Kickin' About

We started on the road to Rome with a stop at a mountain village, San Gimignano. Named after St. Geminianus, it is a hill town in Tuscany known as the Town of Five Towers. Southwest of Florence it is encircled by 13th-century walls. The old town centres on the Piazza della Cisterna, a triangular square lined with medieval houses. It has a skyline of medieval towers, including the stone Torre Grossa. We walked up through the town, had some great views of the valley below, especially with the wisps of cloud.

The drive to Rome from San Gimignano was about 3 hours and we went straight to the hotel to check in etc. We had an hour to get organised before we were back on board the bus to go to the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. Local guides were provided and we had an hour walking tour through the museums. The Vatican Museums are the public museums of the Vatican City which display works from collections collected throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and the most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. The museums have roughly 20,000 items on display. At the end of the long corridors of the museums (and we only went to some of these) you get to the Sistine Chapel, built between 1473 & 1481. Between 1508 & 1512, under the patronage of pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel’s ceiling, a project that changed the course of Western art. He returned between 1535 & 1541 and painted The Last Judgment on the back wall. In the Chapel, strictly no talking and no photography so whilst the tour groups complied with the rules, the local population treated these rules like they do the road rules, the din was loud and plenty of photos were taken.

And too soon it was time for our farewell dinner. It was another different style of dinner but we were all together and had a good evening. Back at the hotel, the opportunity was taken to have a group photo and we were all able to say our ‘Goodbyes’ as many were leaving early in the morning to catch flights home.

The next morning was departure day. By the time we were up for breakfast, over 1/2 the group had left for the airport. The day for us was a day to sort our cases ready for travel, in case we needed an extra suitcase and excess baggage, but we seemed to get it all organised OK. Then off to our next accommodation for the last 2 nights in Italy. The afternoon was a rest time as we had plans for the day tomorrow. We wandered down a few streets at dinner time to find somewhere to eat and stumbled upon Harry’s Bar. With no foreknowledge of this,  Harry’s Bar is a hotspot for actors, directors, writers and other members of Rome’s and the international elite. Its walls are steeped with photos of celebrities who have frequented the venue over the years. Its fame was cemented when used for a scene in the blockbuster La Dolce Vita (1960). It is right across the road from the Porta Pinciana, one of the gates in the Aurelian Walls of Rome (city walls built between 270 & 275 AD). It was a little pricey, but the food was tops, the best we have had in Italy. And the service matched the food. Apparently jandals (and T-shirts etc) are not permitted but dining Al Fresco, my jandals were overlooked! We had a fab evening.

Our last day in Rome started early with walking, and walking, and walking. First, we walked to the Spanish Steps, not too far away.  The Spanish Steps are a 135-step monument designed by Francesco de Sanctis built between 1723 and 1725 to connect Piazza di Spagna at the bottom to the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. They are named for their location at the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican. Located at the base is the Fontana della Barcaccia, or Fountain of the Old Boat. And then onto the Trevi Fountain as our bus tour stop there was pretty short. The fountain is situated at the terminus of the Acqua Vergine, one of Rome’s ancient aqueducts. A popular legend states that one coin tossed over the shoulder ensures a return to Rome, two guarantee a romantic encounter, and three the promise of marriage. It must work as 44 years ago I threw in 1 coin, and I’m back here again. This time, with far fewer tourists this early in the day, as compared to our stop here at the start of the tour, we were able to get down to the pool and toss in coins. After stopping to have breakfast by the fountain, we were walking again.

Next we were onto the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II. Also known as the Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or the Vittoriano. Constructed from sparkling white marble, this large monument in Piazza Venezia honours Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy, and features impressive architecture, symbolic sculptures and offers panoramic views of the city. Luckily there was a lift to the top of the monument so we hopped on and went to the top. The views of Rome from there were great.

Once down from there we wandered the streets with all the Roman ruins which we had seen from the top of the monument. We had no time frame so we just took our time. The Roman Forum (the ruins) was the central plaza in ancient Rome, serving as the heart of civic, religious and political life for centuries. This ancient place was a bustling hub for trials, elections, ceremonies and processions, surrounded by temples, and arches like the Arch of Titus. It eventually became covered by earth after the Roman Empire’s fall, leading to its partial rediscovery and excavation in modern times. Next it was off to do some tasks. Angie’s phone had stopped working, would no longer respond on either screen but was obviously still working internally. The Samsung service centre was 30mins walk away. They couldn’t fix it there and then but they did manage to power it down ready for flying home. By the time we walked back to our accommodation, we were both pretty stuffed and Angie still had aches and pains after her fall so the rest of the avo was downtime. But we had done quite a bit and saw the historical things we hadn’t seen on the bus tour. Afterwards a nice pasta meal at a local ristorante was a nice way to finish the day.

Our last morning started with finishing our suitcases so we could get everything on the plane to Istanbul. Emirates from Istanbul to Sydney is not a worry as their luggage allowance is much bigger. We had it all sorted by the time we needed to check out. We chose to taxi to the Train Termini as Angie is still sore from her fall and I still have bad knees, struggling with full suitcases over roads and curbs for an hour or getting on and off buses no longer passes the pub test. Although we had an ITA ticket, it was on a Turkish Airlines plane but this Turkish flight was nothing like our first experience. It was a comfortable plane, good service, good food etc, a pleasant 2-hour flight to Istanbul. We had an overnight stay in Turkey, a hotel 30mins drive from the airport on the beachfront. A surprise of a hotel, really well appointed and super comfy rooms. It had a spa centre and a great swimming pool (a bit cool though). The staff were also really friendly and helpful.

We had a relaxed morning for our departure day as we didn’t take off until after 4pm. We re-sorted our luggage as we could have extra bags on Emirates and even managed a walk on the beach. Istanbul airport was busy but we got Fast Track queues with my knee issues, making it all so much more pleasant. We were supposed to fly out at 4:30, unfortunately, a passenger had a medical emergency after we had been backed out from the Gate so there was a long delay whilst the person was assessed, the plane re-docked, the person offloaded and fuel topped up. We left close to 6pm. A very pleasant flight to Dubai on an A380. The stop in Dubai to change flights was only 2-1/2 hours and then it was off to Sydney on another A380, a 13 hour flight.

At least we both got a reasonable amount of sleep during the flight but by the time they had served breakfast near the end of the flight, we were ready for a good night’s sleep. We landed in Sydney near midnight. The new day brought us much to do, to retrieve our car, to move our new home, our RV, into place at the camp, and then bring our boys from the cattery to their new home. So not only now is our Euro25 adventure complete, but a new adventure begins!

      

EPILOGUE

And how, then, do I summarise our adventure? During our travels, I was asked many times, “What has been the best part?” A question I truly have not been able to answer. From our exploration of Istanbul, to sojourning in Russia, a Wedding and a Reception party without equal, meeting a whole new family and the wonderful hospitality received, to renewing kinship with family not seen for many years, the Sail-Amsterdam festival and the venture down the Rhine/Main/Danube rivers, to the escapades around Italy. This adventure has gone from one highlight to another so choosing a ‘Best Part’ is just not possible. But one of the best parts of this adventure has been the many new friendships forged! In a nutshell, this adventure has been Epic.

And so this is now the final issue of our Euro25 blog, I hope you have enjoyed following our adventures as much as we enjoyed sharing them. Our new adventure begins in our RV experiences exploring Australia, we will let you know how this goes. Farewell for now, Ka kite anō.

From Naples, after the ferry from Capri, we head off to Assisi. We headed back up the motorway until we got to Rome, skirted around Rome, and headed inland up into the mountains. We were heading for Assisi and the Basilica of St Frances of Assisi. But first we stop in Perugia at the Giuditta Brozzetti Atelier Museum, one of the last remaining hand-weaving workshops in Italy, where ancient looms from the 18th and 19th centuries are still in operation. In the fascinating and unique setting of the Church of San Francesco delle Donne in Perugia, ancient weaving techniques are preserved, and the looms are still used today to create fabrics that embody Umbria’s art and culture. Their decorative motifs are present in the paintings of Giotto, Ghirlandaio, and Leonardo da Vinci – ‘The Last Supper’ tablecloth is a Perugian cloth. The looms were demonstrated along with interesting facts about their operation. It takes 12 days work just to thread one of the big looms even before a cloth is started!

We then ventured onto the hotel at Assisi and checked in. We had a little while to rest and clean up before we ventured out again for dinner at Spello. Spello is a little south of Assisi and is a medieval town built on Roman ruins that has kept its historical charm. After a short walk around the town centre, we went on to dinner. Traditional Umbrian fare is served in a completely different way than how we are used to, with each food item coming out and being served up separately. The original Roman road is there to be seen under the restaurant floor. The party started with a few more bottles of wine being consumed than is normal by some of our fellow travellers, singing and hilarity were the order of the evening!

On Friday we had an earlyish start. We headed up to the old town of Assisi and the Basilica. We had a walking tour through the Basilica followed by a little free time in the town. The history of the frescos and the artists was very interesting and the views over the valley from the balconies were great. Photos inside were not allowed, pics are file photos.

Back on the road and we arrived in Venice about 4pm. Water taxis had been arranged to take us down through the Grand Canal to the waterfront at the lagoon. Trafalgar didn’t just organise taxis for us all to cram into, the tour director ensured we had enough water taxis booked so there was only a maximum of 8 per taxi (7 in ours). Everyone was able to get access to a spot to view and take pics, and not be jam-packed inside the cabin! It was a great trip down the Grand Canal, so much life & activity, so many boats!

Once out of the taxis, we walked along the waterfront to our next activity, a gondola cruise through the canals of Venice. 3 or 4 to a gondola so not crowded at all. We went with Kelly & Lynn, 2 ladies from Michigan, it’s Kelly’s pre-retirement celebration trip 😊. There’s a good bunch on our bus tour, everyone gets on really well. We took a peaceful glide through the narrow canals, half expecting the gondolier to sing Italian songs. As that didn’t eventuate, I played Pavarotti singing opera as we glided along, this fitted the bill perfectly. Seemed the gondolier was pretty chuffed by it all too!

What a full day! But a really good day! Angie is in love with being in Venice. We all got on one large water taxi to take us to the island of Lido and our hotel. After dinner at the hotel, we all crashed for the night, ready for another big day tomorrow!

Saturday started with a water taxi to the island of Murano, the specialist glass-makers’ island. Glass making was moved from the main island of Venice to Murano due to the fire danger. Murano glass is, of course, world famous and quite different from the ‘knock-off’ glass items in the shops in Venice. We had a glass-blowing and sculpture-making demonstration before the differences in glass products were highlighted. The glass creations were magnificent, from decanter & glass sets, vases, to chandeliers and large glass sculptures. The quality of the pieces was apparent even to us amateurs. Having secured a small absolutely gorgeous item to take home, we were chatting to one of the older showroom attendants and subsequently got a private tour upstairs to the private showrooms. Photos are not allowed anywhere in the showrooms, due to the originality of all the designs, but this gentleman ensured we had a photo with an enormous chandelier on display!

After a while there, we were on board the water taxi again making our way to Venice. We had a walking tour through the central part of Venice, ending at St. Mark’s Square with a drink shouted by Trafalgar at one of the piazza cafes with a band playing in the background. From there we had free time, explored the Square, wandered through the back alleys, and of course, shopped. Straight away we were able to see the difference in the glasswork available in the shops here – cheap knockoffs! The day had turned out to be quite hot so the little side alleys were perfect, narrow so lots of shade and the breeze blows through from the lagoon.

Aboard another water taxi for an excursion around the lagoon, ending up at the island of Burano. This village’s houses are all painted in different vivid colours making it quite a sight. It is also known for its traditional lace-making. It’s primarily a fishing village but its colourful houses have made it a popular stop on the tourist trail. It also has a leaning bell tower (St.Martino) that rivals Pisa and Venice. We stopped and had a nice dinner here before making our way back by water taxi to the Island of Lido and our hotel, with a nice sunset over the lagoon on the way back.

An early start on Sunday as we headed off from Venice. We’re all on the bus and then on board a car/truck ferry for the mainland behind Venice. Then we had a long drive to Montecatini, a small town between Pisa and Florence. After checking into the hotel and wandering down to the town square for a bite of lunch, we headed off to Pisa. Even though it was Sunday, there were heaps of people there. Being a beautifully fine day, the Leaning Tower and the cathedral looked spectacular. Apart from the fact that the tower is leaning, it is a good looking tower. Being multiple flights of steps to climb to the top, it was not something we even considered.

Back on board after being at the Leaning Tower for an hour and we were off to dinner. A Tuscan dinner at a vineyard and olive producer at Luciani, near Montecatini, the Ristorante Fattoria il Poggio. They gave us a mini tour of the farm with the associated education on real Olive Oil. This was the best dinner we’ve had on this bus tour so far and with free-flowing wines, the group took on a real party mood. There was singing and dancing at the venue, which then continued in the aisles on the bus on the way back to the hotel in Montecatini!

Another early start today. We had Florence in our programme for the whole day. The weather has changed completely and storms are on the horizon after lunch. Once dropped off near the centre of town, we trekked our way in to meet our guide for a walking tour. The crowds of tourists are here to compete with but it didn’t cause too much issue. Florence is the centre of gold and leather so one of the first stops was a manufacturing jeweller. The gold work was impressive but if anyone was interested in a piece to buy, they needed a big bank account! After the walking tour, we finished at the Palazzo Vecchio (Vecchio Palace) ready for an extra tour through this. We had gone into the first hall before going through to the palace proper when Angie tripped over a stray foot, falling heavily on the marble floor. A good bang on the head and knee, and wrenched her wrist. She endeavoured to continue the tour with the group but didn’t get far up the first staircase when we had to call it a day. The Tour Director turned up pretty quickly, Police brought an ice pack, and after a bit, we made our way to a cafe out in the square and stopped for an hour or so for her to recover. A wrist support and dressings for the scraped knee were sourced at a local pharmacy. After a good rest time, we made our way to the Ponte Vecchio (the bridge with all the shops on it from medieval times). We had completed our look around when the storms arrived, and it rained!! By the time we had all made our way back to meet the bus, the rain had abated enabling us to get the panoramic view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo on the hill opposite.

Trafalgar provided dinner for us all at a farm/ristorante, Agriturismo Borgo della Limonaia, not far from Montecatini. The next day, it’s back to Rome for the end of our bus tour, and the culmination of Euro25, and what will be the last issue of the Euro blog.

Sunday and we’re on our way to the hotel the Trafalgar tour people organised for the first 2 nights. A simple taxi ride is called for when my knees and Angie’s back have taken a pounding over the last few weeks, best to save them for the upcoming walking tours. The hotel, the Grand Hotel Tiberio, is very nice and we have a top-floor room with a patio. Whilst the outlook from the patio isn’t a stunning tourist-worthy one, it’s still nice to have and very refreshing in the cool evening after a hot day. The Tour Guide greeted us all before dinner with a rundown of the upcoming tour and then we all had dinner provided by the hotel.

Monday and we are around Rome today. We have a full day of activities, apparently the busiest day of the tour so the other days should be more relaxing. The first place to visit is Vatican City. It’s a Jubilee year, every 25 years, and also a new pope, so Vatican City is especially busy. It took a while to get into a bus park and then to make our way through the crowds to visit St. Peter’s Basilica, but being in a tour group does cut many queues. The pilgrim groups, however, still get priority. St. Peter’s is yet another intricately decorated cathedral, but I think we have seen more spectacular ones on this trip.

The following stop is the Colosseum. Again lots of crowds but the guides are well versed as to where to get easy access. We wandered through this fascinating place, being educated about all the facts and myths of this monument. Construction began under the Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir, Titus, just 8 years! It could hold an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators. It was substantially ruined by earthquakes and then stone robbers ‘recycling’ material for other new buildings. We spent about an hour there, the history is incredible.

We carried on with a walking tour of the old city, and through to the Trevi Fountain. The crowds were thick here too so no chance of getting close to toss a coin in. But there was time for a great Gelato! Then we walked on to the Pantheon, an ancient 2nd C Roman temple and, since AD 609, a Catholic church called the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs. The Pantheon was built on the site of an earlier temple, which had been commissioned by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa during the reign of Augustus. After the original was burnt down, the present building was ordered by the emperor Hadrian.

Dinner was a special night out as a group at Le Del Terme Colosseo ristoranti, housed in a building over 2000 years old not far away from the Colosseum. It was traditional Italian food with the added twist of singing waiters entertaining everyone. So we had a mix of classic Italian, Tom Jones, Opera, and comedy. Audience participation in singing, cheering and as subjects of the comedy skits made for a great atmosphere.

Tuesday was an early start, or was supposed to be. It will hopefully only take a day for some of the other passengers to get their act together and be on time. We are on the road a little late so have hit the building morning traffic. We got to the motorway south and will be travelling for just 3 hours to get to the Naples area. Not far south of Rome, we passed Montecassino. The 2nd New Zealand Division was heavily involved in the brutal Battle of Monte Cassino between January and May 1944, suffering nearly 1,400 casualties during assaults on the town before the town and surroundings eventually fell. The Division and the associated 28th (Maori) Battalion faced intense, difficult fighting, similar to WW1 combat conditions, including deadly shelling and fierce German resistance. Today, Monte Cassino remains a sacred site for NZ.

Our main stop for the day was Pompeii. Pompeii was a thriving ancient Roman city near Naples that was famously destroyed and preserved under volcanic ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. The excavated ruins form a significant archaeological site offering a unique glimpse into daily Roman life. We were guided through the site for about an hour getting a comprehensive run-down on all we were seeing. bakeries, butchers, villas, etc, all excavated and original, as it was when Vesuvius blew. Plaster casts of bodies excavated from the ruins are on show, special methods used to make the cast an accurate replica of what was found. Pompeii was buried under 4-6m of ash and undisturbed until in the 16-C a local fell through the roof of a buried building that could no longer withstand the weight of the soil on top. Excavations didn’t start till 18-C.

It has become a very hot day, clear skies, and we are melting! But Pompeii was a fascinating stop. We’re now on our way to Sorrento and a lunch arranged for the bus. The road to Sorrento is breathtaking and extremely challenging for the driver. Palo our driver, is a real pro. The narrow streets of Rome were bad enough, but this mountain road for a full-sized coach!!

Once down into Sorrento we all went to an arranged lunch and pizza-making demo. The lunch was all local cuisine using local produce. The pizzas were made by 5 of the passengers and the restaurateur displayed all the Italian gusto and passion in his tutoring. Luckily we had already been provided with pizza as part of the lunch and didn’t have to rely on the demo versions!

After this, we had a little free time in Sorrento before catching the ferry out to the Island of Capri. Located off the Sorrento Peninsula on the south side of the Gulf of Naples. Capri has been a popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic and is famous worldwide with numerous celebrities staying here. Steep cliffs rise majestically from the blue sea, villas draped with wisteria and bougainvillea, many of which are on the edge of the cliffs. We arrived at the Marina Grande and took the Funicular to the top where the township of Capri is situated. With such a big lunch in Sorrento, dinner was not required! After a bit of a rest, we took an evening stroll through the town soaking up the nightlife, all the shops still open late, and taking in the night lights from Sorrento and Naples across the water.

The next day is a full day on the Island of Capri with a full day of activities organised. The first was a walking tour of the town of Capri, starting not far from our hotel, the Gardens of Augustus. This is on the southern cliffs and overlooks the sea and the rocks of Faraglioni. To get down to the little bay, there is a spectacular path zigzagging down the cliffs, for the brave.

Then we’re straight off to Anacapri, the town on the opposite side of the island. If the path from the Gardens down to the bay was extreme for walkers, then the road from Capri to Anacapri is the same for vehicles. It’s called the Mama Mia road. There are only a few vehicles on Capri,  electric micro trucks for deliveries in Capri, canvas-covered roofless cars as taxis, and short mini buses. All able to play dodgems on the Mama Mia road. We had a nice walk around Anacapri, then back down the Mama Mia road to catch a boat.

Also included in the day’s activities was a boat ride around some of the island. The rocky coast is home to a number of grottos, the most well known being the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto can only be accessed lying flat in a rowboat-sized vessel but it was closed today due to the sea conditions. We travelled around to the rocks and the bay below the Gardens of Augustus, visiting and pulling into a number of other grottos. We were also able to see the Amalfi Coast. It was a beautiful day on the water. Afterwards we shopped at the Marina Grande, (a lot cheaper than up top in Capri) and paddled our feet on the 20m of stony public beach there.

Trafalgar put on drinks and dinner for everyone tonight, a nice way to finish off the Capri stay. In the morning, we’re up early, down the Funicular, onto a ferry for Naples and the next part of our tour. And the next issue of the blog.

Time to say Farewell to the boat, the crew, and fellow passengers. A lot of contact details have been swapped, a lot of appreciation has been expressed to the crew, and all our belongings packed for transfer. Emerald Cruises is a relatively young company with Australian origins and it has exceeded all expectations. The cruise route was excellent and all the passengers have expressed how great this journey has been.

We kept it simple and had a taxi booked to our accommodation, which was an apartment in the castle area of Buda. The afternoon was chill time, 3 loads of laundry done as we have a washing machine here, and rest & recoup. Ready for our wonderful 3-course dinner …….  ohh, that was on the boat, so bacon & eggs it is.

After a good long sleep in, we casually went out for the day. We made our first port of call the public transport ticket office, about a 20mins walk away. Planning to get a 10 ticket pack for use over the next 2 days, the chap pensively asked my age, at 65 I don’t need tickets, all public transport is free! We hopped on a tram and headed off to the Gellért Thermal Baths. Gellért has a series of pools at different temperatures, both inside and outside. We spent most of the day there, making our way by Metro to the Pest side of the Danube late in the afternoon. A bunch of us ‘Aussies’ were staying in Budapest extra days after the cruise so we organised to meet for dinner.

Wednesday and we head off to Rome. We have the day in the shopping area of Pest after we leave the unit. The accommodation was really good and the owner turned up to say “Hello” when we locked up. We headed off over the river to the area to pick up the airport bus, had time for a nice relaxed brunch, to catch up with some souvenir shopping and of course a Chimney Cake filled with ice cream, chocolate and all those bad things.

We arrived at Budapest airport without any issue for our Wizz Air flight to Rome. Certainly not worth paying for extras on this airline as you do not get them, what a dismal outfit. Still, after an hour & half flight (that felt like 3 hours), we got to Rome. The airport itself was no trouble but getting to Rome central was typical fa’a-Italia. The express train, direct airport to Termini (central terminus), was not operating for some reason, buses were provided instead. Hordes of people who would have been on the train were lined up in some shambolic version of queuing for too few buses that were apparently stopping at 10pm (it was now 9:45!!). Eventually we got on and arrived at Termini after 11:20pm after a roundabout trip. We keep seeing far too much of places whilst catching buses! At least the hotel was only 50m from Termini.

Wednesday and were up and off to the Cinque Terre by train. We chose this hotel in Rome as we are coming back here on Saturday for a night before we join the Trafalgar tour of Italy and have left our cases at the hotel. Termini is large and super busy but has a good vibe. We got tickets, but at a stretch, the train we wanted was booked out but we did get one with a few seats left for 2 hours later. Decided we’d better get the return tickets now as well and ended up with another tour of the country just to get back to Rome again.

The train actually left on time and it’s quite cruisy sitting back watching the countryside go by. But they aren’t the roomiest carriages and you compete for leg room with the person opposite. And then you have those who keep their suitcases in the aisle with them instead of in the case storage area at the end of the carriage. After a 3-hour journey, we made La Spezia. It was then simple to grab the local commuter train to Riomaggiore. This is an adventurous town to get around in. The railway station is cut in between 2 tunnels. You then walk through one of the tunnels to get to the town. The town is tall buildings built on top of each other with narrow lanes and alleyways between, and banks of narrow uneven steps along the alleys. But boy, what character, vibe, and super picturesque. We had pictorial instructions from our host to find our unit and he was waiting at the gate for us when we arrived. Very welcoming. Our unit is perched above the ocean and with the marina just down to the side. A quaint but roomy unit, clean, and comfy. Missing some useful bits like T-spoons, egg slice, etc. But who cares, a great unit in an absolutely stunning location. We wandered around town and found a little al-fresco restaurante at which to get a great little pasta dish each. There are heaps of tourists, but not too crowded, just right to create a great atmosphere. Lots of young folk and the sounds of some dance entertainment getting underway. But alas, the spirit is willing but the flesh is just too worn out and tired!! Back to the unit with wine and citrus tart for dessert, perched in front of the open window, watching and listening to the ocean in the dusk.

Thursday has provided us with a bit of a sleep-in. I even got coffee and breakfast in bed 😊. We decided to take a day trip to Vernazza, the 4th CT (Cinque Terre) town. We took the train up the coast with plans to catch a ferry back to see the towns from the ocean. When we got to the station, we were surprised by how many people were waiting to catch the train, the platform was packed. We jammed in like sardines when the train arrived. It was even worse when we got to Vernazza, it took longer to get off the platform than the actual train ride.

Vernazza was incredibly busy, the main street down to the marina was jammed after the train emptied into it. Calling into some shops on the way down allowed the bulk of the people to move down and the street was a lot more comfortable. Vernazza is known as the pearl of the Cinque Terre, with the colourful boats in the foreground and the houses of the main square in the background with many cafes and eateries along the road. The Doria castle round tower is open to climb for magnificent views of the village, its colourful harbour, and up and down the CT coast. The train station above the main road at the top end of town, having tunnels in through the mountains at both ends. It is rather spectacular walking up the main road as an inter-city train hurtles across just above your head!

There was too much swell for the ferries to operate so not an option to go back that way. We hopped back on the train stopping at Manarola, the train was just as packed as before. The stations are all cut into the rock so access is via staircases down to tunnels underneath, with 2-way traffic movement can be very slow. After 20mins to get out of the station, we wandered down the main road to the marina. Each town has been different to each other but still the distinct Cinque Terre style. We took a trek up around the headland and then up to the top where we stopped and had a drink and chatted to some fellow travellers, a young couple from Chicago and an older couple from NE of London. We are meeting so many folk as we are never shy to start up a conversation, an Aussie couple and then a Boston couple at lunch in Vernazza and a young Utah couple on the train. A very relaxing stop in Manarola and then we made our way back to Riomaggiore, showed the Utah couple how to find their unit, grabbed a pizza (it’s Italy after all) and had that on the patio outside the unit, chatting to a mum & daughter from Sth Carolina.

Friday and our last full day on the CT. We had a full day yesterday, so decided today would be a more casual day around Riomaggiore. The ferries were still not running so that option was out. I went for a morning explore whilst Angie slept in, up to the top end of the town, and by ‘up’ I mean ‘up’! Then along the level road to the old Bastion and tower at the ocean end of town. Great views from up there. Once back, it was Angie’s turn to venture out, the shops were calling. After a couple of hours, I trotted off to the accommodation office as we are leaving tomorrow and then met Angie for lunch. We had a delicious Brushette each at a waterfront restaurant, great setting, and relaxed watching the ocean and the tourists whilst we feasted. Of all the CT towns, Riomaggiore has been our favourite so we made a good choice staying here.

We have a long journey back to Rome, via Milan. So we hop on the local commuter train to Monterosso Al Mare, the northernmost and largest of the CT towns. We chose to come here early to look around, it stayed sunny for us even though the weather was supposed to be closing in. It’s the only CT town with an actual beach so we found some nice souvenir beach towels and went for a swim in the Med. Afterwards we wandered through to the old town, shopped and strolled the streets until it was time to go back for the train to Milan.

So it’s on to Milano. Didn’t think we would get to the Cinque Terre, but we did. And we loved every bit of it. The trip to Milan took 3 hours and we had just enough time to get something to eat and drink to take on the Rome train and get on board. The train to Rome was a high-speed train with no stops on the way, a max speed of 300kmph! When we got to Rome, we had 50m to go to our hotel, fab.

Tomorrow we move to the Trafalgar hotel on the other side of Rome for the start of the last part of our journey, the bus tour of Italy. Onto the next issue of the blog.

Day 9. We have now entered the Danube River and our first port of call is Regensburg. This town has buildings dated to the Roman times, around 175AD, and it is the furthest most northern point on the Danube so was an important military post. After the Romans left, townsfolk moved inside the town walls and built on top of what the Romans left behind. With no industry in the town, it did not suffer destruction from bombing during WW2 so the buildings are still original. The Stone Bridge across the Danube dates from around the turn of the first century, highly unusual as all other bridges from the era were wooden. As such, with the certainty that a stone bridge is still standing, it became the primary trade route north-to-south and east-to-west and the latter crusaders travelled through here as well. After each of the guided walking tours, we usually have an hour or 2 free time to wander around the towns, go shopping, stop for refreshments, etc.

With the general lack of rain, there has been concern over river levels. Normally we would re-embark in Regensburg but the river levels are dropping fast so whilst we were touring Regensburg, the boat continued on past the shallowest part of the river whilst it still could. Emerald organised buses to collect us at Regensburg and take us an hour further along the river to re-embark. If they waited, we would have had to pack for transfer to a sister ship on the other side of the shallow – but crisis averted! Once on board, we continued cruising through the night. About 1am, there were some interesting sounds as the boat grounded on the riverbed. This did not cause much concern as the professional crew had us clearing more shallows and back cruising in no time.

Day 10 had us arriving in Passau at breakfast time. Walking tours left quite early through this beautiful town, right at the Austrian border. Known as the Three Rivers City, it lies at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers and is overlooked by the Veste Oberhaus, a 13th-century hilltop fortress. The old town below is known for its baroque architecture, including St. Stephen’s Cathedral, featuring distinctive onion-domed towers and an organ with 17,974 pipes. When we were there, the pipes had been removed for their first cleaning in 40 years.

After a short period of free time, we’re on the water again for an afternoon cruise to Linz, Austria. We cruised through forest-covered hills, such a beautiful part of the world. We are now fully in Austria, having had Germany on one side of the river and Austria on the other for a number of miles after Passau. The Austrian flag is now flying.

As we cruised down, the weather closed in. Our next stop was Linz, not a formal tour stop but a stop to collect the passengers who went on the 6-hour cross-country excursions. Those who wanted were allowed to go ashore and do their own looking around, but as it was constantly raining, many did not. We went ashore and wandered up to the main town square and beyond. Linz is obviously a more major city than the towns we had previously been in. I did note the legal cannabis shops dotted around the main shopping area.

Day 11. We have 2 towns we are stopping in today, Melk and Dürnstein. Melk is situated within Austria’s wine-growing region and home to a 900-year-old Benedictine abbey. As we were short of a guide, I was given the task! Well at least temporarily, until the real guide arrived 😆. We were guided through a series of opulent rooms, each adorned with fine Italian Baroque architecture and ornate gold leaf walls and set up as part of the overall museum walk which includes the ancient monastic library. After the tour through the abbey, we wandered down through the town, shopping and having Regensburg, and through the lovely forest back to the boat.

Later, we sailed through the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wachau Valley. The Wachau is a picturesque valley along the Danube River between Melk and Krems, famous for its stunning landscape and its steep terraced vineyards, historic towns like Dürnstein with its famous castle ruins, and the magnificent Melk Abbey.

Dürnstein is one of the most enchanting villages in the Wachau wine region, first mentioned in writings in 1192. Apparently, Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned at the castle here after returning from the Crusades. Then in 1645 the castle was ruined by Swedish troops. There is a small abbey and a church, behind which is a crypt. As new people were buried, those in the plots were dug up and their bones fill the crypt, in full sight for those who want to look! Now the village is just a very pleasant walk experience where the shops specialise in Apricot liquors and wines etc. We had a beautiful relax on the banks of the Danube.

Day 12, and it’s a full-on day today. We are stopped in Vienna all day. The morning started with a comprehensive bus tour around the city together with an hour walking tour through the old city centre. It’s a fascinating city and the centre is just full of impressive historical buildings. After the walking tour we stopped, had coffee and cake at an Al Fresco cafe in the cathedral square, and then took the elevator up the small tower in the cathedral.

In the afternoon we had an excursion to the Schönbrunn Palace, the summer palace for the Habsburg dynasty. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes of successive Habsburg monarchs. Following the downfall of the Habsburg monarchy at the end of WW1, the palace became the property of the newly founded Austrian Republic and has been preserved as a museum. We have certainly had our fill of ornately decorated palaces and cathedrals but it was still good to see.

In 1695, the French garden was planned and created at the palace. The garden points towards a 60-metre-high hill, which since 1775 has been crowned by the Gloriette structure. A wander through these gardens to the Fountain at the end of the fasten was a must before we left. A beautiful sunny day, the flower gardens, the statues, the ornately designed fountain and pool, and of course great ice cream!

The day was still not finished. One of the optional excursions for after dinner was to attend a concert at the Palais Lobkowitz, considered one of the oldest palaces in Vienna. Beethoven was often a guest in the palace and conducted his 3rd symphony in the Eroica Hall, the ceremonial hall, where we attended the concert. It was absolutely fabulous!!

Day 13. Bratislava, Slovakia. This morning a home visit was organised. I will admit, my expectations for this were not very high, go to a local home in a neighbouring village, have cake and coffee, and chat with the residents. And then it seems half a bus load will go to each home! But this turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip! We travelled to the village of Cifer, about 45mins out of Bratislava. 10 of us went into a local home where the man of the house provided us with Elderflower water, white wine (in a bottomless glass), fig sponge cake, and all homemade. Through the guide/interpreter, he described his daily life, his family, the local community, building his own house, and all the produce grown on his large section. After a wander around the fully gardened section, he opened up the cellar, where produce is kept in the chill environment, and his wine and apricot liquor is made. Having sampled the unimpressive liquors in places like Durnstein, this liquor was delightful. Having made this known through the guide, the man beamed with pride and promptly furnished a sample bottle for me to take home!

During the afternoon, we had a walking tour of Bratislava. This was interesting and good to see and as usual, there was a good amount of free time to wander around the city before needing to be back on board. But with the full-on trip we’ve had to this point, the morning excursion and the full day in Vienna yesterday, we just sauntered back to the boat and rested up.

Day 14. The last stop, Budapest. We cruise in from 7am and half the boat is on the sun deck to watch the passage under the bridges. The cruise director provided a commentary on the sights we were passing. We travelled the length of the Danube to dock at the southern end of the city together with Emerald Dawn & Emerald Sun. After breakfast, the tours into Budapest started. First, the bus took us up to the castle area and we had a walking tour finishing at the Fisherman’s Bastion. After some free time, we were on board the bus again for an hour-long tour of Budapest.

During the afternoon, we had an excursion out to the town of Szentendre, not too far north of Budapest. It’s known for its baroque architecture, churches, colourful houses, art and culture. The main square, Fő Tér, and the alleyways around it are lined with art galleries, museums and shops. It is home to the world’s smallest synagogue (20sqm) and the Micro museum. The museum presents the collection of Mykola Syadristy, a world-renowned master of microminiature art. This can only be visited in 2 other places – Kyiv and Andorra. The smallest chessboard in the world, the smallest book in the world, the smallest art pieces in the world, mainly from gold, visible only under microscopes.

And the last night is upon us. One would think we have a nice easy night, time to pack, and time to have everything ready for checking out and disembarkation tomorrow. But, no, there are more surprises in stall for us. After dinner, we were all upstairs for a raucous Hungarian folklore show. This was a fab show with a 4-piece band and 4 cultural dancers, it also required a lot of audience participation.

As an extra, the ship set sail again sailing to the far end of Budapest and turned around to do a city-lights sightseeing cruise! For this, most all of the passengers were up on the sun deck for the view. We had planned to do an evening dinner cruise whilst we were here in Budapest (at $250 ea), but now we do not need to. Music played, the passengers chatted with excitement, we slowly cruised down the river enjoying the nightlights eventually docking back where we started from. Numerous boats were on the river for the same. Yet another highlight to a fantastic cruise !!

So we finally got down to our cabin and packed ready for the morning. Our cases all had to be outside our rooms at specific times depending on how and when we were departing, it was organised like clockwork. So mid-morning, after a good breakfast, Angie and I disembarked. So many good friends have been made, so many memories, so so many photos!

The next leg of our journey starts today, but that’s for the next issue. Let me know how you’re enjoying the blog and if you have missed any issues, I can forward them on. Past issues are: Getting Ready to Go; Istanbul;  Moscow;  Saint Petersburg;  Berlin;  U.K.;  Europe 1 – Rhine Gorge;  Europe 2 – Mains River/Canal.

Day 5. Not far upriver (southwards) from Rüdesheim we leave the Rhine River and start travelling on the Mains River. The adventure with the Locks and the low bridges begins. We were warned that the sun deck would be closed for a few dates as we travel up the Mains River due to low bridges. There are also numerous Locks which can slow progress, depending on other boat traffic. We cruised through the night and every so often, you would feel the boat go bump in the night. No, not from us, but from the boat bumping against the walls of the Locks. The traversing of Locks carried on through the morning, with us often having to wait for other boats to progress through them. In all, we travel through 66 sets of Locks.

The further along the canal we go, the more impressive the Locks. Up till this stage, the Locks have operated with gates that swing open the whole height, most Locks having a rise of 7m to 14m. Just before and after Nuremberg, there are Locks with a rise of 18m, and then after, 3 Locks of 25m. These Locks use reservoir ponds and reuse 60% of the water. They use a door that rises above the water to traverse the lower level and a door that lowers below water level to allow boats to traverse across the higher level. The whole boat made traversing the first mega-lock an event for which the sun deck was opened temporarily.

The other hazard, which caused the sun deck to be closed, was low bridges. Some bridges are only a few cms clearance over the sun deck, the side rails up there fold down, deck chairs and pergolas are flattened, and the navigation bridge hydraulically lowers into the body of the boat.   NOTE: the plastic bottle at the front of the roof ?? If the bridge knocks that over, the Captain knows to duck!!

The weather has also started to turn, with rain and cloudy skies. This is not a bad thing as there was concern over the river levels after a heat wave and the possibility of having to swap ships halfway along where the river level is too low, but seems the rain had resolved that. We have also been lucky with our town visits, the skies seem to clear on cue for our visits.

The Boat. This vessel was built in 2021 and is 135m long, 11.4m wide, with a draught of 1.7m. It has 4 decks with a height of 6.6m. It has 2 x CAT V12 diesels of 32 litre capacity producing 1,000hp with dual omnidirectional double screw pods and a bow thruster. This provides a top speed of 22.5kmph (nb. kmph instead of knots on internal waterways) for its gross of 3500 tonnes.

With slow progress through the locks, we were late arriving at our next destination, Miltenberg. At this charming town, we had a walking tour through the Old Town. We disembarked and the boat carried on to the next stop where we would re-embark. The town is known for colourful half-wood houses on cobblestone streets, the ground floor built from limestone, the upper floors from wood. The ground floors are always smaller than the upper floors as tax was calculated on the ground floor area. To make a house large enough to cater for the large families of the time, upper floors overhang the ground floor.

From there, buses took us along the river to the next port of call, Wertheim am Main. This town has a more run-down appearance than Miltenberg as it suffers from floods more, but it is also the centre of glass production and our tour included the Glass Museum with a glass blowing demonstration.

Day 6. We cruised through the night and docked the next morning at Würzburg. This is a wine region and home to the Prince Bishop’s Residence. After having been to the Cathedral at Suzdal, the Cathedral and the Winter Palace at St Petersburg, one would think we had seen it all, but the Bishop’s Residence was unique in its own right. The guides that have taken us through our tours have all been really good, but today’s guide was next level. She studies the history of the period in the college within this Residence’s compound so has an exceptional knowledge of the buildings and the architecture, even to interpret the vast murals and all the subtle symbolisms within.

The town of Würzburg has a different charm to the other towns. It is known for being a wine-producing area, Silvaner being their primary variety. Known as the ‘Pearl of the Romantic Road’, Würzburg is the former capital of Franconia. The buildings are a spectrum of different styles, including Viennese Baroque and secular features from Italy, It was heavily damaged during WWII but has been restored to its former glory.

Day 7. We cruise all night and all morning to Bamberg. This UNESCO World Heritage-listed town boasts one of the largest medieval centres in Europe, with around 2,400 listed buildings gracing its streets. Bamberg is also the home to a ‘smoked’ beer, an acquired taste and not one I sampled.

Day 8. We arrived in Nuremberg in the morning and had choices of the type of tour we wanted to do. We chose to go to the castle and town centre. 95% of the old town was destroyed in the bombings of WW2, it was rebuilt to be a replica of how it was before the war. Luckily most of the castle was undamaged but some parts had to be rebuilt.

Each German town has its own variety of sausage and Nuremberg is no exception. During the sunny afternoon, after the tour, we sat and had Nuremberg sausage and a local brew. Their sausage and fresh bread roll were rather good!

We reached the highest point in the river this evening, passing the Great Continental Divide marker. West of the Divide, all rivers flow to the North Sea, east they flow to the Black Sea.

We are now going down hill through locks to the Danube, onto the next issue of the blog.

We had a short and sweet flight to Amsterdam arriving about 6 pm. This time we figured we could do the train/tram venture to the hotel and it worked out well, the tram stopping 50m from the hotel. We only had a short stop in Amsterdam, 1 day, before we joined the river cruise to Budapest. On recommendation from our Dutch brother, Peter, we had booked a full-day excursion out of Amsterdam into the countryside. Due to the Sail 2025 festival currently on in Amsterdam, the meet point had to be moved. So whilst Amsterdam was quiet, being Saturday, tram repairs/maintenance made getting ourselves there a little fun. But this was accomplished without any time stress. The excursion took us to a picturesque island village, Marken. It’s an island now joined to the mainland by a dyke where the locals wander around with hand carts or wheelbarrows, and the houses are raised on stilts (often garages added underneath) and painted green. And then onto Volendam where we stopped for lunch. Volendam is an old fishing village with a colourful main street full of seafood eateries and other shops. A bit of local fare was called for – a decadent Dutch waffle with cream & chocolate!

Next, it was on to Edam and a cheese-making factory. Edam cheese originated in this area and comes in quite a number of flavours here. Naturally, there were ample tasting samples of brie to try with the accompanying opportunity to buy cheese, but still an interesting visit. We then went into the actual town of Edam, which is a charming place. Edam’s oldest brick house was built around 1530 as a private house and later converted to a museum. The house has a deeper kitchen with mezzanine living quarters above it, and leads to a floating cellar; a brick box room floating freely on groundwater. The house is also on a lean, settling like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The last part of the tour was to Zaanse Schans, a clog-making factory and nearby windmills which are still operational. There used to be over 10,000 windmills in the Netherlands, now only about 1,200. Many are still operational but more by preservation groups than commercially. We saw a demonstration of clog making and then wandered around for a closer look at the windmills.

Monday is the day we are joining the cruise. The start point for this trip had to be moved to Rotterdam because of canals being closed for Sail2025 in Amsterdam. We made our way to the Hilton Double Tree hotel in the centre of Amsterdam to meet the Emerald Cruises people as they would be bussing us to the embarkation point in Rotterdam. Even though we were quite early, the Emerald people were there with a conference room all set up for those arriving, with snacks, coffee, etc, all catered for. It made us feel warmly welcomed. About 80 or more were there eventually and in due time we were on the road to Rotterdam. Even though it was mid avo by the time we arrived, they had held the kitchen open to provide lunch for us all. And by the time we had finished that and checked in, our luggage was already in our cabins waiting! How easy was that!

Day 1. Our first impressions of the boat, crew, and start of our time on the boat, have far surpassed our expectations. We had signed up for a cabin on the lower deck, thinking we would spend most of our time in the upper public areas and we are not disappointed. The cabin is roomy and comfortable and we are enjoying meeting all the other passengers. The food and service have been tops and I’m not looking forward to hopping on the scales when we are back. Once all on board, today is just to get to know the boat and to have the journey briefings by the Cruise Director. Before we had time to think, it was dinner time and the level of meals coming out of the kitchen was super. Wine and beer are complementary with dinner, not just a glass, but constant refilling too.

Day 2. Today, a tour of Rotterdam was organised. Buses picked us up from the boat after breakfast and took us for an hour tour around the city. We finished at the market which has a fully painted ceiling of the local produce and apartments built into the outside walls. One of the stalls provided samples of local Gouda cheese, kibbeling (deep-fried fish snacks) and stoopwaffles.

Rotterdam has interesting architecture as it was 95% destroyed during WW2, so the buildings are all quite new and innovation of design was the order of the day. Some of the really interesting places: a 15th-century church destroyed in the bombing but rebuilt from the original bricks salvaged from the rubble; the paediatric hospital inspired by a salad bowl, clad in mirror panels and with a garden and restaurant on top.

The afternoon was a lot more relaxed, and we were finally underway cruising up the river Meuse River, part of the Rhine delta. The river is very busy, lots of barges, a few other river cruise boats, and container boats with interesting bridge structures. We made the most of the fine weather and relaxed on the sun deck. Life got so tough, we just had to retire to the pool and watch the world go by from there!

The evening was relaxed, they plied us with champagne for the Captain’s Welcome, introducing the heads of departments. They also do a briefing on the next day’s activities and the chef briefs us on the evening meal menu each evening.

Day 3. We cruised all through the night and the next morning, docking at Cologne at lunch time. Our German friend, Sandra, travelled down to meet us dockside so we didn’t do the organised tour. We wandered through to the Cologne Cathedral and inside too. It’s an enormous structure, thankfully unscathed from the WW2 destruction of Cologne, and magnificent in its architecture.

The stained glass windows are enrapturing.

After, we wandered through the main shopping streets and off to the the Lindt Chocolate Museum. It’s very modern and interactive, not like other museums, and even with samples of chocolate along the way.

It was wonderful seeing Sandra again, she stayed with us in Sydney last year. She is doing so well with her acting career with some exciting prospects are on the horizon. The boat didn’t stay at Cologne after the tours all came back on board, shoving off at dinner time. There are activities organised on board most evenings but tonight we both felt like just kicking back and relaxing. As we passed by at 1 am, I went up top and saw the remains of the bridge at Remagen, the first point along the Rhine that the Allies crossed on the road to Berlin. All that is left are its twin, castle-like towers on each bank of the Rhine River, as the original bridge structure was destroyed after the battle and the piers were removed to prevent navigational hazard. But a significant historical place I wanted to see as we passed.

Day 4. Despite having been up late last night, I just had to get up early today. This morning we start down the Rhine Gorge, the iconic pictorial scenes of castles and towns on the forest-covered banks and hills along the gorge. This part of the trip was from 6ish at dawn through to about 1pm when we docked at Rüdesheim am Rhein. Half the boat was on the sun deck to view the scenery as we cruised through and it is indeed a very scenic part of the world.

The afternoon we docked at Rüdesheim for the afternoon tours. They provided tour trains to shuttle us into town to Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Machines museum. All sorts of music boxes with an amazing variety of instruments installed.

Then we had free time to walk around this charming little town. There are some quaint little alleys but the town is well served with souvenir shops ready to take advantage of all the river cruise boats that visit.

Not far upriver from Rüdesheim we leave the Rhine River and start travelling on the Mains River. The adventure with the locks and the low bridges begins 😮 ………. but that’s for the next issue.

So once EasyJet finally got underway from Berlin, we reached Edinburgh with no dramas and reached the guest house in the evening. We booked this particular place as it was close to the castle for after the Tattoo, and that is about its only redeeming feature! The stairs were steep and narrow, fun with the cases, but it’s quiet and private and has its own ensuite (as compared to shared facilities).

On Friday morning, we didn’t have a lot planned. And the cold that had been dogging me in the background has decided to move to my chest. So a quiet walk down the main street in Edinburgh was all that was in order. We had a relaxed stroll along the length of Princes St, watched some Fringe Festival performances and then up the steps to Lawnmarket.

Angie wasn’t amused by the step climbing that I was leading us up, but once at the top and through the tunnel alleyways into Lawnmarket, she came to appreciate it. The street was packed with people, and Fringe Festival performances were everywhere! The atmosphere was electric, the performances full of comedic fare, dressed-up characters encouraging attendance to shows, and all the shops open. So after dinner at one of the many eateries open, we were ready for the Tattoo.

Just on sunset, the crowds were let into the Castle grounds. It was very well organised with little delay getting in and the parade ground was set up with refreshments ready. Also members of the different groups participating in the show wandered around amongst the crowds for chats and/or photo opportunites. This year is the 75th Jubilee year for the Tattoo and the theme was “The Heroes Who Made Us”.

At the start of the show, the royals arrived. Tonight, the Duke & Duchess of Edinburgh, Edward & Sophie, were the special guests. Then the bands came, massed pipes and drums, massed brass bands, the Polish Border Guards, the USAF drill team, the Scottish Dancers,  the American Fife & Drums, a special performance by the Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps, and the Ukrainian Navy band got a rousing reception. The show was spectacular and of course, the massed bands at the end always stir the emotions.

Saturday is our last day in Edinburgh, we’re heading up to Fife, on the north side of the Firth of Forth. But first, we head west to see the Falkirk Wheel. We’ve hired a car for the next week to travel the country for maybe the less glamorous part of our travels, but by far the most important, to see family we haven’t seen for so long.

The Falkirk Wheel was a place we visited back in ’08 and it was hosing down that day, but the weather today is wonderful. The Wheel is an innovative machine that opened in 2002 and replaced a multitude of canal lock gates that stepped down 100 feet, the world’s one and only rotating boat lift. It connects the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, in a half-turn that takes only five minutes, it replaced a day’s heavy work opening and closing 44 lock gates to complete the same journey!

We had arranged to meet our cousins after lunch so we trotted off to Fife. Chrissie is Angie’s mum’s cousin, and we stayed with her and her husband, Bert, when we were here in ’08. We had a lovely time with them then before we headed off to tour Scotland so it was fantastic to see them again. We all met at Jackie (daughter) and John’s place in Torryburn. We had also stayed with Jackie and John in ’08 when they were then in Durham. Margaret (their other daughter) and Robert were also there with their grandkids.

After this wonderful visit, we still had time to go and visit Angie’s great-uncle Bert, who lives only 10 minutes away. Bert & Jean are looking good and Bert will be 90 very shortly. He has some fascinating stories as an ex-soldier in the Black Watch. Julie, their daughter, was also there. Again, another wonderful visit and catch-up after 17 years.

Before we went to our accommodation for the night in Queensferry, we got a good look at the 3 Firth of Forth bridges. The old historic rail bridge (still in use), the old suspension road bridge (restricted use), and the new cable-stayed road bridge.

After checking into our guest house for the night, we took a trip to see the Kelpies, a pair of monumental steel horse-heads between the Scottish towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth. Each head is 30 metres high and represents the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges, and coalships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area. Getting there just before dusk creates a great effect with the setting sunlight.

We only have a week in the UK so each stop is a flying visit, one day here, one day there. So in the morning, we’re off to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Angie’s cousin, Rae, is there with her family, whom we had not yet met. On the way, we managed to visit the Scottish National Museum of Flight. Situated on an ex-WW2 airfield, East Fortune, it houses one of the 2 British Airways display Concorde as well as a Comet, a Vulcan bomber, and other aircraft.

Before moving to Newcastle a year or so ago, Rae had been working in Abu Dhabi for 11 years and she married Ben whilst there, during Covid lockdowns, so we all attended her wedding, on Zoom. The move to Newcastle enabled them to bring Ben’s 2 children from Nigeria, to be a complete family. We stayed with them the night and it was an absolute delight. The 2 kids, Emmanuel & Amarachi were so much fun, making us miss our granddaughter, Isabel! It was great to catch up on so many years with Rae. Unfortunately, Ben still had work to go to so we didn’t get to spend much time getting to know him.

As is normal for me, I don’t just stick to the main routes so we were off here and there on back roads, the narrow country lanes, river fords, quaint stone-building villages and holiday beach communities. Some roads were so narrow, I once had to reverse 50m to a wide enough part for oncoming cars to squeeze past. And then there were the tractors carrying hay slowing everything to snail’s pace.

The next day we’re on the move again travelling to Cambridge to visit Judy & Tim. In ’08 we stayed with Angie’s great-uncle Tom and Gladys in Lincoln. Whilst we had met their daughter Judy on Zoom during Rae’s wedding, we hadn’t actually met in person. After taking a couple of diversions, we got there about dinner time and Tim is a great cook. We chatted well into the night, catching up on so much family news. The next morning, Tim’s culinary skills came into play again doing a full english breakfast for us. But the time came again for us to move on, this time to south Wales and more of Angie’s cuzzies. We got to Newport around dinner time and the accommodation is a nice unit on the river side.

Wednesday ended up as a sleep and rest day as I’m still trying to get over this chest cold. The weather is no longer sunny but there hasn’t been any rain so it is quite pleasant. After dinner, we met up with Angie’s cousins, Ricky & Johnny, at the bar at the end of our street. So good to catch up with them again and we chatted for ages. The next morning before heading off, we were also able to catch up with cuzzies Terence & Stacey, foster parents extraordinaire. They have their 3 growing kids and a high needs foster infant. So off to Gatwick where we stay for a night before flying to Amsterdam. We were fortunate to get an evening with Elizabeth & Steve at a local pub. Elizabeth is my cousin that I had never met so a real bonus to meet another part of the family.

So after a flying visit through the U.K. to visit all the clan and it’s off to Amsterdam. A couple of days there and then on the Emerald River cruise to Budapest. To the next issue of the blog.

And so the Estonia drama starts! We clear passport control on the Russian side of the river, easily, walk across the bridge to Estonia and to their passport control 👎. First it seems we had no Visa! Kiwis don’t need visas to enter Europe but their senior didn’t seem to know that. After much investigation as to how long we were staying, checking tickets back to Sydney etc etc, with extremely limited english and calls to her superiors, we get moved aside to a waiting area. After a good long wait, another chap comes to ask why we were there, where we were going etc, see airline ticket documents, decided to take all my ticket printouts for verification. When challenged on the rigmarole and that we don’t need visas to enter, he said they needed to know WHY we were there! Seems the fact that 2 Kiwis went to their son’s wedding in Russia and would then want to holiday in Europe was just too strange for them and too difficult for them to reconcile! Whilst those on Russian passports just waltz on through! Luckily I have all our tickets, reservations and itineraries printed out and available otherwise we might still be there! After 20 more minutes he returned and said “All good, we can go!” To where you might ask? Customs now had to have their go, all our bags had to be searched as well, you know, in case we were carrying nuclear waste, spy cameras or whatever they thought. Then we can FINALLY go into Europe!

Maybe we can go, but where to?? The pre-paid ‘Lux’ Express coach to Tallinn sure as didn’t wait for us, and no one spoke english to provide much assistance. After a while, we did make our way 1km+ by foot with cases to the bus depot and picked up the Tallinn shuttle. A 3-hour scenic route trip through all the towns on the way, we saw more of Estonia than we had planned to. It’s a very flat country and no hills were sighted, bar 1 (see pic). We hit the hotel after 10, kitchen closed, spa closed! At least there was an OK food shop across the way where we were able to get a couple of rolls.

Monday started early as we had to be at the airport mid avo to fly to Berlin. So we wandered through the Old Town before the hordes of tourist groups joined in. The streets are typical old European with plenty of character and plenty of ancient towers and walls amongst the more modern buildings. Once the tourist groups arrived, some of the charm and atmosphere was gone. The hotel at least gave us a late check out after last night’s fiasco so we were able to relax in their spa pools and recover before time to head to the airport.

But Estonia hadn’t finished with us yet! We’re sitting in the plane, wondering why we weren’t taking off, when 2 burly Polizei come on board. Angie had forgotten to …………

No, Angie was fine 😆. It took the cops a good 15 minutes to manhandle a chap out of his seat further back and remove him from the plane. So 40 minutes late, we departed.

We arrived in Berlin early evening and the plan was to take public transport to the hotel. This required 2 trains and a bit of a walk. Trains here are not like elsewhere, seems that German precision and technical expertise forgot to match platforms with train doors! There was fun manhandling cases into and out off the trains that also had steps to negotiate. But we eventually made it to Potsdamer Platz and then a 15+ minute walk to the hotel. Nice paths but these decorative cobble driveways across the footpaths don’t help the cases rolling! The hotel is, however, very nice, even an upgraded room. It has highlighted that we are just too far past it with leg issues to try this again, will need to use taxis for such transfers.

Tuesday dawned a bright and sunny day. We booked a hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus trip for the day and went around the main Berlin sights that way. We first spent some time in Alexander Platz and St.Mary’s church. In the church, there are the remains of a 20m mural from the 15th century. The Dance of Death mural has almost life-size figures in pairs, a person led by a prancing figure of death, a skeleton. Reference to wars and the plague.

Most of our time was spent in the Tiergarten area, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, to the Victory Column. Inside the column is a museum and stairs to the base level of the column. The stairs also lead to the top of the column but there was no way we would achieve that! It was a great sightseeing day and a very full day.

After 3 weeks of intensive ‘exercise’, our legs were just about shot! So today ended up as a rest up day and whatever we had planned for today went to file 13. Luckily the hotel is a 2-minute walk from Check Point Charlie in one direction and a 3-minute walk to the remains of the Berlin Wall in the other direction. I went out early in the morning for a couple of snaps of Charlie whilst there was no one around, during normal hours till dark, there are multitudes. At the Wall, there’s a display on the history of Berlin during the 20th century, after resting up for most of the day, we visited that.

Now it’s our last day in Berlin! Just a short stopover but it’s been most enjoyable. Due to fly out later in the afternoon so we had the morning to go walking, the Mall of Berlin is 2 blocks away. We finally had some German food. Our hotel street has restaurants from Central America, Spain, Italy, Indian, Irish, but not German. At the mall, we had Apple Strudel with our coffee, the best Strudel I’ve ever had!

So after a pleasant morning, it was time to head off. We chose a compromise to keep the cost down with a taxi to the Berlin Central Station and a metro train to the airport. As compared to the direct regional trains, these have platform height doors. The only disadvantage is that they stop at every station along the way but we had heaps of time, and our legs thanked us. We get to the airport to find our EasyJet flight is delayed, leaving 1-1/2 hours late.

An uneventful flight and we arrive in Edinburgh, Our time in the UK is for the next issue.

Our 2nd week in Russia started with a trip to Suzdal, a town 3 hours drive east-nor-east of Moscow. It’s an ancient town, from around the turn of the 1st century, and contains many examples of old Russian architecture. The weather has now turned to mostly grey with showers here and there. Before this , we had warm, mostly clear days, 30°+.

Speed limits don’t seem to matter on the highways here, a speeding fine is about $15, with a 50% discount if it’s paid on time, so of no concern to drivers! There are some quite high speeds on the motorways. On town roads, there are speed bumps before and after pedestrian crossings. The Russian name for these literally translates to ‘laying down policeman’ 😅, or as I term it, ‘Sleeping Cop’ – much to Sasha’s amusement.

Suzdal is full of old Russian architecture with many historical orthodox churches. Whilst some seem quite plain on the inside, others are rather ornately done. Ladies, cover your head if you venture inside!

The Suzdal Kremlin is a centuries-old fortress dating from the 10th century. It was the home to the Prince, Archbishop and other high clergy. The Cathedral of the Nativity within the kremlin has gold-starred blue domes and 13th century frescoes. A kremlin exists in most ancient towns, it stands for the town fortress.

The summer days are long in this part of the world. Dusk is around 10pm and dawn breaks around 4am. If the curtains aren’t black-out,  sleeps can be short.

Tuesday starts out a bit wetter but we seem to find the breaks in the rain at the right time. Breakfast started the day with an interestingly traditional style.

We venture across town to the Museum of Wooden Architecture. This has numerous examples of old wooden buildings brought here from around the region and is considered to be a little corner of classical ancient Russia.

One of the highlights of visiting Suzdal is the Monastery of Saint Euthymius. Founded in 1352, in later years, it was used as a prison of various sorts, including housing german officers captured at Stalingrad.

The Cathedral within the monastery dates from the 16th century and its interior is fascinating with the original artwork still there. Angie ventured over to a tomb looking object, no doubt assuming there would be a lid, only to find herself looking down at the body of the monastery founder!

Dinner that night was at one of Brad & Sasha’s favourite restaurants. We tried a variety of traditional russian dishes. The mini drink is a free  drink at the start called the ‘Welcome Drink’ – originated from the times of Peter the Great. Breads with a butter candle, literally a candle made from butter that melts so you can dip the bread into it. Buckwheat, spelt and berries are commonly used in meals. To finish, various dessert cakes.

The night finished back at the kremlin for a late laser show on the kremlin walls. The theme was local architecture through the ages. The rain had cleared and the field in front was strewn with bean bags to sit on to watch the show.

Wednesday is a travelling day. Back to Moscow from Suzdal to collect our luggage ready for the high-speed train to Saint Petersburg. We did manage to visit some classic militaria on the way in. Soviet aircraft at Monino, east of Moscow and the Soviet submarine B-396, “Novosibirsk Komsomolets”, a “Som” class diesel-electric sub (NATO Tango class) near Brad’s place.

We took the evening Sapsan train (high speed train) to Saint Petersburg where Brad and Sasha will hold their wedding celebration. It’s a 4 hour ride at 200kmph. We arrived after 9:30pm, still light. The Sapsan is not as smooth as the French TGV, even at the slower speed it travels at!

Thursday, Angie & I had a free day whilst Brad and Sasha got things prepared for tomorrow. We went strolling through Saint Petersburg, admiring the wonderful architecture, to the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood.

Constructed between 1883-1907, the church was erected on the site where Narodnaya Volya members assassinated Emperor Alexander II in March 1881, the suffix “on Spilled Blood” refers to his assassination. Not only does the exterior look fabulous, but the interior is next level.

The next stop during the afternoon was an even more sensory overload, the Winter Palace of Peter the Great. There is corridor after corridor of art, sculpture, ornaments, crockery, frescos, portraits, architecture, opulance, wealth etc. Room after room, the palace is enormous. The floor area is 233,345 sq metres, the palace contains 1,886 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117 staircases! We spent 2 hours wandering the halls and likely only saw a small portion, but that was all we could digest.

Friday and no plans to do anything as the wedding celebration is this afternoon. We helped Brad with a few things and then wandered to the venue 5 mins away, guests arrived for 3:00pm. Brad and Sasha had gone for a photo session and arrived at the Celebration a little later.

The party had a professional planner/MC who ran the proceedings with an infectious passion. Whilst there were some speeches, the party was mostly fun and games. I introduced a little Kiwi culture to the proceedings and we even had to teach the men the Haka!

At 8:00pm the party at the venue finished and we all wandered off to the canal to hop on a river cruise for 3 hours. The music and dancing continued into the night and by the time we disembarked and got a taxi back to the hotel, it was well after midnight.

After such a fabulous wedding celebration party, the next day was not an early start so in the afternoon we went venturing across the rivers and canals to one of the large islands. There’s a WW1 cruiser on display as a museum and a large sailing vessel converted into a posh restaurant, which served well for an afternoon refreshment stop. On another adjacent island, the large Mi-8 helicopter was doing flights. An enormous machine from the Soviet era with twin turbojets, the noise is tremendous!

One of the highlights was attending the Mariinsky Theatre that evening for a performance of Swan Lake. Even if you’re not a ballet enthusiast, it’s an experience you will not forget. The costumes, the dance and the whole atmosphere!

All too early, it’s time to say Farewell to Russia, the worst part, of course, was to say Good Bye to the kids. Brad & Sasha have looked after us sooo well for our 2 weeks here and getting to know Sasha has been an absolute delight!

So we are on a Lux Express coach from St.Petersburg to Tallinn via the border crossing at Ivangorod/Narva (Russia/Estonia). The coach is just like an airline, seat trays, screen with movies etc, coffee. But no hostess!! We have to make our own coffees!!

One might think that getting into and out of Russia would be the difficult part. Passes and registrations, bureaucracy and queues, grumpy serious border guards, this is the reputation we were prepared for. Getting close to the border, all bus passengers had their documents checked by a guard, then the border crossing is like a mini fortress.

But Russia was easy, the surprise came when 2 Kiwis, who don’t need visas to enter Europe, try to enter via Estonia!! We suggest you give this banana republic a miss!! But that’s for the next blog.