The Ambling Rambler

Out of the Cracks. The Christchurch Earthquake Aftermath

2011-12-21T16:06:00.002+13:00

I headed down to Christchurch last week to do a bit of imbibing with friends and family for Christmas. It was my first trip since the second of the two big major quakes, and although I knew that parts of Christchurch was in a bad way, and that I thought I knew what to expect, I was wrong. It takes a physical visit to see the damage, to understand even a fraction of what it would have been like for the people living in the city and what it might have been like when the earthquake hit.

I was taken to Avonside Drive - one of the worst hit areas, and in the 'Red Zone'. That is, people have to leave the area as its no longer safe to life there. The houses are beyond repair, and although many properties have been abandoned (and understandably so), there are still many people living in their damaged homes, holding on to what is dear to them. I can understand their feelings.

Out of the cracks of the earthquake though, nature is slowly taking over the abandoned properties. I've been told that if anything ever happened to the human race, it would only take 90 years or so and then nature would take over and very little trace would be found of us. Certainly, after only 12 months in Christchurch, you can see it happening already. The earth has chasms, the houses are ruined, but the flowers are in bloom...

This house is bent in so many ways, I couldn't even begin to align it in photoshop. Nothing around the house was in a straight line either, so the only way I could tell was the alignment of the weeds coming out of the cracks in the pathway!

The house next door - overgrown...

This house broke my heart. Its obviously newly built, and like my new house, made from brick. And this is what happened to it. I'm on the Alpine fault, so when that goes, my house will most likely end up looking like this. Seems that wooden houses fare a bit better than the brick ones. (Makes notes for my next house). Notice all the liquefaction around the house as well. It was everywhere.

The house sank. Or the ground came up...

Whatever happened, the garage entrance is now very small. This is Kellye - she's five foot nothing and a half. As you can see she can touch the top of the garage, something that is usually impossible for her. She tells me that further along, there was a house with a garage that went underground. It filled with water. It now has a brand new Mini sitting in the garage full of water and the car can not be retrieved.

A lovely curled deck, courtesy of the ground shaking event.

This house also sank.

Once a perfectly flat concrete driveway. Now uneven sand.

I took a photo through the glass with the lens up onto the window. This is an image looking inside at the damage to the floors. Liquefaction went right through the houses as well.

The cat door, now buried.

And everywhere the flowers bloomed beautifully, oblivious of the ruins around them.

Blooming in every conceivable crevice and crack wreaked by the huge earthquake...

Gates can no longer be opened or shut. My curiosity got the better of me so I wandered through...

The kitchen door was open so I took a photo of inside. The liquefaction was all over the floor.

Bedrooms ruined, and mould now on the walls..

Carpets and underlay ruined as well. It would be absolutely heartbreaking for any owner.

Another near new house with huge cracks in the plasterboard. Didn't really stand a chance.

Everywhere there were port-a-loos still on the side of the roads as the sewerage system around this area is gone. At least they were bright and colourful!

Many houses had bricks missing, some had props up on the outside holding complete sides up.

A bridge that once was almost flat, now squashed together so it rose in the middle..

Roof tiles gone...

Huge chasms in driveways...

I hope they were able to get their car out of the garage.

Bright red poppies growing in the huge chasms...

The Christchurch residents decorating road cones in preparation for Christmas..

This bridge just twisted. Almost as if someone grabbed each end and yanked it in different directions.

I was told no one was on the bridge at the time of the quake. Thank goodness for that...

Can you imagine the noise it would have made? Not only the earthquake giving out a noise like a freight train, but the grinding of metal and concrete when the bridge twisted?

A city rubbish bin also got munted..

And the last word came from the locals... They didn't like my photojournalism and mum wanted to protect her ducklings from nosy photographers. I took the hint and left...

I have vertigo pretty much 24/7 anyway, but being in Christchurch it was 10x worse than normal. Being in buildings that were on a slant because of uneven foundations, made me feel dizzy and sick. Driving around on the roads full of potholes made me feel like one of those toy dogs that used to be in the back windows of cars, which used to nod their heads as they go over bumps.

I take my hats off to all those hardy people in Christchurch, and I am looking forward to visiting again to take photos of the rebuild. You have my utmost respect.

Leiden, Netherlands, and my Last Day in Europe

2011-12-03T19:09:00.002+13:00

I woke up sad. This day was my last day in Europe. Also the last day I get to spend with my lovely daughter. The last 31 days had gone just too fast. I've seen much, laughed, been overwhelmed at where I was, eaten wonderful food, tried beautiful wines and spent the most amazing month in my daughters company - something that is so special and I shall treasure it for the rest of my life. What huge memories I have.

I have 24 hours before I fly back to New Zealand so we had to pack as much as we could into that. So the first thing we did was walk to the supermarket by Anne's apartment. There were two actually so we went to both. We picked up breakfast, as well as ingredients for the Dutch dinner that we were having that night at the apartment with Anne's lovely flatmates.

I was amazed at how cheap things were compared to New Zealand. I compared prices. Dairy products were extremely cheap in comparison. 1 euro for butter, which is the equivalence of $2 NZD and we're paying nearly $6 for the same thing. Cheese. Dutch cheese is incredible and half the price. Fresh fruit and veges - also incredibly cheap. Wholegrain bread - of which we pay $5 here for was only 89c. That's it - I don't want to come home!

Even non food stuffs were cheap. Moisturising facewipes - 99c. $10.29 here in NZ. I bought some to bring back with me. I'm using them sparingly. We picked up some bread rolls, smoked salmon, yoghurt for breakfast, and the ingredients for our dinner that night, then headed back to the flat. Unpacked then headed out the door - destination Leiden. Our plan was for an hour or two in Leiden, then head into Amsterdam to the Dam square for a serious shopping spree. I wanted a pair of boots, and Anne needed boots and jeans.

We got the train down and arrived about half an hour later. I was amazed - such a pretty town. The Netherlands knew it was my last day and turned on glorious weather for me, making up for the terrible weather I had the week before....

Fantastic buildings... I wish I knew more about this one. I have looked on google but found nothing. If anyone has any information about it, please leave a comment.

The canals were gorgeous...

And I found a windmill... The big windmill in Leiden was undergoing constructions so I wasn't able to get a photo of it. This one is a replica of the Molen de Put.

Beautiful reflections which meant my camera was working overtime...

Everywhere here were bikes. On every available wall, bridge, or anything that one could be leaned against.

More reflections...

And reflections in windows even..

At this stage we found a department store and left the gorgeous canals and started shopping. I found my boots in there. Which is good, as it means I didn't have to try on another 127 pairs in Amsterdam later that afternoon!

We then found the Citadel of Leiden which was built in 1150. It was erected on an artificial hill by the citizens of Leiden as a defence against the water of the Rhine. The city expanded around the fortress and consequently lost its defensive purpose. The city magistrate bought the citadel in 1651 and made it into the park it is today.

At the top of the stairs you walk through the doors into citadel itself, and from there you are able to go up to an upper level to look out over the city...

The upper level has some good views to historic buildings. This view is to the Heeren and Hoomoed which is the 17th century City Inn and Coach House. The church behind it is the second parish church of Leiden. It started out as a simple wooden building in 1314 and expanded until the 16th century...

Here is the rear view of the orphanage. (Don't ask me which buidling!!). Orphans supplied labour for the cloth industry in the 17th century. When demand was high, orphans were imported from other countries! To the left you see the high storehouses. Here grain was stored and bread baked for the poor..

The domed church, called Marekerk, was the first Dutch church built specifically for Protestant services. Until then formerly Catholic churches had been used. The high chimney is part of the public utility.

Here is the rear of the City Hall. The original Renaissance building burnt to the ground in a huge fire in 1929. Only the front on the other side survived.

Obscured by the City Hall you see the Pieterskerk. This church, dedicated to St Peter, supplied the keys in the coat of arms of Leiden as St Peter held the keys to Heaven's gate.

Anne pleased with our shopping spree so far...

From the second level..

Back into Leiden, we headed back to the train station to catch a train t Amsterdam to finish our shopping.

We never got there though. Instead we found some shoe shops and jeans shops in the centre of Leiden. Actually it was a really really nice shopping centre. We found some beautiful boots for Anne, then found a Jeans shop and bought some Jeans and a couple of tops for her, and a winter top for me, which was on special. Loaded down with bags, we decided to go back to the apartment, to drop off the bags then head into Amsterdam by tram quickly for Anne to get her hair trimmed. I waited at the tram stop while Anne dropped the bags home - it wasn't far, but it enabled me to rest my foot for 5-10 minutes.

We stopped one stop short of the Dam, and Anne rushed down to get her hair done. I stopped to take some photos so told her I would catch up with her... The sun was beginning to set so it once again was really pretty. This is the Prinsengracht Canal.

Just over the road from the canal above is the big Westerkerk. A prostestant church built in 1620 to 1631. The spire, called the Westertoren (Western Tower), is the highest in Amsterdam at 85 metres. Rembrandt was buried here in 1669, the exact location is unknown but it is presumed he is somewhere along the northern wall. Just behind the church is Anne Frank House which I visited the week before.

We then caught the tram to Anne's work and visited a few more shops, tried some cheese, and bought a lotto ticket. Then caught the tram back to the apartment to get ready for my first dinner comprising of Dutch food.

Copious amounts of wine was drunk and lots of laughs. The company was excellent and the food was divine! Anne's flatmates are lovely. From left to right are Anne, Werner, Angelie and Serieke.

And crazy. Did I mention crazy? (I have a dozen more crazy shots too of which I will take bribes to post them up here or not post them up here! - The highest bidder will win !!! )

Such a gentleman - a single rose... (if I was only younger!) - he did look a tad nervous!

A sausage? I haven't been offered one of these for such a long time! In fact, I don't ever recall being offered one quite like this before!!!

Then someone was experimenting with my camera. I quite like what they took...

After playing cards, drinking wine, laughing, I attempted to pack my bags for the 2nd time trying to fit eveyrthing in! I really really didn't want to leave.

The next morning, as Anne had to go to work, even though my flight wasn't til midday, it was decided she would drop me off at the airport at around 8.00 then head to work. I would wander round the duty free and use my computer in the airport lounge while waiting for the plane. It was really really hard saying goodbye, even though I knew I would see Anne in six weeks in NZ for xmas. I simply wasn't really ready to go home.

My plane ended up being delayed for 5 hours so instead of sitting around in the airport for 2-3 hours, it was more like 7 hours. Rather annoying. Which meant it as highly possible I had missed my connecting flight in Malaysia. Fortunately (or unfortunately - I haven't decided which yet), they held the plane in Malaysia so it was straight off one plane, and onto the next to fly to NZ. Which meant 22 hours of sitting down straight plus 7 hours of sitting round airports. Instead of getting in at midnight it was 2am!! And yes - I was exhausted. I am still hankering after Europe. It's highly addictive. We HAVE to win lotto so I can visit again!

Trencin - Slovakia

2011-12-02T13:11:00.002+13:00

Ahhhhhh Slovakia - you are beautiful! We studied the route where we were going today and the times involved while drinking our champagne the night before. Originally we were going to go to Trnava then Trencin on our way to Prague, but we soon realised we had 5 hours of driving from Bratislava to Prague. We made the decision to only go to Trencin which is one hour away, then another four hours to Prague where we had to catch our plane back to the Netherlands at 3.30pm. So Trnava we will have to come back to you another time!

To fit Trencin in we were up at 6.30am, checked out and on the road by 7.00am, just as the sun was just coming up. We arrived at Trencin at 8.00 and parked the car just behind the town square. The ticket machine ate all our money, but didn't issue a ticket, so Anne went off in search of an ATM while I wandered around the square. I found this great fountain (turned off for winter), of a man in a top hat climing out of a well. It was rather intriguing, and have since found that it relates to the legend of the Vodnik. However the only google reference of the legend I can find is from Prague...

'The Vodniks are the elf of the waters, creatures with a green body. Some of them live under the Moldau. Usually they are nice people but don’t get them angry because they are very touchy. Sometimes they have fun turning over the boats of lovers or fishermen but they also have the noble duty of preserving the souls of people who die in the floods of the river.

A vodnik used to live in a pond out of the city and moved later to Prague under the Charles Bridge because the wheels of a wagon had made turbid the waters of his previous home. On his way to Prague he met a merchant who was telling him about the pond and the dirt water. This man had idea he was talking to the vodnik from that pond…. The following day the wagon had to pass by the bridge so it was a good chance for the vodnik to revenge. The cry of the merchant was useless and he got caught in the floods of the river. A hat and a rose stolen near the pond the day before were the only things left about this merchant.'

After finally getting a ticket from another machine to display in our car we started heading for the castle high up above the township. We found a local bakery on the way and got some breakfast. Very yum and very cheap. We munched on the way up. And up. First up 92 stairs, to the start of the path up to the castle...

To rest, I occasionally stopped to take photos! It was the only way I could reach the top. Anne was miles ahead of me!

Beautiful views on a stunning autumn day!

Number 19. (Are there 19 castles?)

Old doors...

Still going up and through archways... (I think Anne is already inside the castle! )

And up....

Another stop to take photos of the beautiful view of the city down below...

The river Vah flows through it. The population of Trencin is approx 56,000.

Oh look! Finally I'm at the castle door. I found Anne sitting on a seat waiting for me just inside!

A sign about the the Rotunda of the castle dating back to the 11th Century. None of my photos turned out of the Rotunda which was behind glass and the glass was too reflective! However this is the oldest part of the castle.

The courtyard. I try to imagine a typical day sometime in the 11th century with castle staff wandering around here! The Trenčín castle, experienced not only war and terror, but also hosted kings and queens from almost all over Europe.

The Matus Tower... was built by the family Matus Cak of Trencin sometime in the 14th century. It is extremely well preserved. Later on, gothic palaces were joined to the tower. These are: the Matus palace (that was later destroyed); the Lodovit palace; the Barbara palace and the Zapolsky palace. If you're interesting in reading more about the history of Trencin Castle - you can find it all here.

I should explain here that we had a guide of which we paid 4 euros for, and which included a tour of the 2nd floor of the 'palace' and the Matus Tower. I wasn't aware of what just what was involved until I got up to the palace. I managed to survive the walk up to the top of the castle, and even up the steps of the 2nd floor of the Palace. But then I had to walk up 5 floors of medieval steps to the top of the Tower. Now that killed me!

A view from the steps of the palace of the soccer stadium down below...

Birds eye veiw of the town...

Going up...

At the top of the Matus Tower were incredible views over the city. It was still early morning, and there was fog about too.

Way up high - I can't believe I made it..

Autumn over the castle grounds...

I took a few photos, then realised that if I didn't start down before everyone else, I would be holding everyone up. So I started down again almost immediately. I left a good 10 minutes before everyone else, yet we all arrived at the bottom at the same time. Mind you, I did stop a few times to catch my breath and take some more photos...

Old ropes down the wall for me to hold onto... (I had to come down these stairs backwards in parts as they were pretty steep)

The tower from the bottom...

Anne looking at the view. I kept this photo because of the pigeon flying above!!

At the top of the steps to the entrance of the 2nd floor palace. It was a museum inside with old weapons on display.

On our way down again...

Back out the castle door...

A watch tower...

Through the archways...

A leftover ruin from a castle that has seen better days...

Back down the way we came...

Down towards the 92 steps....

Old castle walls with lots of pigeons...

I swear the building smiled at me as I left. Are those two eyes and a nose?

We reached the bottom and I could barely walk. I was so much in pain. Not only my foot but my back as well. Anne rushed in and got me some stronger painkillers while I went to the car to collapse! On the way I found this sculpture outside the Pardon Newspaper office. I thought it was quite clever!

We then drove four hours to Prague airport through gorgeous countryside and little towns and villages. We arrived around 2.00 and wondered if our plane would even take off as there was thick fog all over Prague. No problems though, and we got back to Amsterdam around 8pm. Unpacked and hit the sack early!

Vienna to Bratislava - One day in Vienna

2011-11-24T15:47:00.000+13:00

I found these two images of Vienna, that I took when we arrived. As I said before, I had no tripod, so this image was taken by putting the camera on top of a crate! Lots of renovation work going on which is why there are wooden crates everywhere...

And this is the torte we shared in the cafe before heading back to the hostel. It was cold as well, so I also had a hot chocolate. Very nice, but a bit rich after our stomach problems!!

As we only had one day in Vienna, we picked up a self walking tour of Vienna from the hostel reception. So we stuck to that. Anne was up fairly early - I took a little longer to get moving, but we were out the door by 8.00am. We took the U4 to Schonbrun Palace which the walking tour recommended, especially for the gardens. Both Anne and I were blown away by the beauty and sheer size of them, and Anne mentioned they were the best Palace gardens she had ever seen.

Being Autumn made it even more beautiful in my opinion. We wandered down pathways totally covered in a canopy of autumn leaves...

One pathway, after another...

And another - it was hard to choose which path to go down. Did I mention it was really beautiful? There were lots of local people walking, running and wandering through the gardens, and a few tourists like ourselves as well. If I lived in Vienna, I would be wanting to visit this place on a regular basis.

We came out of the pathway to the back of the Palace. Very imposing, beautiful and large. Imagine living here! Which room would you take? You wouldn't like to drink to much the night before, you may forget which room you were in!

Opposite the back of the palace was a sweeping avenue that takes you to the Gloriette. I would have liked to go up, but my foot was too sore and it would have taken too long. Plus it was steep. Anne did ask if the horse and carts took you up, but it was even too steep for those.

At the bottom of the hill to the right was the oldest zoo in the world. Unfortunately it wasn't open as it was too early so we didn't get to see it, however we did walk around it a bit. We didn't see the labyrinth or the exotic palm house, or the rebuilt 'roman ruins' in the park - it was simply too big to see everything!

Back under the canopy, we stopped here and had our schnitzel that we had saved from the night before, for breakfast. Very yummy in a lovely place.

Which path to take? You can see about 5 different pathways going off in different directions here...

Through another path to a fountain completely surrounded by a double row of fir trees..

An arbor taking you to another part of the palace garden..

Then around to the front of the palace. Lots of horse and cart rides you could take around the grounds. Quite pricey too so we didn't take one!

We decided to do a tour of the palace, but first I had to use the public toilets inside the palace. They were rather posh with painted leaves on each door...

And my view of the cubicle from inside the loo! I know - very unconventional but I couldn't resist it was amazing!

We did he tour around the palace and Anne ordered a wheelchair for me to save my foot. I didn't realise that you weren't allowed to take photos. This was he third one I took before I got told off. But it shows you the beauty, wealth and art within its wall. Very 'palatial' and grand.

The front of the palace as we were leaving.

Back to the metro line U4 to catch the metro to Karlsplatz. Here we saw the Opera House and we were approached so many times to get tickets to see the opera that night. We said so many times that we weren't going to be in Vienna that night!!! I forgot to take a photo of the Opera House!!

We walked across the square then strolled along Karntnerstrabe. Along here were lots of stores from the most expensive and posh clothing chains to souvenir shops and McDonalds. Unfortunately for us, everything except the souvenir shops were closed because it was Sunday. (Or maybe that was fortunate!)

A beautiful new building on the corner reflecting the old St Stephens church in its windows...

Graben...

St Stephens Cathedral. Very imposing and the highest religious building in Vienna. Once again it was Sunday and a service was in progress so we weren't able to get the guided tours. We could have climbed the 343 steps up to the top of the cathedral to see the most glorious view of Vienna. Alternatively we could have got the elevator up on the other side which wasn't as high but still amazing. I decided I wasn't up to the 343 steps but we did enquire about the elevator. Unfortunately that was closed until the afternoon so we carried on...

Inside the cathedral a service was in progress so we couldn't walk around...

Outside - very gothic looking, the church was founded in 1137.

Adjacent to the cathedral on Stephansplatz, there is an ample road that almost looks like a square called the Graben which is another main street of the city. We wandered down there passing a number of memorials and fountains. We arrived at St Peters Church which is on the site of the oldest church in Vienna possibly dating back to the early middle ages. St Peters Church was begun in 1701, the design was inspired by St Peters Basilica in Rome.

Not huge, but very beautiful inside with an amazing domed ceiling with amazing art. Once again a service was in progress so we could not explore.

Back outside we came across some fun statues...

To Hofburg Palace. In front of the palace where everyone was milling around, is an excavation site of roman ruins...

Vienna was built on top of an ancient roman city.

Hofburg palace currently serves as the residence of the President of Austria, but has housed some of the most powerful people in Austria. It has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics. The oldest sections of the palace date from the 1300s, and form a square, in which a gothic chapel from the 15th century is situated.

We didn't go on the Hofburg Palace tour seeing we had done the Schonbrunn that morning. Instead we walked through Hofburg Palace to the other side onto Heldenplatz, crossed it and followed on to the two huge national museums which face each other. One was the Museum of Natural History. Turn 180 degrees...

And the other is the Museum of fine arts. I'm not sure which was which though!!!

My foot gave up here. Couldn't walk a step further. We were in great need of sustenance as well and Anne wanted us both to experience the Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel. So we caught the tram back to the Opera House area and got instructions from one of the ticket sellers where to go. I walked on while Anne got instructions and when he found Anne was English he got her to help her with some English grammar on a play he was writing. I wondered where she had got to!!

We then queued up at the Sacher Hotel at their cafe (Cafe Sacher) which I don't have a photo of but you can view it here. It took about 20 minutes before a table became free. We were ushered to a coat service where they took our coats, then we got a table for two and shared the famous Sacher Torte. This is the worlds most famous chocolate cake. Well worth a look and if you are in Vienna, this is well worth going to. If you can't get to vienna to try it and you want to try it, you can treat yourself by having it delivered to you through the website!!

After the Sacher Torte we headed back to the hostel where our car was parked, picking up a bottle of Austrian bubbly to drink in Bratislava, picked up our luggage, and drove to Bratislava which was an hours drive away from Vienna. I took some grab shots out of the car on the way of some of the many wind farms we passed. Actually everywhere we went in Europe were alternative methods of power - mainly wind and solar. I even saw a 'solar' farm. Even in greece most of the buildings had solar power and after seeing this, I think New Zealand is not as 'green' as they try to make out to be - we have a long way to go before we catch up to the rest of Europe!!

We arrived in at our hotel in Bratislava about 5pm - it was really nice, quite luxurious with a glass elevator going up outside the building, which we figured would be cold in winter! Very modern. We popped the wine in the fridge, then headed out to explore the town and get some dinner.

We drove into the city centre as we were a bit far to walk. We got a bit lost but saw a policeman, so drove up to him to ask directions to where the carpark was. He got a policeman who spoke english, and gave us directions to the carpark, then asked us for our passports, and proceeded to fine us with driving where we were. Apparently the road we were on was only for taxi's and people who lived there. I was a bit miffed about this as we were obviously lost, couldn't read Slovakian road signs, and we had actually approached them to help us!!! He charged us 10 euros, saying that it could have been 60 euros. Grrrr!

We then parked the car, and started walking - coming across a really neat little Christmas market. We bought some handmade decorations. We found a great place for dinner and ordered local dishes. Anne couldn't decide what to have, so halfway through our meal, our waiter bought out a small plate of the other dish Anne was tossing up whether to have or not, for her to try. Wouldn't charge us for it either, so we left a generous tip.

We headed back to the hotel and Anne went to the gym while I collapsed on the bed. When she came back we drank the bottle of bubbly, and that's when we found our fridge was totally complimentary!! We emptied it!!! So Anne has Slovakian beer on her dressing table in Amsterdam!

Salzburg to Vienna

2011-11-22T15:00:00.001+13:00

As I said in the previous blog, we were staying in the Villa Von Trapp, the original homestead of the Von Trapp family of the Sound of Music fame. I took some photos in the morning as it was getting dark when we arrived the night before. Hanging in the entranceway was a family portrait of all the children...

This was the front of the house. We were up on the 3rd floor in that attic window above the front door (I think!).

This is the back of the villa. On the far left is the dining room where we had breakfast.

It was a frosty morning as you can see on the grass. This is the view of the mountain from the lawn. The sun was just coming up.

Rabbits were on the lawn - I have no idea if they were wild, or whether they were pets. They didn't really let me near them, had to use my 300mm lens.

Using the same lens the view from the dining window...

We checked out then headed to the meeting point for the Sound of Music Tour - a bus trip that Anne had booked for us a few weeks prior when we were planning the trip. On the side of bus was a painting of the characters of the movie. The tour operator pointed out that Julie Andrew doesn't look like she's singing here, but looks like she's about to sneeze!!

It was a beautiful morning. Gorgeous autumn colours everywhere, and I took some grab shots out of the bus window by holding the lens onto the glass. Not a bad shot really considering the bus was moving at the time. This is the Hohensalzburg Fortress which atop the Festungsberg mountain, and one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. Construction began in 1077 and expanding in following centuries. We didn't get to go up in the end as we ran out of time. A reason to revisit Salzburg in the future!

Our first stop was the Schloss Leopoldskron (Leopold's Crown Palace) The palace was used as the inspiration for the terrace scenes at the rear of the Captain's villa overlooking the lake, where Maria and the children stood up in their boat and fell into the water. These first two images are of the lake itself, and as I said before it was a stunning morning...

And this is the back of the palace itself. We really couldn't have had a better morning.

Another grab shot from the bus as we were driving to show you how incredibly green and beautiful Austria is..

Our next stop on the tour was the Schloss Frohnburg (Frohnburg Palace). This is the former summer residence of the Prince-Archbishop, dating back to 1680, and was used in the film as the Von Trapp residence. (If you look at the Von Trapp Villa above - there's a slight resemblance!!) The road leading to the palace below, was where Maria stepped off the bus singing 'I have Confidence' as she skipped her way through the gates and across the courtyard to ring the bell. The actual Von Trapp Villa was not used for the film at all.

The glass gazebo used for the film where Rolf and Liesl sang 'Sixteen going on Seventeen", and Maria and the Captain sang 'Something Good" was constructed for use in the film. It was left on site after the film was completed and later moved to the grounds of the Hellbrunn Palace. (just on the other side of the image above). It is now locked and not available to the public, because an 84 year old woman went in there one evening, decided to do the dance, fell and broke her hip. The gazebo is now considered too dangerous for the public!

I couldn't resist taking a photo within the grounds of the palace of the lovely autumn trees and pathways...

Back on the bus. It is now 10.30am and what a perfect time to be drinking Austrian beer, singing songs from the Sound of Music on our way to our next destination....

Lake Wolfgang, (Wolfgangsee) and the town of St Wolfgang east of Salzburg the location of the Schafberg sequence in the film...

Beautiful Autumn trees...

Schafberg (Sheep mountain) where one sequence in the film showed a little red cogwheel train climbing up the mountain with Maria and the children on board.

Another grabshot from the bus...

In the film there was also a bicycle ride when Maria and the children went sightseeing. This is Mondsee in the Lake District east of the city.

Mondsee Church which is the church that was used filming the wedding scene of Maria and the Captain. In real life, they actually got married in the Nonnberg Abbey, but it is closed to the public and so filming wasn't able to be done there, instead they used this church which is really lovely...

Inside..

Mondsee village - really pretty and colourful.

We stopped for 'lunch'. Anne and I shared an Apple Strudel seeing we weren't able to have one the night before. It was very yum!

Village shops.

We had about half an hour to kill before the bus took off back to the city, so Anne and I walked down to the lake edge.

Then back to the city - and some more grab shots from the bus...

After the tour, we walked over to Mirabell Palace - and these are the famous steps used in the Do-Re-Mi scene of the movie. Note the Fortress in the background. Very hard to get a photo here as it was so busy. Plus I saw the dumbest scene, a guy using his iPad as a camera!! I couldn't believe it!

The Pegasus Fountain behind the palace, which is a symbol of Greek Mythology. It was here Maria and children marched around the magnificent winged horse.

The Ivy covered archway - a long rose and ivy covered arbor on the south side of the Mirabell Gardens. Maria and the children had fun dancing and running races while exploring the gardens while singing Do-Re-Mi.

The gardens were beautiful - lots of people just sitting and enjoying, and walking there on this perfect day.

The Dwarf garden where the children patted the dwarf while singing Do-Re-Mi.

Me on the Do-Re-Mi steps...

We then picked up the car from the carpark and started driving to Vienna. I was sorry to leave Salzburg - it was such a gorgeous place. We stopped off at Melk at John and Beths (Brother and wife), recommendation. It was getting cold and I was hungry, so we had a quick bite to eat from one of the cafe's there, and walked through the town...

Above the town is an amazing Abbey, which unfortunately we didn't have time to go and view it. It is fairly old - founded in 1089.

After a half hour whistle stop, we carried on to Vienna. Traffic got heavier and heavier as we got closer!! We stayed in Wombats hostel in Vienna which was excellent - very clean and quiet. It was across the road from the market - so we walked across there and had Schnitzel for dinner. Our appetites still weren't perfect, and the serving was too much, (two pieces of Schnitzel), so once again plastic bags came to our rescue and we popped the meat into the bag, and popped it in the fridge over night. After we ate, we wandered down the main circle seeing massive buildings which we recognised as Museums on our walking tour the next day! We finished up in a Museum cafe with a hot chocolate and some torte before heading back to the hostel! I can see I need more time in Austria!

Cesky Krumlov to Salzburg

2011-11-21T20:41:00.000+13:00

We stayed in the following hotel - Pension in the Tower, which used to be the part of the old town wall. It was really nice, spacious, roomy and although it was a 'shared bathroom' no one else was staying on our floor, so we had it to ourselves. If anyone stays at cesky, I recommend this hotel. It's right next to the Eggenberg Brewery, so those interested can do a tour, and within walking distance to everything you want in the town.

Breakfast was part of the hotel stay, so we were up sat 7.30 and down to breakfast by 8.00am. We got a huge basketful of fresh bread rolls, and plates of different cold meats and cheese, tea, and juice. Really nice, except neither of us were over the bug from morocco completely, and we didn't have much of an appetite! Anne made a couple of rolls for lunch and sneaked them into a plastic bag from her handbag, and while she talked to the hotel staff, I smuggled them up to our room!!

We checked out, packed the car up, then walked into the township towards the square where we were going to buy our tickets for the walking tour. Over the bridge - this is the township on the river - the same river Prague is on - the Vltava.

And looking the other way down the river towards the castle...

The castle during the day from the bridge - the same photo I took at night from the bridge the night before...

We met up with two Hong Kong girls wanting photos, so we exchanged cameras. Note the bag - I had bought another pair of shoes here. Again great shoe shops!

The main square - again - I had taken a similar photo the night before (you can see them on the previous blog)...

Our tour guide was Oldriska Balouskova and we were very lucky that we were the only English speaking tourists there that day, so we had her all to ourselves. Especially lucky for me as it meant that I could hear more easily without fighting for a place at the front!

Oldriska was a fantastic guide very knowledgeable having lived in Cesky all her life, apart from when she went to university in the USA. If you are in Cesky Krumlov and want a guide, you can email her at oldriskab@gmail.com.

The town experienced its greatest prosperity during the rule of Lords of Rožmberk (1302 - 1602), who chose Český Krumlov to become the seat of their kingdom. At this time, Krumlov lay on the crossroads between the Czech, Austrian, Bavarian and Northern Italian lands. You can see the influence of these different cultures that have left their mark on the town and Castle with brush strokes of the Italian Renaissance. At the end of 17th century, during the reign of House of Eggenberg, the Castle Baroque Theatre was built and the Castle Gardens were renovated. Under the rule of House of Schwarzenberg, Český Krumlov gained its Baroque appearance. Český Krumlov's Old Town hasn't experienced major changes since the 19th century, other than the demolition of the town's fortification walls and guard towers, and has maintained itshistoric character.

The town is now a Unesco world heritage site with 300 protected buildings in the centre, and the 2nd largest castle in the Czech Republic.

Oldriska explained to us that the 'bricks' are actually stone, covered in plaster, then the top layer of plaster cut to produce the lovely patterns on the buildings. I'm sure it has a name, but I can't for the life of me remember...

It certainly makes the buildings very striking.

Without our guide, we wouldn't have found perfect places to view the town. The following you can see the castle, and the buildings that have the big orange roofs, were all part of the castle at one stage.

We couldn't resist being tourists...

Through another building and onto a terrace we got views of the rest of the town, which has a population of about 15,000. Very very pretty place.

Beautiful parks...

These 'bricks, rather than plaster, were instead painted. I was struck how much time it would have taken!!

But oh so effective...

We stopped to have a Trdlo - a traditional pastry. Anne and I bought one to share between us. They were hollow with sugar dusted on the outside. Eaten hot they were rather nice.

This building is in the process of being reconstructed. You can't see it here, but under the paint pealing off, you can see the original 'brickwork' underneath.

Part of the castle - the Autumn leaves made it so beautiful.

Over the river...

The castle again...

The bear pit in front of the entrance to the castle. Unfortunately the bears didn't show for us that day - they were under the bridge.

From the castle grounds above the township, we were able to get fantastic views.

Inside the castle - and once again the painted 'bricks'...

Close up...

More views...

An ancient sun dial. Unfortunately, there was no sun the day we were there, so we weren't able to tell the time...

And this is Oldriska with Anne inside the castle walls.

We decided not to do the castle tour as we wanted to get on to Salzburg and have a bit of time to explore when we got there. Instead we walked through the castle gardens.. They were rather nice.

We found a maze...

And shaped hedges...

And a lake at the end. We saw very skinny squirrels that were almost black as well but they were too fast for the camera.

Last view of the township as we were leaving the castle.

We got back to the car about 2pm and headed to Salzburg. Our time of arrival should have been about 4pm - about 2 hours away. Unfortunately, 20 minutes into the trip, a bridge we had to cross had 'disappeared'. No bridge at all, so we had to divert. The GPS wasn't particularly helpful at this stage, so we stopped by another person also obviously diverting and Anne got the names of the towns we had to divert through which we plugged into the GPS. This added another 2 hours to our trip. I'm quite pleased this happened though, because instead of going on the highways, we were going through little towns, some really interesting and old, some run down, some I don't think has seen as much traffic as that day as the road was just about gone!! Kids playing in the street as well. The Czech Republic is actually very beautiful.

We had to pass through a town called Frymburk. I stopped to take a photo at the top of the dam. Its obviously a resort town on the lake, lots of cyclists, hikers, tracks through bush along the lakeside. Beautiful hotels etc... We wouldn't have seen this had the bridge not been out...

I took a photo as we went over the border to Austria. We came out through the Alps. I was struck immediately at the differences between the Czech Republic and Austria. the landscape was 'normal', a bit like New Zealand, then all of a sudden in Austria, everything was very neat, very tidy. Everything 'just so'. The grass so green in comparison too.

We stayed in the Villa Von Trapp - the original house of the Von Trapp family of Sound of Music fame. We had Agathe's room. Anne sat in the window seat and asked me if I was going to make her some clothes out of the curtains....

Here is the entranceway...

We put our bags in the room, then headed out to Salzburg town for a look around and some dinner. Parked our car in a carpark then walked. Some shops were still open so we did a bit of looking around and bought some Christmas gifts. We did find this arcade though, and wondered if the name of it was for the people that walked through...

We had dinner at a small cafe type restaurant and chose the local cuisine much to the delight of the owner, especially when he found out where we were from. We asked for the Apple Strudel for dessert, but he was sold out. Our disappointment must have shown, but he gave us some Berry Strudel instead which was beautiful and refused to let us pay for it. Said it was on him. What a lovely guy!

Back to the villa where we used the internet, which was insanely difficult to log into. It was a 'hidden' one, and most difficult to find, set up, and use. Our room was very comfortable but sleep was difficult for me for some reason.

Prague to Cesky Krumlov

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000+13:00

We arrived in Prague about 8pm at night, caught the bus to the train station, then walked through the city to our hostel. On the way we passed the Museum all lit up. Stopped to take a photo the best we could without a tripod. It looked gorgeous at night, but we passed it again the next day and it was black with grime!

We had planned to take the 3 hour walking tour of Prague first thing in the morning, but unfortunately we got to the wrong place at the right time so missed it. So instead we did our own walking tour of the things we wanted to see. First we crossed the Charles Bridge which started construction in 1357 and was finished at the beginning of the 15th century.

Over the bridge we walked along the main street and upwards towards the castle...

At the top - views over Prague. You can see the day wasn't our usual blue skies that we have been getting!!

But the colour of Autumn was beautiful...

Prague Castle at the top of the hill where the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors, Presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. It's the biggest castle in the world. It's history goes back to the 9th century (870)

Just as we arrived, the Changing of the Guard happened so we stood and watched for a while...

Behind the castle St Vitus Cathedral - a gothic style Church and a very large one. It contains the tombs of many Bohemian Kings. It is the biggest and most important church in the country and founded in 1344.

I liked the little stalls selling hot wine...

Because my foot was so sore, Anne worked out the subway for me... Here is a really really long escalator - I was so impressed I took a photo...

Thought the subway was pretty impressive too...

Old Town Square, which they say is usually bursting at the seams in summer from the tourist. I would had to think what that is like as we were there in Autumn and was pretty crowded in places making it hard to phtoograph....

The Astronomical Clock - The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the only one still working.

My foot was getting pretty sore again by this time, so we decided to head back to the hostel to pick up our luggage and pick up the rental car to drive to our next stop. Cesky Krumlov. We arrived just before it got dark, dropped our luggage in our tower, then headed out for a meal. We found a beautiful town...

The castle tower...

And the main square...

Anne ordered Roast Pork with Sauerkraut and dumplings, and I had a Beef in cream sauce with dumplings with a glass of very yummy red wine. Another fascinating day in Europe!

Amsterdam - Walking Tour

2011-10-31T08:13:00.000+13:00

I managed to pull myself out of bed at a reasonable time this morning, get dressed, and headed out the door to do the three hour walking tour. I mismanaged my timing a bit, as I had to be there by 11.15am. I didn't reach the tour until 11.30am, but fortunately they were still at the square so I was able to tag on. It started at the Dam Square. This building was the dutch palace, however the royal family no longer live there, but it's still used for functions and overseas dignitaries....

Down a narrow street an we came to the red light district. Very nice looking ladies dressed in next to nothing stood in the windows and beckoned to the men. For obvious reasons, we couldn't take photos. I believe the starting price is 50 euros for about 10 minutes, and that won't get you very far, so if you intend to travel to Amsterdam for the ladies, make sure you pack your wallets up very thickly with euros!

We were allowed to take a photo of this sculpture, which apparently just appeared one night from nowhere. No one knows who the artist is, and it sums up the red light district well, with the lady who is anonymous, the male who is anonymous, and the artist also anonymous - the way they like the district to be.

Canal houses...

Bikes - lots of them. I was told that there are three layers in the canals. The first layer is the mud/silt. The top layer is the water, and the middle layer is bikes. At least 10,000 bikes are dredged out of the canals a year. If you don't lock your bike to something, someone who has had a bit too much beer looking for fun, will just toss it into the canal!!!

The Amsterdam Waag is a remnant of the former city walls in Amsterdam. Constructed in 1488, it was originally one of the city gates, the Sint Anthoniespoort. When the city wall disappeared, the Nieuwmarkt (new market) was created around it and the weighing scales for the market were placed in the former gate. Today the building houses the Waag Society, an ICT research foundation working in the social and cultural domain, and there is a café/restaurant on the ground floor.

The building carries the oldest plaque in Amsterdam, which reads On 28 April 1488 the first stone of this gate was laid....

Just down from the Waag was the Jewish quarter... Before the war, the Jewish population was about 10% of the whole of Amsterdam. After the war it only amounted to 0.1%. The Dutch were one of the few countries that protested about what was happening to their Jewish friends, they held demonstrations and strikes, unfortunately to no avail. This area of Amsterdam lay empty for many years, but in the 1960's was rebuilt (and painted bright yellow)...

A measure of how wealthy one was, was how wide your house was. This house is one of the widest in Amsterdam from a family that made their money making and selling arms to both sides of the war.

This is now the university, but prior to that it housed the Dutch East India Trading Company.

Outside the Amsterdam Museum...

Our guide then took us through a gate or door. One minute we were on the street which looked like any other with residential housing, yet through this door was an amazing park and really lovely residential area, right in the heart of the city. It also had a small chapel. These are called begijnenhofjes and were used only by Catholic women, who were supporting themselves.

We also got taken down an art district....

The sun even came out at the end....

And the smallest house in Amsterdam... These people must have been very poor!!!

I also learnt that it was okay for houses to lean forwards, that the houses were designed especially for that. But it's not okay for them to lean sideways. Leaning sideways usually means that the houses were structurally damaged, probably had sunk a bit into swamp!!! The house on the end of the following image definitely has a sideways lean...

And so ended my three hour walking tour of Amsterdam. I then caught the tram back to Anne's place where she met me, and we proceeded to head to the Airport to get our flight to Prague and the next bit of travel!

Amsterdam - Cold and Wet

2011-10-30T10:23:00.000+13:00

I got up late today - I am so tired. My foot is really sore. I was booked into the Anne Frank House and to be honest, I didn't want to move!!! The weather wasn't helping - gray, wet, overcast and cold.

I forced myself up and managed to work out the tram without a problem, getting off at the correct stop. I then proceeded to walk in the wrong direction. Then I found I had left the map at home. Fortunately two guys on the corner were pouring over their map and when I asked for the directions, they gave one of their maps, and pointed me in the correct direction to Anne Frank house.

Anne Frank house is a must do in Amsterdam. I've read the book several times, but visiting the house really put things in perspective for me. I came out of there feeling very morose and sad. I remember reading a quote somewhere along the lines that Anne Franks story is just one of six million, however, if we had to read all six million stories, then the grief would be too much for us to bear. I felt this was so true.

By the time I had finished in the museum, the rain had really set in. I was meant to do the 3 hour free walking tour of Amsterdam this afternoon, but decided to flag it. Instead I walked up to the Dam Square, then wandered in and out of all the shops. Every second shop was a shoe shop, and I would have tried on 127 pair of boots at least. I'm definitely going to buy a pair before I come home!

I stopped twice for a hot chocolate to warm up, before getting the tram to the flower market. I wandered around there admiring all the tulip bulbs, bought myself a little piece of art, then headed to Anne's Australian Pub where she works where I was meeting her at 5.30pm .

The staff there treated me well with hot chocolates laced with kahlua to warm me up until Anne Arrived. A few mojitos, then more kahlua, and a pub quiz of which we came last!! Back home at midnight.

I didn't even get my camera out today the weather was that terrible - except for one photo I took at Coco's, the pub...

.But I really enjoyed wandering today with no set timetable and at my own pace. I can't wait to do it again on Tuesday, the day before I fly home, but this time with Anne (shopping - she's not flying home with me!!!)

Amsterdam - Exploring Arnhem

2011-10-30T10:11:00.000+13:00

Anne had to work today, and she starts early, so I got up with her and caught the same train. Instead of getting off, I went on to Arnhem where I had arranged to meet Arthur, another SWC member I've known for many many years. Unfortunately, when I got off the train, I went in the opposite direction, and of course Arthur was no where to be seen. After shivering in the cold for 20 minutes, it occured to me to look at the information map outside the station, and it was then I realised that there was 'another way out', so doubled back and finally found Arthur. He said I was easy to spot because of the confused look on my face!!!

We proceeded to Burgers Zoo in Arnhem. The drive there was really pretty - lots of forest and trees - it was really stunning with the autumn colours too!

Arnhem zoo had a few animals that we don't get in Auckland zoo. Unfortunately my foot was incredibly sore that day so I was struggling a bit, but I did get some photos... The penguins...

A totally mad deranged bear that kept attacking this fire hose, then biting himself. Probably a sign of boredom...

The Sumatran Tiger...

Vultures - which I had never seen before...

They had an underwater world as well which was really interesting and very well done...

And hte penguin again - they were the first (and last) exhibit at the entry/exit!!!

We then went to the Open air Museum which was right next door and I got to see... Windmills!!

I also found out that in the old houses, bedroooms were in a cupboard (built in)!!!

An old dutch village...

Arthur then drove me back to Anne's work in Ultrecht. As I had no cellphone, Anne thought I may have been lost in Holland somewhere not knowing if Arthur was going to be there or not. We didn't set Anne's mind at rest until 3pm!!! We arranged to get online with Arthur later to plan our next few days and said bye, then Anne took me around her work showing me where she worked in the lab. It was great to meet the people she worked with and to be able to visualise where she is.

Afterwards she took me to this great place by the canal in Utrecht, that does the proper dutch pancakes! They were delicious! I had ham cheese and pineapple, and on the other half a fruit one - but can't remember what I had now. I know I had a white beer which was divine. Perhaps that is why I can't remember!!!

We wandered around Utrecht, then caught the metro to the main station. Anne then showed me the tram system so I would know how to get back to where I needed to go tomorrow.

France - Paris and the Rugby World Cup Final

2011-10-30T09:35:00.000+13:00

We got up early this morning - I had to see the whole of Paris in a day!!! Well half a day really, as 2 hours of it was to be dedicated to a pub and watching the final of the Rugby World Cup. The first thing we did was get the black eyeliner out and put black NZ on each others cheeks. We wanted people to know we were supporting our boys in black! We also dressed from head to toe in black! Our first stop of the day was the Gare du Nord, the international train station, where we stored our luggage for the day. That meant we were free to just metro to the station to catch our train to Amsterdam at 6pm. Once the luggage was stored, it was off to Notre Dame which opened at 8am. I wanted to see Notre Dame having studied it at school a few years ago!! We arrived just as the sun was rising. A pretty scene of the Seine!

Inside...

As we left the Notre Dame we got some good natured ribbing from the ushers there. I asked Sandrine to tell them in French that I had put in a prayer for the All Blacks. They replied that the French Captain had tried that last time and it had failed!!

Back of the Notre Dame...

On the bridge near the Notre Dame tourists are leaving their padlocks on the bridge with their names on. It's quite a sight!

We went over to the St Michel area where we were last night and found a pub with a good sized TV. Here are all the French singing their anthem enthusiastically and patriotically.... We made sure we sang our anthem as well :)

Into the game a Ohhhhhhhhhhhh moment!

Sandrine and Benedict and partner outside the pub afterwards. We didn't whoop it up too loudly when we won as it wasn't a 'good win', AND it was only by one point. Actually it was embarrassing! However the pub was absolutely silent when France lost. Je suis desolee pour France.

It was now midday, and I still had a lot of sightseeing to do, so we excused ourselves from lunch and said goodbye to Sandrine and Benedicte. I felt sad to leave them as they are so much fun to be with.

Anne and I made our way to the Louvre... I had one hour to see the lot!!!

An impossible feat with my slow sore foot and queues. So Anne and I bypassed the queues and organised a wheelchair. This got us free access, and avoided the crowds...

This meant I got to go in front of the crowds viewing the Mona Lisa to get unhindered viewing - and a photograph!!

Anne pushed me at 100kmh through the rest of the Louvre - I didn't realise just how big it was, and I have to admit, I was more interested in the building itself which was wonderful, than some of the art there!

The spiral staircase....

I actually hadn't realised how big the Louvre was - I thought it would be Auckland Museum size - how wrong I was!!

At 1.30pm, we met up with Jeffrey and Liang again. They were over from Morocco for a week for Jeffrey's 50 year medical checkup. Does this mean the next one will be at 100years?

We then decided to enjoy the afternoon together and just walk. Jeffrey and Liang was able to tell us what everything was as Jeffrey had lived in Paris for a year when he was very young!! Here's my first view of the Eiffel Tower...

The Exhibition hall...

As we walked a lot of people came up and congratulated us, talked about the game, asked us for the score, teased us that we only won by one point etc... Having the NZ on our cheeks certainly made Paris interact with us, and made it a fun day!

We found a Maori exhibition at the museum. By here my foot was killing me so we found a cafe to stop, take a drink and have a bit of a rest.. Liang took this photo for us.

The Eiffel Tower...

We ended up at the Pompidou Building. Note the lovely weather Paris gave us - blue skies and sun!!! A beautiful city, easy to get around on both metro and bus and on foot. Once again we had to say goodbye to Jeffrey and Liang - it was great seeing them twice, in two countries. I miss them already - Jeffrey makes a wonderful porter. I have to carry my own bag again!!! Liang is fantastic at finding great spots to take photographs. He took this shot - I was simply too short to take it over the crowds!!! Being tall is definitely beneficial!!

We then headed to the station and caught our train to Amsterdam. Another early start tomorrow!

France - Palace of Fontainebleu and Paris

2011-10-29T10:42:00.000+13:00

We left Dijon and drove around looking for the 'Centre Ville', but didn't quite get there. We decided to drive straight to the Palace of Fontainebleu rather than look at other little villages, seeing we got a good variety of them on the way through France so far. I was astounded by the sheer size and apparent wealth. Once again I managed to get in free because of my deafness on showing my Cochlear Implant card, although the woman first said that deafness wasn't a disability!!! Anne came with me on her student card and got an audioguide from which she was able to fill me in on things. Not that I can remember anything now!!!

The castle lake....

And the seagulls - a bit different looking to ours in New Zealand...

And this duck that seemed to swim very 'low' in the water, and had a lot of 'drag'.

We then drove to Paris, dropped the car off, and then caught the subway to Sandrine's place. Sandrine and i have known each other online courtesy of the Say What Club, an online group for hearing impaired and Deaf people, since 1995. After a bit of refreshment and tidy up, we hit the streets of Paris with Sandrine as a wonderful guide! First up was the Sacre Coeur.

Looking at Paris from the Sacre Couer.

Montmartre, and one of its street performers...

I would have loved to have had our portraits done, particularly of Anne, and I did ask this man how much he charged, as he was one of the better ones. But it was going to be 150 euros for the two of us. We decided not to.

Moulin Rouge....

We then went and had a traditional french onion soup and dinner in the St Michel area which was fun. Afterwards Sandrine took us to the Arc du Triomphe and a walk down Champs Elysees. We picked up a cheap black eyeliner to do up our faces for the Rugby World Cup final the next morning!

Here's Sandrine trying to get onto my blog. She succeeded!

Cars and buses whizzing by the Arc du Triomphe!

By this time we had worn Sandrine out, so we caught the metro back to her apartment. We slept on her fold out couch that came with Dexter the Cat. I feel lucky to still have all my toes as they were chewed on several times during the night. I miss Dexter terribly already!

If anyone is needing a Parisian guide, then I fully recommend Sandrine - lots of fun, and she knows everything about Paris!!! We really appreciated having her, and I am so pleased I finally got to meet her in person!

France - Orange to Vaisons La Romaines to Privas and Dijon

2011-10-29T09:31:00.001+13:00

We got up reasonably early as we had a lot to see again today. We started first in Orange where I managed to get into the Ampitheatre for free because of my deafness. I had to show my Cochlear Implant patient card for this. Once again, Anne had seen a few ampitheatre's before so I went in alone. It wasn't terribly big, but it was old - built sometime in the 1st Century. It's still being used today - in fact there were advertisements up for Phantom of the Opera. That would be a great show to see in an ancient theatre!

This is the stage front of the theatre which I found much more detailed than the one in Nimes.

And here is the tiered seats - note the worn down steps over the ages!

This is just over the road from the theatre - in the main street of Orange - brightly coloured houses.

We drove through lots of vineyards to get to our next stop - which was Vaisons La Romaines. It almost felt like home!

Even though it was still fairly early in the morning, we decided to make a stop and taste some wine. I'm not sure if it was the time of the day, or the wine itself, but I didn't enjoy it!! I obviously needed to try a bit more!

The vineyards autumn colours made the countryside very beautiul!

After meandering around, we found Vaisons La Romaine. A little township situated in the Haut Vaucluse region between the Mediterranean and the Alps. The area was inhabited in the Bronze Age. At the end of the fourth century BCE, the upper city of Vaison became the capital of a Celtic tribe, the Vocontii or Voconces. The medieval town is high on the rocky cliff. The valley floor was safe from attack in Roman and modern times. In the Middle Ages attacks were frequent, and the town retreated up-hill to a more defensible position.

We climbed up the hill towards the Chateau Comtel - through the medieval town - where people still lived.

I'm always behind as my foot holds me up!

Houses were beautiful done with pots and plants.

Anne waiting for me at the top of the stairs on the way up to the chateau.

The path disappeared, and instead it just became rock to get to the top. I actually managed to get up there!!! Not bad for an unfit, deaf, blonde crippled 50yo!!!

On top of the hill are the ruins of the castle of the Counts of Toulouse, who reigned over the Comtat Venaissin, until it was bequeathed to the Holy See in 1271. The castle was pillaged during the French Revolution and fell into disrepair. Notable in the Cité Médiévale are the many substantial town houses, the narrow alleys winding their way up the hill and the fountains. Much of the material used in the construction of the houses came from the Roman ruins in the valley.

Medieval Chimneys!

Back on the road I came across some interesting looking trees and made Anne stop so I could take a photo!

We also came across this field of 'rocks'. We could find no information about them, but I got out to photograph them just in case we came across the information later. While I was photographing these, an emergency vehicle came screaming around the corner sirens and lights going, and out of the emergency vehicle was a petrol pump and tube trailing along the road. The call obviously came while they were filling up and they didn't bother to remove the pump. We thought for the sake of a few seconds, they could have removed it and saved the poor petrol station the bother of a new one!

We were now on our way to Privas - another township on the Rhone, but we found a chocolate shop. Although we felt greedy, we tried every single one of these 'spreads'!

We settled on the one with the poprocks in the chocolate spread.

Another Chateau high on the hill which we passed on the way to Privas.

Now up in Privas, looking over the valley - it was a town on the hillside, with terraced 'farmlets'. Interesting to see.

Privas Town Hall. We stopped and grabbed a sandwich here before setting off to Dijon.

A grab shot of some apartments on the way to Dijon.

On arrival in Dijon we found that there was an Ikea store very close to the hostel where we were staying, so dropped our luggage then went shopping! Ikea really really needs to come to New Zealand. It was brilliant!

France - Montpellier - Nimes - Pont du Gard - Avignon

2011-10-28T11:01:00.000+13:00

Today was a big day in regards to what ground we had to cover. As we had spent a whole hour driving around Montpellier trying to find our hotel the night before, we decided to give Montpellier a wide berth and drive straight to Nimes. However, on the way to the car, we had to walk through the city square, so I quickly took this photo as a memory of a city of pedestrianised streets....

We rrived in Nimes mid morning and parked the car in the carpark at Les Jardins de la Fontaine. The gardens were really pretty and the autumn colours are really noticeable now...

The garden is one of the first public parks of Europe and houses two ancient ruins - the Temple Diana and the Tour Magne. The gardens were built by Romans to make holy water from a spring available year-round. Catch basins were created. Doric columns were used.

The temple of Diana was misnamed when a statue of Diana was found in the ruins during excavations in the 16th century. This building was really a library. No restoration work has been done. It dates back to the 2nd century.

After exploring the temple, we decided to walk up to the tower at the top - the Tour Magne. The walk was quite pretty but very steep - I had to take a rest halfway up, but I didn't mind as it was really pretty....

The Tour Magne is the only great tower left standing from the ancient city walls built by Augustus. It was
constructed at the highest point of the city, Mont Cavalier. It dominates the whole plain and is a focal point for lines of communication.

From the tower was an amazing view of the city of Nimes...

We then left the gardens to meet Anne's friend Alexia at the Maison Caree. This ancient building is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in territory of the former Roman Empire. It was built in 16 BC. The temple owes its preservation to the fact that it was rededicated as Christian Church in the fourth century, saving it from the widespread destruction of temples that followed the adoption of Christianity as Rome's official state religion. It subsequently became a meeting hall for the city's consuls, a canon's house, a stable for government-owned horses during the French Revolution and a storehouse for the city archives. It became a museum after 1823.

Alexia kindly shouted Anne and I some lunch - the first time we had really eaten since we had left Morocco. Afterwards Alexia took us through the streets of Nimes to show some of the other important sites of this lovely city...

Anne and Alexia by the fountain of a crocodile. The contemporary coat of arms of the city of Nîmes includes a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COLNEM, for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the 'colony' or 'settlement' of Nemausus, the local Celtic god of the Volcae Arecomici.

We then walked on to the Ancient Roman Ampitheatre. This is still used today for concerts and shows. It is also having some restoration work done on it. I managed to get in free because I was deaf. Anne had already seen several roman ampitheatres so she stayed with Alexia while I explored...

Built in 1 AD. with a capacity for 24,000 (the Coliseum in Rome held 80,000), the Romans covered the arena with a canvas cover, the "velum." In a modern experiment, it took only five minutes to evacuate the entire amphitheater. All the arches are entrances and exits.

It was used for gladiator combat, but no lions. There was assigned seating according to status (women and slaves at the top.) "Arena" means "sand" which was needed to absorb the blood.
The arena is in excellent condition because, during the Middle Ages, the locals built houses in the arena. It was restored in the 19th century. Today the arena is used for bullfights, especially at Pentecost, and opera, as well as auto shows and tennis matches.

The Amphitheatre at Nimes, known locally as the "Arenes," is one of the best preserved of the Roman world. It is an ellipse measuring 133 by 101 metres. The outer wall has two rows of arches superimposed, with a main entrance surmounted by a triangular pediment which is decorated with the foreparts of bulls sculptured in stone. The spectator area, or "cavea," which surrounds the arena, is divided into 60 radiating segments which each correspond to two superimposed arches as seen from the outside. The 34 terraced rows, on which 24 000 spectators could sit, are divided into four "moeniana" separated by a circulation corridor and by a sort of parapet or "ibalteus." Each moenianum was reserved to a particular class of society and served by a vaulted ring-gallery and regular access points, or vomitories. The galleries themselves are linked by stairs. This circulation system was designed to avoid any risk of confusion or overcrowding during the movement in or out of the spectators. The arena floor, separated from the cavea by the "podium" wall, concealed two galleries in heavy masonry crossing each other at right angles, and which probably served as the "wings." They were once wrongly considered to be the conduits by which water was brought to was out the bloodied arena.
In reality, the Nimes Amphitheatre was probably used most often for gladiatorial combats. The low height of the podium would seem, in fact, not to have been high enough to allow the use of wild beasts.

It took a while but eventually I worked out how to get up to the top of the theatre....

Our next stop was Pont du Gard - Anne was particularly excited about this having studied it at school and had always wanted to see it. I vaguely remember studying it at school too a few years ago!! Dates to 1 AD. Very impressive sight.

Graffiti 1774 style....

On way out we drove through prettiness ....

And arrived in Avignon late afternoon.

Lots of entrances in the city walls...

Papal Palace - built in 1335...

Unfortunately the palace was closed, so we waandered down into the township....

Townhall...

And a great artist at work....

We then drove to Orange for the night.

France - Collioure and Carcassonne

2011-10-27T11:26:00.002+13:00

I didn't want to move today. I was so ill last night, and all I wanted to do is lie in bed. But we had a rental car to pick up, and more travelling to do, so I sent Anne out to get some Immodium and Paracetomol, and I loaded myself up on that. Managed to pack, walk to the train station and catch our train to Perpignon. It was still warm on Spanish soil, but once through the Pyrenees and out on the French side, the weather was definitely cooler. I was surprised how quick it was from Girona to France.

We arrived in Perpignan at about 10.30. Our car hire was at the airport but not until 1pm. We thought we may be able to pick the car up early, so headed for the bus stop. The only bus going to the airport drove straight past us, so we decided to get a taxi instead. The driver told us that the airport was closed until 2pm, and the Hertz office wouldn't be open until then either. We were a tad annoyed that the office hadn't let us know when we booked the car! The good thing about our Taxi Driver was that he was wearing an Eden Park jersey, but he was still going to support the French! Sigh!

We got to the empty airport and sat down to wait. I wrote out some postcards, but at this stage they'll be coming home with me as I still haven't been able to find a post office. I curled up and slept on the seats like a worn out traveller. Even managed to sleep a little!

We finally picked the car up, got the GPS working, and drove out to Collioure, a little town in the very South of France.... The weather wasn't the best we've had but the town was really pretty...

Collioure has always been coveted because of it's opening to the Mediterranean Sea and it's two bays were easily defended. Many Phoenician, Roman, and Greek sailors left behind a very rich archaeological heritage. In 673 Collioure was occupied by Wamba, King of the Visigoths. He named the place Caucoliberis (Port of Elne), which confirmed its importance as a trading port.

From 981 on, the counts of Roussillon and the kings of Majorca began to develop the town, and build a fortress which was used as the summer residence for the Kings of Majorca from 1276 to 1344.

Throughout the entire 13th century, many crusaders passed through (eg the Knights of the Templar order in 1207, the Cistercians in 1242 and the Dominicans in 1280.)

The discovery of America in the 15th Century led to the progressive decline of the Port of Collioure.

From 1462 to 1493, Collioure was under French occupation during the reign of Louis XI. In 1642, after the Catalans had freed themselves from Spanish supremacy, Collioure fell again into French hands. During that period, Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), a French officer who built fortresses under Louis XIV, altered the fortifications giving Collioure its current appearance. Through the Pyrenean Peace Treaty of 1659, the Roussillon definitively fell to the French crown.

We didn't stay long in Collioure - just long enough to take a few images, before heading to Carcassonne. We were late because of our hold up waiting for the car which was disappointing.

We then drove to Carcassonne where I laid my eyes on my very first medieval castle! Despite feeling terrible (high temps, aches and pains), I was in awe and happy to walk around within the castle walls!

Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the province of Languedoc. It was founded in the 5th century by the Visigoths, although the Romans had fortified the settlement earlier. The fortress was thoroughly restored in 1853 by the theorist and architet Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, and was added to the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites in 1997.

We wandered through the narrow cobblestoned alleyways....

We found Anne's favourite shop which had lots of sweet things in, including Olives below. I did try one but they must be an acquired taste. Either that or I was too sick to appreciate them...

These are the cookies Anne loves. They are filled with different flavours and are extremely yummy. Anne bought a number of different types, and proceeded to eat half of each one so I could try each flavour myself when I was up to it. There's nothing like opening a bag of half eaten cookies! I didn't manage to eat many of them!!!

There was a beautiful cathedral in the middle of the castle walls...

As we left the turned the lights on....

We then drove to our hostel in Montpellier. The GPS kept us driving around for an hour before we realised that the hostel must be in a pedestrianised area, so parked then car, then used the GPS to walk us to the hostel. I slept extremely well that night and woke up a lot better the next day.

An Evening in Girona, Spain

2011-10-27T09:56:00.000+13:00

We organised a pick up at 9.00am from the gate of the Medina to the airport, so we got up reasonably early, packed, and asked the Riad manager for a cart for our luggage. He didn't seem to get the urgency (we have a plane to catch), and insisted we sit down for breakfast. We had some Moroccan pancakes, some french pastries, and two eggs cooked beautifully Tajine style. Downed some fresh orange juice then we insisted we needed to leave!

The poor guy with the luggage cart works extremely hard, isn't that young, and seems to have a heart condition. He had to push all our luggage uphill for 25 minutes, and in some places it was very steep. Anne and I both helped him in the steep parts. We paid him, tipped him, and gave him all the rest of our fruit. I felt sorry for him as it was a hard job for an older guy.

He was also toothless except for his molars, and reminded me of the strange man who attached himself to the four of us in Meknes, who was also toothless. This strange man kissed my hand when he found out I was from New Zealand, and pressed his molars into my hand. It was the most bizarre feeling, and I couldn't wait to get back to the Riad to wash my hand!!

Anyway - we managed to get to the airport on time (just), although we had to push our way forward to the front of the queue in the security area. We landed in Girona, Spain at about 4pm. It was still very warm, about 25C and sunny. As soon as we landed, I left Anne to collect the luggage, and I headed out of the airport to find the bathroom. I wandered back to the arrivals area and waited for Anne to come out. When she did I rushed up to her, hugged her and said Welcome to Spain as if I lived there. It was mildly funny!

We plonked our bags at the hostel, and I immediately started feeling not so good. By this time I was certain I had picked up a bug from Morocco. However, nothing was going to hold me back, so it was straight out the door to explore...

Girona is really pretty...

The first historical people in the region were Iberians. Girona is the ancient Gerunda, a city of the Ausetani. Later the Romans built a citadel here which was given the name of Gerunda. Visigoths ruled in Girona until it was conquered by the Moors, then Charlemagne reconquered it in 785 and made it one of the 14 original countships of Catalonia. Wilfred the Hairy incorporated Girona to the countship of Barcelona in 878. The Moors were driven out in 1015. Girona was declared to be a city in the 11th century, and the ancient countship became a duchy in 1351 when King Peter III of Aragon gave the title of Duke to his first-born son John. The title is currently carried by Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, the first since the 16th century to do so.

The 12th century saw a flourishing of the Jewish community of Girona, with one of the most important Kabbalistic schools in Europe. The Rabbi of Girona, Moshe ben Nahman Gerondi was appointed the Great Rabbi of Catalonia. The history of the Jewish community of Girona ended in 1492 when the Catholic Kings expelled all the Jews from Catalonia. Today, the Jewish ghetto or Call is one of the best preserved in Europe and is a major tourist attraction.

Anne and I wandered around the alleyways of the old Jewish Quarter...

Sunset from the top of the hill by the Catholic cathedral that dominates the area...

We were getting tired, and I was getting sicker. Fortunately the people of Girona were lovely and nearly every shop or pub allowed me to use their bathroom!

We stopped though to have a Sangria (my first) and then went to a Tapas Bar to experience a wonderful spanish meal!

Walking home at night through the streets....

I proceeded to have a terrible night which saw me spending most of it in the bathroom of our hostel. Kicking myself that we ate breakfast at all that morning as I'm sure it was from the food we ate in the Riad that morning!

Morocco - Fez - Day 5

2011-10-27T03:39:00.002+13:00

Our guide picked us up from our Riad in person at 8.00am - we didn't even get the breakfast from our Riad as we were out too early! We popped our head in the door of the Mosque that was next to our Riad. Apparently this is where the people come if they are ailing or sick to ask to get better...

Walked aroumd the Medina - this shop was selling bridles for horses and donkeys...

This is a cart full of cactus flower. We got to try one, they are sweet - a little melon like....

In the Medina - the alleyways here are narrower than the ones in Rabat and Meknes...

This is a painted wall, something to do with the elections....

An ancient building, founded by a weatlhy woman, in the medina.

We then visited the Co-op where they sell all the carpets. When they found out we were from New Zealand, they showed us Dave Dobbyn's file...

Here is Anne with our Guide. He consequently offered me 1 million camels for Anne. I seriously considered it, seeing each camel is worth about 2000 euros :) I just didn't have anywhere to put the camels so had to decline!!!

These are the three silk carpets we loved....

Three girls actually weaving the carpets! Notice they have plastic wrapped around their wrists - due to blisters and callouses. They apparently work no more than 3-4 hours per day as it's hard on their hands, back and eyes. They were lovely - I was able to communicate with them a little, and they did up a little woolen friendship bracelet, which I'm still wearing 10 days later....

We were then taken to the Tannery. We were given some mint to smell as we arrived to help take away the terrible pong. The whole tannery is in view here - the white pits are where the leather is soaked in pigeon poop and limestone (the reason for the smell), and the darker ones are where the skins are dyed. This week is Brown and Red, and last week it was yellow....

Yellow skins drying in the sun from last week...

Inside there were lots of shops - selling bags, leather jackets, and more bags. There was a bit of choice too which made it hard. I bought a leather handbag for Mum, and Anne managed to get a great bargain on a very high quality leather jacket, getting it for 100 euros down from 420 euros. I should shop with Anne more often!

After the Tannery we were taken to our guides Grandma's for lunch in her berber home. Beautiful chicken Tajine and fresh Pomengranate afterwards. Gorgeous home - with beautiful furnishings and tiled walls, very typically moroccan. Anne and Grandma who is about 73.

We were then taken to this amazing Hammam where we were covered in olive oil soap, then scrubbed until we were red, sauna'd, cold spa, then a hot shower. The baths were amazingly beautiful with marble finishes, which made it slippery on the tables! Incredibly clean too. We met some Moroccan women also at the Hammam and they told us they come once a month or so. The lady we met was 47, but looked 30. She asked Anne if she was the same age! Anne looks pretty good for 47 don't you think - she's holding up well!

Morocco - Meknes to Fez - Day 4

2011-10-26T21:48:00.001+13:00

After a so-so nights sleep - I didn't find the bed all that comfortable, nor was it very big! It was hard and it dug into all my bruises I have collected on my travels. We popped upstairs for our breakfast which was included - hot mint tea and french pastries. Chocolat du Pain. Yum. Jeffrey then came and got us and we set off for a wander in the Medina, with Liang showing us some amazing artists.

This man is hammering in silver thread into various creations. Very focussed and dedicated, and the items he makes are beautiful....

Here they are making the shape.....

And this is what it looks like once the silver thread is hammered into it. Beautiful artwork. See the plates on the wall - I bought one of them. I wish I now had bought two as they would look good as a pair. I guess I will have to return!!!

Wandering around in the medina - carpets for sale...

As we were leaving Meknes, Anne and I came across this chewing gum in a vendors cart. We asked to buy it, but it was his own so we couldn't. We took a photo as proof though. Anyone want to chew on this!!!

Jeffrey and Liang dropped us off at the train station and I was sad to leave them. So much fun and what an amazing country they are living in.

Anne and I then caught the train to Fez. We happpened to start talking to somone on the train who mentioned that his nephew guides visitors around Fez, doesn't do it for money as they come from a wealthy family, but do it because they love their city. They said 200 dirham for the two of us would be fine for 2 days (about 20 euros). So we decided to take them up on it.

We stayed in a Riad in the heart of the Medina and it takes about 25 minutes to get there. Someone from the Riad met us at the train station, then walked us to our Riad. We were given a map, checked in, dropped our luggage, put a load of washing on and hung it out, and then we were off again with our new tour guide. First he took us up out of the Medina high on the hill to see the old city of Fez...

Approx 450,000 people still live in this walled city, pretty much as they have done so for many generations. The medina is narrow and some parts are steep. No cars - only donkeys, horses and the odd motorbike. You can see where are are staying in the above photo - look to the green dome and tower (the first one you come to from the bottom of the photo) If you enlarge that part of it, you can see our riad - from the washing on the line just above it!! So yes - we were in the heart of the medina.

On top of the hill was an old Roman ruin - but I am not sure of the history of it. The sky was pretty blue though!

Our guide then took us to his mothers for tea and cookies, for an experience in a real Berber family home. They lived in the New City in a lovely apartment. We were served Mint Tea and beautiful food and got to watch a bit of a Bollywood movie on Television. It was then arranged that Anne would go out and see the nightlife, but I would probably stay in as I was getting tired. The driver then drove us back towards the Medina where we were staying first stopping at the palace so we could take photos...

Then took us up to the South Side of the city for a different view, again from a building I know nothing about - I'll have to do a bit more research...

We walked back to our Riad stopping at a restaurant for a bite to eat where we had a Vegetabe dish and a Pastille - which was a bun filled with spiced chicken. It was gorgeous. We had to climb four flights of berber stairs to get to the rooftop where we ate, and once again, we could see our Riad from the rooftop. I've decided to live in Fez, you need to be extremely fit, not only for all the steep alleyways, but also for the staircases you have to climb!

Once we were in the Riad, we were too tired to do anything else, so we stayed in and had an early night!

Morocco - Rabat to Meknes - Day 3

2011-10-22T11:01:00.001+13:00

Jeffrey and Liang with their gorgeous cat outside their home in Rabat, Morocco. I'm not sure what Liang is doing to the cat, but he doesn't seem to mind! We are just about to head off out of Rabat to Meknes.

On arrival at Meknes we visited the Tomb of Moulay Ismail. Moulay Ismail or Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif was the second ruler of the Alaouite dynasty. He claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad and therefore earns the title 'Moulay'. He ruled from 1672 to 1727 and was only 26 when he came to the throne of a country weakened by internal tribal wars and royal successions. He established Meknes as his capital and it became known as the 'Versailles of Morocco'. During his reign the capital moved to Fes.

Non Muslims have no access to the tomb itself but it can be seen through a Moorish doorway. The anteroom is decorated with examples of Moroccan design - zellij tiling, enamel painted wood, elaborately carved plaster, graceful arches and marble columns....

We then visited the Granaries, also built by Ismail Moulay. The granary was built on a reservoir that were designed to be able to store grain to feed the 12,000 horses he owned. No mean feat, but it was big enough to not only feed them, but feed them for 20 years, which gives you an idea of just how big the storage tunnels are. To store this amount of grain, the temperatures needed to be even, so the walls were very thick, and a suspended forest was grown on the roof. Water from the reservoir below was forced through ducts in the floor to maintain a low temperature and to keep the grain from rotting.

These are the stables where the Sultan kept his 12,000 horses. The Sultan had great respect for horses, even more than he did for his human counterparts. His horses were apparently waited on hand and foot with a groom and slave for each horse to ensure that all their needs were met. The stables were kept in immaculate condition.

Today the stables are in ruin, and due to an earthquake during the 18th Century, the roof of the stables no longer provides protection. There is a canal that ran fresh water through the stables constantly, so the horses never lacked clean water.

After the visit to the stables and the granary - we checked into our Riad. This is where we were welcomed with hot mint tea and some yummy cookies. This is Anne in the lounge...

We were upgraded to the royal suite because of a lack of power in the room we had booked. We had a very nice room on the first floor up the berber elevator! (lots of spiral steps)

Looking down into the reception area from the hallway just outside our door....

Jeffrey and Liang then went and booked into a more upmarket Riad just round the corner from us. It was incredibly beautiful. Anne and I went to visit...

Their palatial lounge...

We then went out walking to the Meknes Market...

Lots of sweet cookies...

A Chameleon for sale...

Spices...

Olives and olives and olives...

The meat market - that's a stomach hanging there on the right...

The vendor stacking up his olives to a nice display...

We then went to the Musee Dar Jamai. Before housing the Meknès collections, the Dar Jamai had a number of different uses. Built in 1882 to be the residence of the illustrious Jamai family, which included two of Moulay el-Hassan's ministers (1873-1894), it was used as a military hospital after 1912, only becoming the Museum of Moroccan Art in 1920.

There was a sign 'No Photos', but the security guard went Shhhh! He then lifted the barriers, encouraged Anne and I to lie down and took some photos. We of course had to tip him. We felt very special until Jeffrey explained he did it to his mother as well (as well as all the tourists that go through there!!!)

Moroccan shoes at a market stall in the Medina.

Scenes of the Medina....

We had a bit of a rest in the afternoon, then we headed out to Volubilis, the site of an ancient roman city. Got there at perfect time for the most wonderful light for photography...

On the way back to Meknes, we stopped at a little village called Moulay Idriss and wandered around the market. I was allowed to go this far to take photos of the men being called to prayer at the local mosque.

We headed back to Meknes where we had a beautiful Moroccan dinner at Jeffrey and Liangs Riad. Really enjoying such good company, and having both fun and interesting times in Morocco.

Morocco - Rabat - Day 2

2011-10-19T09:50:00.000+13:00

After a great nights sleep in very comfy beds at Jeffrey and Liangs' place, we had a gorgeous healthy breakfast, then Liang took us on some more sightseeing. Unfortunately Jeffrey had to work, but we understood. First, we were taken to the Casbah - the old walled city, which stands atop the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the Bou Regreg River, as it has for centuries. It was built during the reign of the Almohads

Looking over to Sale, and where we were the night before photographing the fishing boats....

Looking upriver. For some reason there were hundreds of birds flying around...

All the walls around the casbah were painting blue and white...

Little narrow alleyways everywhere...

Someone adding originality and style to their wall in the form of a handprint....

Looking over the River to Sale on the other side - Rabats sister city. Atlantic Ocean on the left.

And to the beach. Not sure about swimming here - still didn't look particularly clean!

The Casbah walls...

We then headed over the road to Rabats Medina. Unfortuantely it was Friday, the holiest day of the week, and many of the shops were closed. But what we did see was excellent. Liang showed us places where people were doing traditional moroccan art (revival), of the highest quality. If we only had room in our luggage.... This is a shot of the Medina...

I found my leather cushions I was after in here - I still need 4 more, and was hoping to get them in Meknes or Fez but no luck - will just have to come back!!!

After buying cushions, we were treated to Mint tea - and true Moroccan hospitality....

Liang had to work for the rest of the day, so Anne and I spent the time in the sun by the pool relaxing and having a real 'holiday'. One of the nicest afternoons we've had.

Morocco - Rabat - Day 1

2011-10-19T09:16:00.003+13:00

We flew from Milan very early in the morning- I had been awake from 2.30am. We left the hotel at 4.30am, and caught the plane to Casablanca, arriving at 8.00am. After getting our luggage, we made the way to the train station and caught the train to Rabat-Ville, where Liang picked us up. We were starving as we hadn't had breakfast!!

Liang organised breakfast for us, then as soon as we finished that, out came a beautiful morroccon lunch!

Jeffrey and Liang's house is beautiful - lovely and cool inside with a gorgeous pool which Anne and I were looking forward to relaxing by!

After lunch Liang took us exploring. Our first visit was to the local souk (market). I have to say I was appalled at the poverty, but at the same time impressed with the prices. I guess when the average weekly wage is only 800 dirham (80 euro) per week, then food cannot be expensive.

Photos from the souk - local sellers showing off the size of their pumpkins...

The street and the souk on both sides...

Spices....

After we left the souk - Liang dropped back the groceries at the house then took us to a few more places.. Driving is erratic - no real rules, and of course lots of modes of transport on the road...

We then visited the Chellah. This is the first place to be settled along the Bou Regreg river in the 3rd Century BC. There is a probability that the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians inhabited the banks of this river. The Romans took over Chellah in 40AD and turned it into Sala Colonia. Around 250 AD it came under the control of the Berber rulers. Today it is a complex of the ancient and medieval ruins of Morocco. It contains the ruins of Sala Colnia. Excavations have revealed among others the remains of the Decumanus Maximus, a monumental fountain and a triumpal arc.

It was abandoned in 1154 and was later used by the Almohad dynasty as a necropolis. In the middle of the 14th century, the Merinid Sultan, Abu I-Hasan constructed features such as a mosque, a Zawiya and a grand main gain. Today it is also the tomb to Abu I-Hasan.

These would be the remains of shops....

A beautiful Andalucian garden was in the middle of the Chellah...

Like Greece - lots of cats everywhere....

After the Chellah, Liang took us to the pottery. Absolutely stunning pottery of excellent quality - and so cheap compared to New Zealand. Shame about the shipping costs ....

The heat was getting to Anne obviously. She was trying to feed the horse...

Would love one or two of these in my garden....

It was here in one of these shops I was offered 100 camels for Anne. I declined as I didn't think it was enough for a first offer!

After the shops, we stopped at the Hassan Tower. Begun in 1195, the tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world along with the mosque. The mosque was also intended to be the worlds largest. In 1199, Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died and construction on the mosque was stopped. The tower only reached 44m (140 ft), about half of it's intended 86m (260 ft) height. The rest of the mosque was also left incomplete, with only the beginnings of several walls and 200 columns being constructed. The tower madeof red sandstone, along with the remains of the mosque and the modern Mausoleum of Mohammed V, forms an important historical and tourist complex in Rabat.

Instead of stairs, the tower is ascended by ramps. The minaret's ramps would have allowed the Muezzin to ride a horse to the top of the tower to issue the call to prayer.

Liang....

Anne doing the tourist jump....

Liang having a go too!

Liang then took us to have a look at the beach. Prime real estate, but nothing there except cemetries and houses of the poor. The beaches aren't suitable for swimming and litter was everywhere.

He then took us to where all the fishing boats come in - and I loved the colour. Believe me though it stank of fish badly....

Looking over the river to the Casbah....

Boys playing soccer on the beach....

Old fishing boats....

We had a great day and were very thankful for our wonderful tour guide. Couldn't have been in better hands.

Back to the house for dinner and catching up with Jeffrey and an early night!!

My Photographs

2011-10-15T13:08:00.000+13:00

I apologise to all if my photographs look a tad underexposed. The small laptop screen I'm using is over bright and it's hard to know if I'm getting the right exposure (even though I've turned the brightness down). Until I get home, I can't do much about it but guess, and I am very likely guessing wrong.

To compensate - please turn the brightness up on your screen when looking at my travel photos!

Cheers
Robyn

A Minute stop in Milano

2011-10-15T12:45:00.001+13:00

I had great intentions for writing postcards to everyone on the train from Venice to Milano – ones that I bought in Santorini, but instead the train lulled me to sleep!

I woke up briefly in Verona, then in Brescia, and then again in Milano!

We caught a taxi to our hotel and arrived about 3pm, and once again, dumped everything on the bed then headed out. Anne walked me up to see Pecks – this amazing deli – a bit like Nosh but 100x better. Amazing chocolates, pasta, wine, cheese – if I had room in my luggage I would have bought half the shop home with me!

She then took me to Prenzi’s – this amazing bakery where we shared a few things together – olive sticks, calzone, raspberry tart and something else like a custardy thing (very yum). We then walked to the Duomo – and I was blown away. Unfortunately it was very expensive to get to the top 10 Euros by lift, and there was no way I could climb the 250 steps with my foot, so we gave it a miss. Instead we walked into the Galleria to admire Gucci, Armani, Prada and a few more other shops that to buy in, I’d have to rob a bank or two! I did see some beautiful leather gloves for 72 euros! Next trip!

Inside the Galleria, where you can buy Gucci, Amani, Prada etc.. I did think about buying a Gucci handbag for my mother. It's the thought that counts isn't it?

My foot gave up then – so we caught a taxi back to the hotel and rested for an hour or two, then walked out to dinner to ‘La Hora Feliz’. On the way we passed the Column of San Lorenzo, and one of Milano's many churches...

The actual restaurant was amazing – you buy a cocktail (or two), then the food is ‘free’ and you can go back as many times as you like – really nice seafood, fish, pasta, vege such as cucumber, tomatoes, eggplant – rice salads, potatoes – it was all there, and changed throughout the evening as they bought more dishes out. I started with a Mojito – the best I’ve ever had. In fact as I type this I am craving another. We finished with a Tuscany Lemoncello which we shared which was also very very good – but not as good as the Mojito! Anne told them it was my birthday, so they placed a hat on my head, clapped, made the whole restaurant sing happy birthday in Italian, and gave us two shot glasses of strawberry dacquari to down fast. Loads of fun. It helped that the very nice looking Italian guy from Milano sitting next to me thought I was 40, not 50!! That always helps!

Walked back to the hotel and decided to try one of the Italian Hot Chocolates. Honestly, it’s just a cup full of melted chocolate! Amazing stuff – very thick and there is no way I could drink it on my own so we shared that as well. The Italians really do amazing food!

Back to the hotel to type this up, pack – we have to be up at 4.15am to get a taxi at 4.30am to the train, to get a train to the airport, to catch a flight to Casablanca, Morocco! Looking forward to it!

Day 2 in Venice

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We woke up about 7.30, but were rather slow to get moving – I think we’re both tired, not only from all the walking, but also because of the continuing new sights we are seeing and taking in, and trying to savour it all.

We finally made it down to breakfast about 8.30am – provided by the hotel, at a little snack bar beside a canal. Fresh bread rolls, orange juice and a hot chocolate. We shared our crumbs with the sparrows and the fish in the canal!

We then walked to the Rialto bridge, one of the most photographed sites of Venice which you see in all the postcards. Took lots of photos on the way...

My foot gave up then, so I sat on the edge of the canal by the Hotel Rialto and ordered an orange juice while Anne went off walking for another half hour. I was at a stop where boatmen were unloading goods for delivery 4 boats deep. I found it fascinating watching them unload onto trolleys which were then pulled along to be delivered. Makes our delivery (courier) system seem so easy in comparison.

Just about had a fit when I got the bill for the orange juice – a hefty 5 euros for one small glass. That’s the most expensive orange juice I’ve ever had. When I pointed it out to the waiter he laughed and said ‘Welcome to Venice’! To make up for it, we made sure we used their toilet (otherwise we would have had to pay 1.50 euro’s for the public one each!).

We then caught the vaparetto to a stop near our hotel, climbed up the steep stairs, lay on the bed for 5 minutes to recover, packed, then headed to the train station.

Venice and the Colourful Island of Burano.

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We were up early in the morning and got a taxi to the train station. I made it to the train in plenty of time, but Anne ran back to check something and I was terrified that the train would go without her. She made it back just in time. Whew!

We arrived in Venice at about 10.30am, but our map wasn’t good so had a bit of difficulty finding our hotel. Anne finally got google maps on her phone at great expense but it was the only way. Hotel was great but about 3 stories up and only steep stairs to get there. The first lot of stairs were all in marble – our suite was fantastic with marble bathroom and a lovely view out the loo window...!!

We dumped everything on the bed, grabbed cameras and started walking through Venice over bridges over the canals to the Vaparetto stop, taking photos on the way, then caught a Vaparetto to the Island of Burano.

Words cannot convey how I felt walking around that island among brightly coloured houses reflected in the canals, washing hanging out windows, stalls of lace and Murano glass, lace makers sitting outside lacemaking – it was so exciting to see.

I should say here that Anne has prepared a wonderful birthday for me – when I got to Amsterdam, she gave me a whole pile of envelopes wrapped in a yellow ribbon. Each envelope had a voucher in it, with some cash in Euro’s. The vouchers were for a MAC lipstick in London, Clothes in Marks and Spencer, Glass Jewellery in Murano, Dinner in Milan, Handbag in Morocco etc… - I can’t remember all of them but there is a real wad of them there!

So while we were in Burano, she helped me choose 3 necklaces of glass from Murano – so much to choose from, but we settled in a shop that was a bit higher quality and had really nice merchandise.

After a few hours in Burano, we caught the vaparetto back to Venice, to St Marks Square. It was right on sunset. It was so beautiful, I have to admit to being a bit overwhelmed as I had never thought I would make Venice – thought my travelling days were over. Venice is a city I had always wanted to see and had really given up thinking I would ever see it. And yes – there were a few tears!

Despite my foot hurting, we decided we would walk back to the hotel via all the little alleyways and over the canals to the recommended restaurant. Eat. Then head to the hotel which wasn’t very far away. This is about 4km so we took it slowly stopping for photos at every opportunity. In the end I took 240 photos today – so a fair bit to work through yet. Anne is much more restrained with only about 90!

Dinner was in a neat Pizzeria – this time we decided to share one, and thank goodness we did as it was HUGE! We chose the one with Artichokes and although I wasn’t particularly hungry, I managed to eat my share – must have been all the walking! I really like the Italian red wine too – thanks to Liz to telling me about it – I’m going to miss it!

Walked back to the hotel where I collapsed in a heap, too tired to even do my photos or write up my blog – went straight to sleep! Foot very sore and swollen – too much walking today, but Venice is a city of pavements – no cars, no bikes, everyone walks (or boats).