amazing gardens for veges and fruit that so many houses and apartments have.

Didn't take long to see Mt Vesuvius rising up very close to Naples. 

The coastal ride went over the mountains and wound around the side of hills along the coast.  Very close passing and lots of tooting of horns just like the bus ride around the lake.  Very exciting and hairy at times, and once again only one scrape! Funnily enough that was in the spot close to houses where there was a sign saying NO HORNS!

HE SAID ...Our trip included a fine lunch served in a ristarante on the side of a cliff, stunning views until it started raining. We continued our journey in a coach that generally took up 75% of the road, most times needing every inch on the hairpin corners. (if i ever hear Janet moan about the rimutaka again.......) Our guide did make the point that some sime ago they decided 12metre buses counld no longer use this stretch. Our bus was ONLY 10metres. Funny enough, the only people sweating were foreigh tourists in rental cars and camper vans.

We arrived in Pompeii, had a quick trip thru a cameo factory/shop(not quick enough for Janet tho ???) then out into the pouring rain into Pompeii. At this point all the street vendors dropped all their other crap and offered umbrellas and ponchos and extremely "generous" prices. Pompeii was built built some time ago, BH (before Jesus) and its must have pissed down a lot then too as they built the roads with kerbs and footpaths and also installed large stepping stones at intersections so that persons could cross the road without getting their roman sandal wet. at the end of the day i complimented our guide on his efforts and thanked him for keeping the dust to a minimum. 

It was good to get back to the boat after a 10hr day, have a quick shower then started the  "where and what do we eat game" we played every nite on board. Last night.....packing....great!

You mean I pack and you check what's on TV???!!! I know it's only to improve your Italian!

I started this at 4.15pm after a lovely little sleep on the bed! Windows on to the balcony open, slight breeze blowing the sheer white curtain, babble of voices from down below wafting up from the cafe or promenade around the beach ...!!! Life's really tough.  We disembarked this morning, hopped on the free shuttle out of the port around to entrance to Civitavecchia and walked 300m along the promendade to our hotel overlooking the blue sparkling sea. Another perfect spot.

This is a great place and i am glad we stayed here in Civitavecchia. Quite mouthful that, now i know why everyone called Camille, Camille. Civi is the beach resort of Rome as well as a large port(We got a shuttle bus from the boat to the main gate). Great beaches next door and quite clean. We have have already checked out the local markets, saw the local McD and done some shopping(Janet). Now its time to rest on the balcony, avoid the blinding sun as i look at the Med and decide what wine to have with tea??

We could easily do more Rome from here, but have decided to have a couple of quiet days here before we hit the streets of New York.  bring it on!

Won't be long before we're home and seeing you all. 

Go the All Blacks.

Croatia to Sicily ......

 
 Croatia – Dubrovnik   This little gem lived up to it’s reputation, we both loved it.  From the moment you opened the curtain and looked across the water, picture postcard stuff.  A sunny day and a short tender ride in to shore.  Through the gates of the huge ramparts, and in to the old walled town.  Beautiful, shiny, worn over time paving and lots of steps! 

We walked up and down heaps exploring.  Michael took particular notice of the ‘road works’ and reinstatement of the old paving. 

Out of the walls, and a ride up the cable car to the hill above the town to visit the 1806 fort and check out what was over the hill.  We saw the shell holes from the 1991 fighting, seems unreal, and such a short time ago. 

We can both now visualise all the fighting etc we’ve seen on TV over the years – the whole scene and scenery was quite moving.

Back down on the cable car and a walk around to look over the coast and a spot of late lunch and local vino before returning to our floating home. 

Day at Sea 

What can I say.... sleep in, washing, walk around deck, read books, beautiful flash late brunch with a jazz band playing, read books, sleep.......  and after a light dinner, listened to the big band playing (they’re awesome) and then watched the main show of the cruise(a circ de solei type of show) really well done, with amazing acts, lighting  ..... all great.  Watched the sun set straight out the window again – magic!

Sicily – Messina

Up to watch the boat dock and the sunrise this morning.  We had been told there isn’t a lot at Messina, so we weren’t expecting a lot today.  Whalen’s did the usual walk around Messina, then caught a local bus to Taormina (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours fascinating drive) to the hill top village.  Best thing we did – it was awesome.  Stunning views of Mt Etna and along the coast, both ways.  Bus back down to the bottom of the hill and a train back to Messina.  Once again something spur of the moment turned out tops.

To finish off our night tonight, we watched the most hilarious comedy show ‘Hilby’, we were both rolling in our seats, with tears running down my cheeks!  We have brought his DVD, so you can all watch him at home!  After that it was dinner and a great Dixie land jazz show by the Jade orchestra/band – a fantastic finish to a great day!  And another surprise on the bed tonight ........ no Mr Theo, I’m talking about the animal left by our steward!!!

One of the surprises in our cabin at bed time!

Cruzen the Med

HE SAID .... I don’t know why they call this cruising; the whole lifestyle is so mentally draining. There are so many a decisions to be made one has to either take two Nurofin or 2 Coronas before doing anything.

Today is day 3. Day I we left Venice early evening, a truly stunning site to see. Our vantage point on the boat was above 98% of Venice so a great way to view the place overall AND see all the bits you missed when one was down there.

Ones first big decision has to be made upon leaving the cabin. Where are we going? Our cabin is ideally placed in the middle of the ship. Step outside the door, look left then right, 400 metres either way of corridor, much of it mirrored.  Looks like that Keanu Reeves movie, you know the one.

At some stage one has to face the eating facilities. Think of something to eat, especially at night, and it will be available. A little like Valentines but better and 40x as much.

Luckily i made a decision to just go with the soup and cracker for the first couple of days, then onto salads. Breakfast is a nightmare here. You walk in and there....decision time, Bacon. Soft Bacon  AND crispy Bacon. What would Mark do I asked myself so I did that?

The cruise is 7 nights long so I decided that for the first five days I would not have any meat dishes. So far so good but it is a struggle, luckily the soups and salads are fresh and there is plenty of fruit.

SHE SAID ....  what a lot of bollocks!!  ..except for the decisions!  We’re loving it!  Was sad to be leaving  Venice, but Christine Mooney you were right.  The cruise ship leaving Venice out the canal above all the buildings was truly unbelievable.  The ship is awesome, and we’re so glad we went for the ‘freestyle’ option of cruise.  You can suit yourself, eat anywhere any time, wear anything any where apart from a couple of minor exceptions, and pretty much do anything any time. All the staff have been fantastic, so friendly, and are mostly Philippine. 

Anyone that’s been cruising will know about all the little things like coming back to your room at night, and not only is the room all ready and bed turned down, but there’s a big penguin made out of a towel sitting in the middle!    The option to get a balcony was a good one.  The pilot gets picked up way down below us, the tender boats have left and landed, perfect spot for a snooze in the late afternoon sun after those 2 coronas, even better spot to watch the sunsets, or check where we are in the middle of the night.

Michael ‘s very excited and failed to mention the plastic bucket, with bottle opener in the handle, containing ice, glass of cut limes, bottles of corona, that you carry around anywhere with you.  Very handy!

And we have managed a cocktail of the day each night at the show! Have seen two entertaining shows to date.

No deck quoits or karaoke ... just can't manage to fit that in!

Slovenia  - Koper.  Apart from the very slow, large walking tour we booked on (you learn by your mistakes!), the old town of Koper that we visited was a quaint.  Slovenia is a very young country with a big fascinating history.

Croatia – Split.  Did our own thing today and this was much better.  The ship’s too big to berth, so tenders back and forth all day. We walked all around the old town, and round to one of the beaches. 

Back on board naturally for an afternoon rest before another big night tonight and vsiting Dubrovnik tomorrow.

Life's awesome!!  Wish we could bring you all with us.