"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.

Venezia

A beautiful hot summer day on arrival, leaped on the bus for a slow trip down the Grand canal to our local stop. A little walk, some bridges (they love their bridges here) to our quite lovely hotel. A quick change into shorts and jandals and off we go. Hard to get lost here but not as easy to get back to where you want to the same way. Who cares, the Whalens took whatever road in front and saw and found whatever. St Marks square still the same for me except the pigeons were older. There are many renovations in St Marks so it doesn’t quite look the same but you can see what they mean.

                ..... not sure what I expected, but St Marks as a little bit of a disappointment for me.

As we are just about to leave Italy i would make the point that many of the world famous, ‘must see’ places we have been to are currently under various state of repair. This is quite encouraging to see although in some place not before time. The Vatican is a gr8 eg and we have before and after pics.

Back to Venice,OK. Very busy here with still many tourists and at least 5 cruise ships in also. Some great shopping here and we managed our share.

                .... Loved Venice right from the start, maybe it’s the water and boats, little streets and walk ways, felt right at home straight away.  Our hotel is awesome, quaint with stairs going up and down, through a courtyard, up more stairs to our room.  Venetian style furniture and lovely and quiet.

Day two. A new day dawned on me again, this time much cooler. A nip in the air (and I’m not talking Japanese tourist) and finally some rain and wind. The grand Canal looked like Cook Strait in a southerly and today we are to visit the Island of Murano (glass), Burano (lace) and Torcello (cathedral).

                ..... From late 20s to low teens overnight, but didn’t spoil our great day. I could stand for hours on a bridge just watching the canals and activity on the water.

Choppy seas and very wet, luckily most of us dressed appropriately.

Early evening spent at a cafe having a few quiets looking out over the canal watching all the traffic including the cruise ship depart....quite special.

                .... absolutely magic, the sunset, lots of boats, nice wine, nice company... you couldn’t ask for more. Roll on tomorrow when it’s us leaving in grand style down the canal.

We've met some great people over the last few days, even some that are doing the same cruise as us. Everyone seems interested that we are from NZ.

Tonight, a very special meal at a lov ely restaurant. We had a couple of really nice seafood dishes with grilled veges. Great i thought, some Kumera. But no, Grilled peppers, Zucchini and egg plant.

I had so much egg plant tonight people were calling me Murray on the way home.

Big day tomorrow, off cruising!!!!

Land of yummy brown bread and mountains

HE SAID .... We left Milan last sunday for Zermatt in Swiss land. Before i start on that i must mention my take on the visit to Duomo of Milan the day before. As Janet said, our timing was good enough to witness some of the traditional old catholic pomp and ceremony and attire they continue to use here. Obviously the service was in Italian  which some will agree is close to Latin. I found out time there that day quite moving on a personal level. It reminded me of my days as an alter boy when the whole mass was in Latin. This service sounded so much more "religious" in Italian. Really deep stuff eh?       

...Yep, our tough Mike showed his true colours! We’ve had a few special moments in churches on the trip, lighting a candle for Tina’s gran when she died, and another couple for friends and family at special places along the way, and some nice, quiet reflective times.

..... and yes, really beautiful brown bread in Switzerland.

Anyway, from Milan we had a great day changing trains and finally ending up in Zermatt. The train ride into Zermatt really is quite special and hard to adequately describe, so i won’t....come and see the pictures!!

Zermatt must be one of the best places to visit, there are no cars here as such only heaps of electric golf cart type thingies. see photo. Our accommodation really was special and no more than Janet deserved for this, her 48th birthday. We awoke early the next day, opened the windows and "SMACK'. There it was, the Matterhorn, bathed in sunlight (not the dish wash) as if ordered. Same thing the next day.  If anyone had of skyped us we could have shown you.

                .... I had an awesome birthday, one I won’t forget for a long time. Thanks everyone for the birthday greetings, and my very special photo from school.  Extra special having all the family together at Mark and Tina’s place for dinner to skype  xxxx

Day one we wandered around the village and had a meal/drinks etc and just soaked up the place.
                ..... we gave everyone something to look at, we were the only ones wearing jandals instead of hiking boots.

Day 2 we jumped on the special cogged mountain train to Gornagrat. Easy to write but harder to experience. We had a great day travelling to 3089 m above sea level, having a good look around continually under the watchful eye of the Matterhorn.

...Michael’s vertigo is well and truly conquered.  Made friends with a English watercolour painter selling his prints, who had been to NZ and would have been happy talking to us all day.

Google this place. There are a number of stations on the way and upon our return we rather foolishly decided to walk between two of them. For every step forward it felt like a foot down. You think DC has probs, i think every muscle from the groin to the inside of my small toe was sore by the time we levelled off.

                ... it was great, peaceful, beautiful, only other very tiny people in the distance ... only me to talk to!  Saw a real live brown squirrel!  I gave Michael my rendition of some songs from the Sound of Music (nebver was one of his favourite shows – he’ll never think of it the same again.

The train on the way down is equally impressive. During the day of course we were surrounded by many trampers, hikers, mountain bikers (we met a couple of mad buggers at the top, covered in protective gear, who were about to race down. One had been to HVHS as an exchange student, small world eh?).  Also the odd handglider

                ... Mr W may have purchased something rather large to bring home!

Last day in Zermatt, up early, Matterhorn still there, following a great breakfast ( the bacon here is fabulous) off on the Glacier Express. This was to be a highlight for us and something we had both looked forward to. The train is mostly glass with a small strip of roof so visibility is everything. Bright sunny day, no excuses? This was a great day for us, this part of Switzerland is very beautiful, much like bits of Nu Zeld but more of it.

                .. the train wasn’t full, so we were all seat hopping to look at everything, and so much to look at.  A few stops to get off and stretch the legs, smell the fresh mountain air.....

They call this the slowest express train ride in the world probably because the train goes further up than along, mainly running on Cogs using a rack and pinion system. Interesting stuff but you are either into trains or not? (Me, I’m a slot car fan). We have heaps of rail shots for John Bertram (Janet’s dad), our family rail enthusiast.

                ..... you’ll be impressed dad, Michael’s been on hands and knees, half under trains, got told off for being on tracks getting lots of photos for you, and another suitcase with reading literature!

Late in the day of Janet’s birthday, we arrived in St Moritz. The Hotel is next to the railway station and borders the Lake, another great find by Janet. After checking in, finding out their WiFi was next to useless, we found the bar (and a very friendly young man – Kristy – could be an option, if the Swiss Guard from the Vatican doesn’t pan out) and ordered a meal. We had Rosti’s. Very nice!!!! We were both quite tired (visual stimulation) so just to make sure I popped a couple of Calandas’ and I had a great sleep.

Must mention the TG sheets we had, stunning!

Next morning, another early start. Breakfast made me feel quite homesick. We walked in and there, on the tables, MUGS.  At last, a decent cup of tea for Janet. I don’t know why but I have started drinking coffee in the morn. When in Europe...........

Today it was the Bernina Express. After a small presentation of a small sewing machine each, off we went. This train journey crosses the alps, up and over the top, not through. Personally, i found this trip magic and at least on a par with the day before. The train journey is from St Moritz to Tirano.

                ...... definitely a highlight, scenery, engineering, thrill factor , sharing roads with cars right through the main streets of towns.....

The next section was by Bernina coach from Tirano to Lugano. This was incredible also and when we arrived in Lugano the driver got a standing ovation.

.... thrilling ride in places, the bus horn signalling continuously on narrow, blind corners, cars and trucks squeezing past each other, or reversing out of our way, (only one ‘hit’ – hopefully just a wing mirror) all done very close to building or cliffs.  Very exciting.  Michael can’t wait to be a coach driver over here!

Last train section Lugano to the graffiti capital of the world, Milan.

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Some notes from Italy

At last we have WiFi, so much easier than internet places when you're tired and scratchy from your big day out and just want to go and sit and have a cold one!
Some deep and meaningful(??) thoughts from the latter half of our stay in Italy.

• One night in Florence .......  After checking out 39 ristorante we arrived back at the first one and had an evening meal before meeting our good friends Margaret and Pat for a drink on the top floor of the Hotel Medici. A few shake, shake, shakes, a couple of mwah, mwahs and a couple of biers and a catch up. After a very tiring day for all of us we decided on an early night. Big day tomorrow, day 2, David day. That was about 9.30. Ken you would be well asleep by now. Its hard to describe what happened over the next 8-9 hours. What stood out initially was the cacophony of noise. It was as if there were 5000 people, all talking at the same time. Remember we are on the fifth floor. Actually you wouldn’t remember because i had not mentioned it.  

Then a street performer started. He had a whistle (ex ref), horn, a loud voice and an amplifier commonly used now by buskers. After 45mins we had had enough, got dressed and went outside for a look. He lasted about 10min and packed up at 10.30pm. After a quick look around for other attractions and a mental to note to self, only 2 million people out, we returned to the boudoir.

During those other minutes between the hour, the street cleaners worked continuously, up and down, up and down. In Europe they have a great system for rubbish. On nearly every street they have these large bins, on wheels for people to place their rubbish. One for paper/ cardboard, one for glass and one for rubbish of a general nature. Explains why the place is reasonably clean.

Where was i?  After the street cleaners the rubbish trucks arrive. The bins are pushed into position, over cobbled street then the MOTORISED truck picks it up and empties it. We liked the paper/cardboard better than the glass one. Also at very stage during the night, the shop owners pulled down their roller doors. Add all of these together and call them sound bites. These sound bites creep up the wall of buildings and look for open windows to crash in and slap you around the ears. 

         At about 6.30 we both fell into a deep sleep.
         At 6.55 Margaret rang, an alarm call, and to tell us about the bells.
         At 8.15 we were standing in front of David............what a man?
         PS. That afternoon we decided to have a nap, Italian style.  Then the parade started..........

• That was the parade with bands, flags being thrown high, lots of men in tights and a cannon going off a regular intervals.
• Pine trees - didn't know this weed in NZ was a treasured, shaped and trimmed found everywhere tree.

• Busker and beggars - some fantastic like the 5 men in silver who broke out in raucous laughter very time someone put  money in the tin, some heart string stuff like the oboe player with his wife and baby on the metro. 
• Oh for some brown bread...
• Pizza with broccoli to get our vege in...
• Loved Genoa and down the coast.
• Pisa has a tower that leans, but that's it.  Almost overshadowed by the lines of stalls all selling the same things.
• HIGHLIGHT Lucca - wish we'd stayed longer than 1 night.
• Driving the backroads from Pisa, Lucca to Florence was beautiful.

• Florence - so many people it was a bit hard to appreciate - back streets awesome.  Spaghetti and clams yummy! 
• Dab hand at the tolls on autostrado now, even getting good at racing the huge trucks as you leave to merge in to 3 lanes!
• Paving - who'd have guessed you could take so many photos of different types, sizes, shapes, even, uneven, old and very old sorts of paving.  And who'd have thought people would wear stilleto's over them!

• HIGHLIGHT 3 actors portraying 10 of Caravaggio's paintings (only by changing the colours and shapes of fabric they had on stage) perfectly timed to dramatic music, in a very old stone building.
• HIGHLIGHT the Vatican.  Our tour with 8 people through the museums, Sistine Chapel, Basillica was fantastic.  Even the other 6 Americans were great, and our guide just the best. Both really annoyed by the huge numbers of people ignoring the 'silence' and 'no photos' in the Sistine Chapel.  Soooo disrespectful.

• Beautiful drinking water all over Rome - fountains and taps to fill the drink bottles everywhere.  ...and you need it.  Did everything at the Trevi Fountain to make sure we come back again!
• Purchased a book for school at the Colosseum.
• Great train rides on very comfortable trains - highly recommend!
• Milan, the fashion capital is covered in graffiti.  In between the Gucci and Armani shops, and sadly on some of the old stone buildings as well.
• Duomo in Milan spectacular, and even more so as there was a service for the ordination of priests occuring while we were there.  Accoustics amazing for music and singing.

Today we have arrived in Zermatt, Switzerland, after a fascinating train ride up the mountains.  Beautiful blue sky day and the Matterhorn looks spectacular from our balcony.  Great recommendation coming here Karl.  We've splashed out on a very nice hotel as a birthday treat, and after the ride today, we're really looking forward to our Glacier Express train trip across Switzerland to St Moritz on the 4th.

Good luck everyone at Sacred Heart for the big production on the 4th and 5th - I'm really sorry I'm missing it. 
Go the All Blacks..